NATIONAL ARTS MONTH

January 27, 2024 Opinion

In honoring the artistic excellence and acclaiming the uniqueness and diversity of Filipino heritage and culture, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), led by its chairman Victorino Mapa Manalo, executive director Oscar G. Casaysay, and deputy executive directors Marichu Tellano and Bernan Joseph Corpuz, will spearhead the celebration of National Arts Month (NAM) 2024 this February by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 683 issued in 1991. Bannering the theme “Ani ng Sining, Bayang Malikhain,” NAM 2024 aims to outline the notion that the bountiful harvest of a Filipino creative nation is derived from collective human imagination, not just
individual aspirations.

Bayang Malikhain signifies a Filipino society that places a high value on imagination, innovation, and artistic expression as integral components of our identity and progress. In Bayang Malikhain, artistic pursuits are honored as vital contributions to the nation’s development and cultural richness. This year’s National Arts Month celebration aspires to channel the creative energies of artists towards nationbuilding, synergizing the arts into the lives of diverse
populations and communities (LGBTQIA+, PWD, IP, youth, seniors, etc.), and stimulating critical discourse, awareness, and appreciation of various arts and art disciplines through different emerging platforms.

The celebration is mainly composed of the flagship projects of the Subcommission on the Arts (SCA), led by its
commissioner and head of the National Committee on Music (NCM), Commissioner Arvin Manuel R. Villalon, with the heads of other six (6) national committees: head of the National Committee on Architecture and Allied Arts
(NCAAA), LAr. Cathe Desiree S. Nadal, PhD; head of the National Committee on Cinema (NCC), Mahar Sulayman
“Butch” L. Ibañez; head of the National Committee on Dance (NCD), Dr. Lordinio A. Vergara; head of the National Committee on Dramatic Arts (NCDA), Eduardo P. Perez; head of the National Committee on Literary Arts (NCLA), Niles Jordan D. Breis; and head of the National Committee on Visual Arts

(NCVA), Dr. Dennis E. Montera.