Luminaries and Legacies: Inside the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining 2024 awards night

“The excellence we honour tonight is a challenge, not only for aspiring talents, but also to parents and teachers, to men and women among the masses. The talented are given models to follow, while the average Filipino is given a glimpse of the excellent. Something more elevated than the pedestrian, performance worthy of being seen, books that should be read, graphic arts and films worthy of appreciation, or structures that should be cherished,” Laya continued. He emphasised that arts and culture are not only for the elite and the knowledgeable but for all, regardless of ethnic background and socio-economic status. “All voices should be heard, all senses fulfilled,” he added.

In between the speeches, several performances brought to the stage some selections among the oeuvre of the awardees. The Loboc Children’s Choir sang Medley ng mga Awiting Bayan. Ross Pesigan delivered Lacaba’s Ang mga Kagilagilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Juan de la Cruz as a monologue excerpt. Monica Gana of Alice Reyes Dance Philippines (ARDP) interpreted Lluch’s Kairos sculpture into a ballet dance accompanied by Glenn Aquias in a cello. Bayang Barrios, Poppert Bernadas, Ang Naliyagan, and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) performed Ayala’s Agila. Other musical numbers featured Rissey Reyes-Robinson, Shaira Opsimar, David Ezra, Floyd Tena, The Nightingales, and the Ateneo Chamber Singers to highlight some of the film works of De Leon and O’Hara, Gino Gonzales’s scenographies and Ternocon, as well as some of Salonga’s iconic songs from the local and international musical theatre scene. ARDP revived Caringal’s iconic choreography of Ang Sultan, and Benedict Magboo in piano and the PPO to perform the ballet’s musical score—National Artist Lucrecia Kasilag’s Divertissement.

In their speeches, the awardees expressed gratitude and humility toward the people instrumental to their growth and success, from the big names in their respective industries to their colleagues, contemporaries, and even the cultural workers and staff who helped them along the way.

At the Jaime Zobel de Ayala Hall, CCP mounted the exhibition Luminaries and Legacies to highlight the works of this year’s Gawad CCP Para sa Sining and the award’s trophy designs over the years. The exhibition ran from September 20 to 27.

For more than five decades, CCP has emphasised the importance of supporting and recognising Filipino talents while providing them with platforms to pursue excellence in their respective art forms.

Since its inauguration in 1969, the CCP has been the cornerstone of the Philippine cultural landscape, serving as a beacon for artistic expression and cultural dialogue that contributes to national development.

The CCP’s celebration of its 55th anniversary coincided with the conferment of the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining on outstanding Filipino artists and cultural workers, all of them having contributed to the vision and mission of the CCP through their work.

“Being Filipino is no easy thing to define. Our culture is dynamic; we are consistently evolving, and the CCP has been a witness to that evolution… every performance, every artwork, every creative endeavour here is not just a reflection of who we are, but a glimpse of what we could be,” said President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr whose speech was read by his sister, Irene Marcos-Araneta.

In his acceptance speech, Gawad CCP Para sa Sining awardee for music Ayala echoed in his acceptance speech during the occasion.

“We have been creating and performing for about four decades and have collaborated with many musicians in the band and in various projects. We could not have sustained our artistic journeys without the jumpstart energy that flowed from the Cultural Center of the Philippines,” enthused Ayala, who credited the CCP outreach programs as the starting point of his long music career.

For Ayala and his fellow awardees, the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining represent recognition and a testament to the significance of their arts.

“My art has always been a personal creation that I wanted to share with my audience. It feels wonderful, as an artist, to be seen, understood, and today, recognized. This award tells me that my art mattered to those who received it. My dances, though wordless, spoke volumes about what is truly inside my heart—a deep love for our country and the art of dance,” said Caringal, who regaled the audience with his wit and candour during his acceptance speech.

In her speech, Lluch confided that receiving the award caused her some uneasiness because she might spend the rest of her artistic life trying to justify it to herself. “Levity aside, the CCP Gawad should spur me on—not to greater heights, but to lower depths that every artist needs to plumb or descend to and touch the festering wounds of suffering humanity.” She prayed that she would be “clay in the potter’s hands, inconsequential in itself, but in the gentle grasp of the Maker, to be transformed into a pure vessel of beauty, to be used serviceably in the sacred altars of the Lord.”

For his family, teachers, friends, mentors, lighting designers, fairy godmothers, frenemies, theatre directors, the staff who built the sets and costumes for various productions, and his studio team who have been intrinsic to his growth and work as a designer, Gonzales said, “I would not be standing here today without all your contributions.”

Gamboa dedicated her awards to “the true inspiration behind our hard work—the wonderful people of Negros Occidental, who I hope will have our traditions in art and culture embedded in their hearts and worn with pride.”

“I don’t think any artist can work in a vacuum. As an artist in this ephemeral art form, I don’t work alone… a career like mine would not be possible without a village, a support system, and the people who are actively behind me,” shared Salonga, who has been working in the industry for 47 years and counting.

For Loboc Children’s Choir musical director and conductor Taldo, the award is a promise to the Filipino people: “a push to do more for our country and fellow citizens, especially in the field of art and culture.”

Remembering literary greats National Artists Nick Joaquin, Bien Lumbera, Rolando Tinio, Lino Brocka, and Ishmael Bernal, Lacaba called on fellow artists to speak up and continue the fight for justice and freedom.

“Sa panahong ito na patuloy ang EJK, red-tagging, pagpapakulong at pagdisappear ng mga aktibista, anakpawis, environmentalist, katutubo, artista, at peryodista, para sa akin, paalala ang gawad na ito na kailangan nating magpatuloy sa pakikibaka tungo sa demokrasya, kalayaan, at katarungang panlipunan.  Kaya naman, nanawagan ako sa kapwa mga alagad ng sining na magsalita, makialam, at makibaka. Tandaan natin ang aral ng kasaysayan at makibaka para sa kinabukasan. (In this period where extrajudicial killings, red-tagging, imprisonment and disappearances of activists, common folk, environmentalists, indigenous peoples, artists and journalists, this recognition for me is a reminder that we have to continue fighting for democracy, freedom, and human rights. Hence, I am calling my fellow people’s artists to fight for our future.) Never again, never forget,” said Lacaba, who dedicated the awards to his slain brother Eman Lacaba, adding that the event coincidentally happened the day before the anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law.

Even though he declined the award, filmmaker Mike de Leon was honoured with a presentation of his cinematic works.

“This is an occasion to celebrate achievement and to envision a future where talent is recognized and fostered, where the arts are accessible to a knowledgeable and appreciative public, and where a culture of inclusivity exists—a conviction that the arts are not only for the talented or the elite but for all Filipinos,” stressed CCP chairman Laya.

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