A celebration of the partnership and friendship of the European Union with the Philippines
Engage yourself in a colorful array of cultural treats from May to June 2022 as the European Union presents “Viva Europa 2022.”
During this cultural summer, get ready for a wonderful European online and onsite experience of the best of poetry, visual arts, music, film, architecture, and sharing of ideas.
Viva Europa 2022 aims at highlighting the partnership, friendship, and the shared cultural values between the EU and the Philippines in the context of the bilateral Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. The cultural festival kicked off on the occasion of the commemoration of Europe Day on May 9.
Europe Day celebrates peace and unity in Europe. The date marks the anniversary of the historic “Schuman Declaration” that set out the idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe, which would make war between Europe’s nations unthinkable. This declaration started the process of European integration through what is currently the European Union, a union of 27 European countries founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.
European Union Ambassador Luc Véron said that in the Philippines, Europe Day celebrations are an opportunity to signify the partnership and friendship between the European Union and the Philippines.
Viva Europa 2021 is the outcome of the cooperation between the EU Delegation to the Philippines, the embassies of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Spain and Instituto Cervantes de Manila, Ireland, France and Alliance Francaise de Manille, Italy through the Philippine-Italian Association, Hungary, Austria, Poland, the University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University.
Catch any of these activities on the calendar.
Viva Europa 2022 aims at highlighting the partnership, friendship, and the shared cultural values between the EU and the Philippines in the context of the bilateral Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.
Euro-Pinoy Visual Arts Exhibition: “Ebb and Flow: Return to Nature”
European and Filipino artists have joined forces to show their advocacy for “Water” and marine resources preservation through paintings and sculpture. This exhibition is ongoing until May 31 at the Yuchengco Museum, Makati City. The exhibition fittingly coincides with the EU Green Week (May 30 to June 5) and the lead-up to the UN Ocean’s Conference (Lisbon, June 27-July 1, 2022). Curated by César Caballero, the exhibition is participated in by Louis Dumont (Belgium), Rene Retier (Germany), César Caballero (Spain), Henri Eteve (France), Viviana Riccelli (Italy), Radha Makitalo (Finland), Jeanette Kamphuis (Sweden), Romania Diaz (Philippines and Italy), and Fara Manuel Nolasco, Kizel Cotiw-an, and Ramon Diaz (Philippines).
Bersong Euro-Pinoy
Get caught in the passion, the romance and fire of European and Filipino poetry on May 27, 2022 from 4 to 6 p.m. This year’s recital will have the participation of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Ireland, France, Italy, Austria, and Poland. Notable Filipino poets from the University of Santo Tomas will read their own works. Distinguished poets from the university include Nerisa del Carmen Guevara, Benedict Parfan, Joselito delos Reyes, and Paul Castillo.
This year, La Punta della Lingua poetry festival from Italy will once again join the Bersong Euro-Pinoy poetry recital. Poems to be rendered adhere to the theme of “Togetherness and Hope.” Bersong Euro-Pinoy will be streamed live at the EU Delegation to the Philippines’ Facebook page.
Musica FEUropa Choral Festival
If you are a fan of choral music or if you were once a member of your school choir, you will surely enjoy Musica FEUropa. The last of the traditional choral festival of the Far Eastern University will be held in the afternoon of May 28, 2022. Watch the choirs perform famous music from folk to classical from both the EU and the Philippines in the concert.
Also held as part of the Viva Europa 2022 activities were a free-of-charge webinar on “Architectural Heritage as expression of local communities’ identity hosted by the Philippine Italian Association and Politecnico di Milano and the reopening of Cine Adarna at the Film Institute of UP Diliman hosted by the embassy of Italy in Manila in partnership with the Philippine Italian Association, to celebrate the centennial of the great Pier Paolo Pasolini.
The French embassy, on the other hand, organized the “Night of Ideas” and brought together cultural institutions and film professionals from France, Italy, Romania, and the Philippines to exchange ideas on how the arts, cinema, society could thrive in the post-Covid world.
Earlier, the Instituto de Cervantes of Manila held a flute concert in the context of the exhibition “From the First Circumnavigation to the Manila Galleon: Music around the Iberian routes” at the National Museum.