‘Our work grows from our conviction that a lived experience in another culture has a significant impact on an individual’s work and worldview, as well as a ripple effect on communities worldwide.’
The Asian Cultural Council and the power of art
Six decades of unleashing artistic potential to change the world for the better
Nov 18, 2023 05:40 AM
At a glance
Images by NOEL PABALATE
A cultural worker in Manila…
A dancer in Hong Kong…
A musician in Taipei…
A writer in Tokyo…
A curator in Singapore…
It was in recognition of the power and potential that lay in the hands of people like these as well as people in up to 16 other fields, such as archeology, dance, film, literature, photography, and theater, that American philanthropist John D. Rockefeller III founded the Asian Cultural Program in 1963, renamed Asian Cultural Council (ACC) in 1978 following the death of its founder.
A private non-profit, the organization, both grantmaking and grantseeking, is aimed at changing the world by fostering cultural respect and understanding between the US and Asia, as well as among the countries in Asia. In its own words, as recorded at the Rockefeller Archive Center, its main goal is “to stimulate, encourage, promote, and support activities important to human welfare.”
Since its founding, ACC has provided grants, fellowships, and scholarships worth more than $100 million to artists and arts professionals representing various fields of artistic and cultural pursuits and endeavors, including arts criticism, conservation, curation, and museum studies, in 26 countries (and counting) through over 6,000 exchanges. In a statement on its website, the ACC elaborates on its relentless pursuit of John D. Rockefeller’s vision: “Our work grows from our conviction that a lived experience in another culture has a significant impact on an individual’s work and worldview, as well as a ripple effect on communities worldwide.”
Central to ACC’s operation are its headquarters in New York and its regional offices and affiliates in Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, and Manila, although the scope in which it finds worthy grantees, mentees, and scholars, as well as projects, is a growing number of regions, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.
In Manila, ACC set up the ACC Philippines Foundation (ACCPF) in 2000. Otherwise called the Philippines Fellowship Program for the exchange of artists, scholars, and specialists between the Philippines and the US, and the Philippines and other countries in Asia, the ACCPF is currently headed by ACC trustees Ernest L. Escaler, Maria Isabel G. Ongpin, Isabel Caro Wilson, Josie Cruz Natori, and David Rockefeller, Jr. Escaler is ACCPF chairman while, earlier this year in New York, Natori was elected chair of the board of trustees at ACC.
After the kick-off that the ACC mounted in New York City last year, the ACCPF hosted a dinner gala at the Maynila Ballroom of the Manila Hotel on Nov. 8 to celebrate six decades of championing and unleashing artistic and cultural potential, both in an individual and in an institution to change the world for the better. The gala was attended by no less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., his wife, the first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and the movers and shakers of Philippine culture, as well as a delegation from the ACC New York headquarters.
Margarita Fores prepared a three-course dinner highlighting Filipino cuisine for the 200 guests, who were entertained with cultural performances by Bituin Escalante, Poppert Bernadas, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, and Alice Reyes Dance Philippines.
