Although Joey Ayala, who was among the recipients of the 2024 Gawad CCP para sa Sining for what he has accomplished in music, might have delivered the most riveting acceptance speech (he was candid, he was clever, and he was funny)—“CCP (Cultural Center of the Philippines) po ha, not CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines)!”—drawing the most lively reaction from the audience at the 55th anniversary celebration of the CCP at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater on Friday night, Sept. 20, it was the Gawad para sa Sining awardee for the visual arts Julie Lluch who might have so eloquently and profoundly shared the condition of the artist.
“May this award spurn me on not toward greater heights, but toward the lower depths,” she said. “Because it is in the lower depths that the artist may see, smell, taste, and feel the festering wounds of suffering humanity.”
Art, after all, is an exploration of the human condition, an interpretation of the agonies and the ecstasies we undergo as human beings, an expression of our best hopes or our worst fears.
Lea Salonga, upon whom the Gawad CCP para sa Sining for her achievements in theater, was bestowed, said something along the same lines, although she focused more on the village that it would take for a career like hers as “an artist in this ephemeral art form” to be possible. “I don’t think any artist can work in a vacuum,” she said. “A career like mine would not have been possible without a village, without a support system, without the people who are actively behind (this career) that has spanned 47 years.” Lea cited many people whom she credited for her success, including her mentors Zenaida Amador and Baby Barredo, her mother Ligaya Salonga, her brother Gerard Salonga, the CCP, and also her fans because, as she put it, “without you, this career would not be possible.”
It does take a village to create art, especially if the most noble of its goals is to make a meaningful impact, that is, to change minds, to comfort hearts, to reveal the truth, or to shake up the system, challenging dominant points of view. Gino Gonzales, who received the Gawad CCP para sa Sining for his work on design and related arts, such as costume design, also thanked the people he considered responsible for the art he had been given the opportunity to create, some of whom he roll-called with no surnames, just first names or nicknames prefixed with endearing terms of respect, such as tito (uncle) or ate (sister) or kuya (brother).
When Anton Huang, who went up the stage to accept what the CCP calls Tanging Pangaral, a tribute given posthumously this year to his mother Nedy Tantoco, as well as to Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, he represented, in behalf of his mother, the fact that art does demand the participation of all, including the support of the patrons of the arts and their efforts, either as members of the private sector or the government, to champion and to promote artistic and cultural activities. “She believed that the arts had the power to transcend time, to speak to the soul, and to unite us all,” Anton said of his mother. “And tonight, as we honor her memory, I am reminded of how much she gave to ensure that this legacy would endure.”
The Gawad CCP para sa Sining is described by the cultural institution now headed by Jaime Laya as chairman of the board of trustees and Kaye Tinga as president as “the highest accolade bestowed by the CCP, honoring artists and cultural leaders across various disciplines for their exceptional contributions to Philippine culture and arts.”
The other artists honored at the awards night, a gala dubbed “Gabi ng Parangal at Pagdiriwang: Gawad CCP para sa Sining at Ika-55 na Anibersaryo” hosted by award-winning actress Dolly de Leon and National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab were dance visionary Gener Caringal, literary great Pete Lacaba, film and broadcast arts legend Mario O’Hara, and filmmaker Mike de Leon, who declined to accept the award.
Each awardee was honored not only with a trophy, a plaque, and cash, but also with a program inspired by his or her achievements featuring some of the country’s top talents, such as singer Poppert Bernadas, Metropop Music Festival 2003 winner Bayang Barrios with the Naliyagan Band, writer and rap artist Ernesto Canoy, Aliw Awards’ Best New Artist and Best Actor in a Musical Awards 2017/2018 David Ezra, multi-talented artist Floyd Tena, soprano Shaira Opsimar, actor Ross Pesigan, and actress and singer Rissey Reyes-Robinson, as well the Loboc Children’s Choir, the Ateneo Chamber Singers, the CEU Folk Dance Troupe, the CCP resident folk dance company Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group, and Alice Reyes Dance Philippines. Some of the performances were made even more special with the participation of cellist Glenn Aquias, pianist Benedict Magboo, and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Herminigildo Ranera.
The CCP has been the cornerstone of the Philippine cultural landscape, serving as a beacon for artistic expression and cultural dialogue that helps in nation-building and national development.
A special exhibition, “Luminaries and Legacies,” has been mounted as part of the celebration, featuring the works and life achievements of the 2024 Gawad CCP Awardees. The exhibit, curated by Esty Bagos, runs at the lobby on the fifth floor of the Samsung Performing Arts Theater until Sept. 27.