A CELEBRATION of Filipino culture was held at Sigla: Ateneo Cultural Convention held on March 27-April 7 at the Loyola Heights campus.
The two-week convention was comprised of several sub-events such as Arete: Hayo 2017 or the School of Humanities (SOH) Week, ARSAFest 2017: Groove Circuit, Sigla workshops and exhibits, as well as the School of Social Sciences (SOSS) Festival.
Sigla is the new flagship project of Ateneo Baybayin in cooperation with other organizations, such as Ateneo Association of Communication Majors, Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices, Ateneo Resident Students Association (ARSA), Blue Indie Komiks, the Performing Arts Cluster of the Council of Organizations, Collegiate Society of Advertising, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Office of Student Activities, and the SOH and SOSS Sanggunian.
This year’s Sigla is themed “Kultura Bilang Búhay; Bilang Buháy (Culture as Life, Culture Alive),” which according to Project Head Jayvy Gamboa, aims to showcase how the Filipino culture is engrained in people’s daily experiences.
Highlights
Sigla conducted various activities that aimed to promote the Filipino culture in both the Ateneo and the Filipino community. Some of which include the Baybayin Calligraphy Workshop, Coffee Tasting Workshop, and the Filipino Meryenda Cooking Workshop.
The convention also had a conference that tackled different topics on the Filipino culture, including “Palakasan at ang Kulturang Filipino,” “Deaf culture at Kulturang Filipino,” and “Búhay sa Kulturang Filipino” discussed by Communication Department Chair Severino Sarmenta Jr, PhD, Rey Alfred Lee of the deaf community, and veteran actress Anita Linda, respectively.
A few of the exhibits featured in Sigla were curated by SSKAIT, LibrengKomiks, and Colcenar. Performances were done by HiblaSanghabi and Polytechnic University of the Philippines Bagong Himig Serenata, among others. Sessions were also dedicated to film viewing of Oro and Saving Sally, two entries in the recent 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Sigla in the Ateneo
Being the first of its kind in the Ateneo, Gamboa discussed that the convention has two main qualities: “experiential” and “inclusive.”
“Nilayon itong maging experiential sa pamamagitan ng pag-imbita ng mga panauhing hindi lamang pinag-aaralan ang kultura, kundi sila mismo ay nakikibahagi sa paglikha nito (It was aimed to be experiential through inviting panelists who did not only study culture, but also played a part in creating it)”, he said.
“Sa kabilang banda naman, nilayon itong maging inclusive sa pamamagitan ng paghahain ng malawak na mga aspekto at paksa ng kulturang Filipino (On the other hand, it was aimed to be inclusive through providing a diverse approach towards the aspects of and topics on the Filipino culture),” he added.
He also emphasized how Sigla serves as a response to the Loyola Schools’ need for more engagement in the Filipino culture.
“Kagaya ng layunin ng Baybayin, ang layunin ng Sigla ay makapaghain ng iba’t ibang oportunidad upang maranasan ang kulturang Filipino sa pag-asang higit na malaman ng mga Atenista ang Filipino sa kanilang mga sarili (Similar to Baybayin, Sigla’s aim is to provide different opportunities to experience the Filipino culture with the hope of the Ateneans knowing the Filipino more in themselves),” he said.
