CCP Holds its 1st Performance Literature Festival

CCP celebrates its 46th anniversary with a three-day performance literature festival this 2015 in various venues of the centre, open to the public. As CCP’s inaugural festival of its kind, it aims to showcase to the public the correlation between literature and performing arts, tradition and innovation, as well as explore the notions of intertextuality. The festival celebrates how texts and text-makers relate socially in space and time, thus opening the conversation to all forms that wish to engage various literatures and performances.

“Performatura 2015 forms a part of the literary programmes of the CCP spearheaded by the Intertextual Division,” CCP Vice President and Artistic Director Chris Millado said. “We have opened the event to the general public specifically for the young people to realize our vision of ‘Art matters to the life of every Filipino’,” he added.

The three-day event, which will occur on November 6 to 8, has the primary goal of defining “intertextuality” through the pocket events. Herminio Beltran, CCP Intertextual Division Chief, said that intertextuality may refer to the relationship of the literary text to other texts, and the relationship of writers and readers. The word “Performatura”—coined by multi-awarded writer, performer, and educator Vim Nadera, Festival Director of Performatura 2015—is a combination of the words “performance” and “oratura.” With the country’s rich oral tradition (orature) that predates the Spanish colonisation, audiences may expect captivating and sublime performances from the said festival. 

Highlights of Performatura 2015 include the Epic Centre, Coffee and Conversations with National Artists, Chromatext Rebooted curated by Krip Yuson, and a day-long summit of performances from young poets. The festival also features daily workshops on the Balagtasan, speech choir, and ventriloquism. There will also be daily Park Poetry performances in the early evenings that will feature poems on love, gender, and protest by Gemino Abad, Jose “Pete” Lacaba, and Joey Ayala, respectively, among many other performances.

Meanwhile, Performatura will be featuring epics from Hudhud, Darangen, Sugidanun (presented in animations and visual art pieces by Liby Limoso), and will also be launching the sequels to Dr. Alicia Magos’ study on “Tikum Kadlum and Amburukay,” which will be performed by Federico “Tuohan” Caballero and Teresita “Abyaran” Caballero-Castor.

“We are harnessing the Centre’s 300 workforce by further developing their appreciation of Philippine letters and honing their performance skills, and in the process, become cultural ambassadors,” Millado explained. “We know that our people are the main agents in fulfilling the CCP vision,” he added. 

Although the festival is open to the public and free of charge, the public is advised to bring a book in order to gain access to the performances. Book donations will go to the Aklatang Bayan project of the CCP.