Longest Painting on Continuous Canvas

The province of Batangas, the country’s focal culture locale for the month of June, hosts twin ecological events on June 25-28: the Climate Change Teach-in Day and the World Environment Day. This significant event is convened by Commission on Climate Change Sec. Heherson Alvarez and National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) headed by Chairman Vilma Labrador with Executive Director Malou Jacob hosted by Batangas Tourism and Culture Office headed by Director Pancho Lardizabal.

The event, emceed by Climate Change Ambassador, Actor Alfred Vargas, a newly-elected councilor of Quezon City, inaugurates the longest painting on continuous canvas with a single theme — water and fishes — organized by the On the Spot Artists’ Association (OTSAA) of the Philippines headed by award-winning scenographer Rollie De Leon, assisted by Lapian ng mga Alagad ng Sining (LAPIS) with the support and special participation of the 17 regional offices of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) headed by Director Malcolm Sarmiento.

The event culminates with the inauguration of the painting with the awarding of the certificate of declaration of Batangas led by Governor Vilma Santos and Vice Governor Mike Leviste as featured province for the month of June in the collective series framework of the Philippines as 1st ASEAN Culture Capital for 2010-2011. There will be the signing of the letter of agreement for a comprehensive creative communication plan for climate change at the Livelihood Center Building in Port Area, Batangas City. The longest painting is complemented by the Gallery of the Sea, a collection of Sail Painting initiated by Earthsavers Founding Chair Sec. Alvarez created by artists from Boracay, Bohol, Manila, and Baler coordinated through the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP).

Conceptualized to become the longest painting on continuous canvas, the first 100 meters of the painting was launched in Quezon City on February 2005. Since then, hundreds of meters had been added through the years, until it became over 5000 meters long.

Over the weekend, about 2000 artists and students from Batangas and different parts of the country including ASEAN youth delegates take part in painting another 2,000 meter-long canvas to bring the total length of the painting to 7,300 meters in a bid to clinch the Guiness World Record on longest continuous painting on canvas. By then, over 6,000 artists will have worked on the painting and so many gallons of paint provided by Rotary Club of Lipa, Batangas Welcoat Paint, Delta Construction Center, Rain or Shine and Silver Mold Enterprises.

The event is likewise twinned with dance, music and visual arts cultural caregiving ASEAN fusion workshop on heritage and habitat concerns particularly global warming phenomena and climate change impacting on the Asean region. with delegates from Asean member nations and students from Batangas through Department of Education and the Department of Social Welfare Development with the Department of Foreign Affairs Asean Culture Section.

The workshops are facilitated by LAPIS for visual arts and Wally Tuyan for dance and Frank Rivera for literary arts under the direction of Cecile Guidote Alvarez, Unesco Commissioner and President of Philippine International Theater Institute.

Performers in the inauguration include Batangas Provincial Choir, Cercado Sisters, Sta. Teresa College Cherubim conducted by Bobet Manalo coordinated by Deped Supt. Dr. Emma Bautista, Asean Youth Delegates and the Shirley Halili-Cruz Ballet Company and the pride of Batangas, Lahing Batangan Dance Troup Lyceum of the Philippines University, choreographed by Rodel Fronda, and Earthsavers Dreams Ensemble, Unesco Artists for Peace.

The event will also be highlighted with the Angel Hero Award to OTSAA artists who had saved the painting when it almost got razed by fire in November 2008. The awardees include Jayson Almazan, Marica Almazan, Jay-ar Azul, John Emmanuel De Leon, Mary Ann de Leon, Joemar Santiago, Rolando Santiago and Marlou Soberano. The Climate Change Photo Citation will also be given to Philippine Star.

With the UNEP theme “Biodiversity Is Life... Biodiversity Is Our Life,” the celebration incorporates an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) youth fusion workshop on heritage and habit concerns particularly global warming phenomenon to promote bio-cultural diversity in Southeast Asia.

Batangas, headed by Governor Vilma Santos-Recto, is the fourth locale in the collective of sites comprising the ASEAN Cultural Capital framework of the Philippines which is the Asean culture capital for 2010-2011 conceptualized by former NCCA Executive Director and 1972 Ramon Magsaysay Outstanding Asia Arts Awardee Cecile Guidote Alvarez . The inaugural event was in Angeles City, Pampanga through the Clark Development Corporation, which hosted the Asean Ministerial Meeting and Festival of the Arts; followed by Capiz which was the venue of the Dance Exchange: Second Philippine International Dance Festival hosted by Governor Victor Tangco; and then by Santiago City, Isabela which staged the Patarraday Festival hosted by Mayor Amy Navarro. July will center on Bohol through newly elected Gov. Chato coordinated by Gardy Labad. The events are linked to the Dynamism and Wealth of Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asia centered on the UN Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).