Looking for a more viable source for your arts studies? Well, arts students, look no further as the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) has launched a digital edition of its Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (EPA).
Making art matter to every Filipino, the unveiling of the virtual version of the EPA, a.k.a the Holy Grail of the local cultural scene, to the public on Nov. 18 is one of its flagship educational projects.
“We are proud to launch the CCP EPA Digital Edition Website. The CCP EPA Digital Website is the online version of the encyclopedia that can be viewed with the need of an internet connection and subscription,” said CCP Vice President and Artistic Director Chris Millado. “The website comprises up-to-date information about different art forms, as well as additional visuals like videos. The project is an answer to the challenge of contemporary times to access information right away without the constraints of distance and time.”
After publishing the second print edition of the CCP EPA in 2018, the CCP has taken the next logical step by launching the CCP EPA Digital Edition this year.
Now in a digital platform, the CCP EPA Digital hopes to cater to the digitally-inclined young Filipinos specifically students and researchers alike to help in their academic and research needs most especially in these times when the education sector has been forced to migrate online because of the ongoing pandemic.
The website has nine sections. The section on Peoples of the Philippines contains the master essays on 54 ethnolinguistic groups, arranged alphabetically from Aeta to Yakan. The next eight sections focus on the eight arts, namely: Architecture, Visual Arts, Film, Dance, Music, Theater, Broadcast Arts, and Literature. Each section is further divided into Historical Essays, Forms and Types, Aspects, Works, and Artists and Organizations.
The digital encyclopedia also contains hundreds of video excerpts from plays and dance and music performances, all sourced from the vast video archives of the CCP, thus enhancing even more our knowledge and appreciation of Philippine art.
The website, which contains all of the more than 5,000 articles and more than 5,000 photos of the print edition, can be accessed by going to epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph.