5TH IBAG-IW AIMS FOR GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS

November 12, 2022 Community Billboard

An annual arts festival aims for a globally competitive creative industry. Creative sectors in the city take centerstage for the 5th offering of the Ibag -iw 2022 themed “Locally Creative, Globally Competitive,”
showcasing arts and crafts of local artists and artisans in the city. City Tourism Officer, Alec Mapalo said the objectives for this year’s celebration is to provide a free, creative space for the celebration of Cordillera’s social and cultural identity through local art expression and to enhance the skill sets, knowledge, and values of local artists through various activities towards communal development, and
global competence as well as to broaden public perspective on the essence of the local arts scene in marking our global identity.

Mapalo said “As we celebrate this year’s Ibagiw Creative Festival, we put all our efforts in pushing arts, crafts and culture more inclusive and competitive. The Hapit di Aamod contemporary exhibit of Tam-awan Village is one perfect way for us to support and feature locally creative artists who have all the talents and
capabilities to be competitive globally.

The Ibag iw is known for the “Creative Crawl,” of all Ibagiw events via a special package for local and national tourists to visit, participate and enjoy the various activities and events venues of this year’s
festival. Exhibitions scattered all over the city at the Gallery 2600, Baguio Convention Center, Tam Awan Village, VOCAS and Museyo Kordilerya, University of the Philippines – Baguio. Creative Talks and
Capability Building & Workshop will also be spearheaded by Department of Trade and Industry Baguio for
the creative industry, “Termed as the Ibagiw Business Building Blocks,” a series of capability building activities for the creatives, with various resource persons who will talk about starting a business, trends about housewares and food packaging, workshops, and an investment forum.

The Mandeko Kito, now at the Saint Louis Center, Assumption Rd, the trade fair embodies the Ibaloy phrase, meaning “let’s sell”, Mandeko Kito is the premier artisans’ market showcasing Cordilleran crafts and products. Mapalo said “Ibag iw is immortalizing the creations of artists we have become a melting pot of cordilleran culture and this is what we want to bring globally, we would like to assist our craftsmen and
artists in bringing of their products globally.”

It was in 2017, when Baguio City was included among the 64 cities from 44 countries designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [Unesco] to be part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) with the objective of fostering innovations and creativity as key drivers for a more sustainable and inclusive urban development. A first for the country, Baguio was included in the
UCCN network for “crafts and folk arts” of the Cordilleras seen in architecture, parks, textile, fabrics, furniture, and furnishing fashion accessories, paintings, sculpture, homes and building designs in the City, comprising the “creative economy,” from the sale of works from these artists and artisans.

Artists and artisans catapulted the city to becoming part of the international network, hailing the mountain city as a creative hub with the objective of fostering innovations and creativity as key drivers for a more sustainable and inclusive urban development. The festival formally opens November 12.

Maria Elena Catajan