SHAMCEY Supsup, Ms. Universe 2011 third runner-up and PAF 2012 Ambassadress for Architecture, holds portrait sketches of her created by Nemesio “Nemi” Miranda, head of the National Committee on Visual Arts (NCVA), and Edgar Talusan Fernandez, visual artist and former head of the NCVA (extreme right). To Shamcey’s right—Felipe de Leon Jr., chair of NCCA; Gerard Lico, head, National Committee on Architecture and the Allied Arts; and Edward Perez, vice head, National Committee on Dramatic Arts.

Angono, Rizal, the art capital of the country, will host the Philippine Visual Arts Festival: The Rizal Experience (Pivaf: TRE), Feb 17-21.

Pivaf: TRE is the visual arts component of the Philippine Arts Festival (PAF) 2012. It aims to educate, entertain and inform the public about the continuing importance of aesthetics in life and the practical aspects of art.

During the five-day festival, artistic spaces and locations in Angono, Antipolo, Binangonan, Tanay, Taytay and other towns in Rizal will host various artistic events. SM City Taytay will host the grand opening event, which is a Rizal Experience Exhibition. The Art Camp and SM Taytay will host arts and crafts-making workshops; whereas, the Nemiranda Arthouse, Blanco Museum, Ang Nuno Gallery, 2nd Gallery, Atelier Gallery, Pinto Art Gallery, and Petroglyphs Museum will host a gallery and/or museum tour and other satellite exhibits.

A kite-flying festival will, likewise, be held at the Angono Lakeside. There will also be a photo exhibit of Philippine Churches, titled “Heritage,” at St. Clement Parish in Angono.

Other Rizal towns will serve as venue for a national arts conference (Thunderbird Resort in Binangonan); a cultural night (Club Manila East); an on-the-spot landscape painting (Daranak Falls, Tanay); an on-the-spot still life painting at a well-known Antipolo shrine with food delicacies of suman, kasoy and mangga; nature painting (Talim Island); and a Culinary Arts Festival (Las Brisas, Antipolo).

Pivaf is a grand celebration of visual arts that shows the development of arts as time goes by, how the artistry has been passed on to the current generation and the way they have transformed it. It also shows how the province of Rizal and the Rizaleños adapted to changes and how change influenced their art.

Spearheaded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Committee on Visual Arts in partnership with the Neo-Angono Arts Collective, an organization composed of young artists of Rizal, this year’s celebration is anchored on the theme “Tradition and Innovation.”

Angono is the home of petroglyphs, of visual arts masters such as Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Maestro Lucio San Pedro, and contemporary artists who imprinted their name in the Philippine art scene, like Nemiranda, Bobit Andres, Lito Balagtas, Salvador Juban, Keiye Miranda, Wire Tuazon (not Mike as earlier reported), Weng Unidad, Pepito Villaluz, Perdigon Vocalan, and the Blanco family. From generations to generations, the artistry has been taught and passed on. The province is, likewise, the home of art collectives such as the Angono Ateliers and the Neo-Angono Arts Collective.

PAF is held every February in celebration of the National Arts Month in pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 683 signed in 1991. The month-long festival is spearheaded by the NCCA, led by its chair Felipe de Leon Jr. and OIC-executive director Adelina Suemith, with Marichu Tellano as head of the Planning, Policy Formulation and Programming Division.

For more details on the activities and schedules, contact PAF and NCCA-Public Affairs and Information Office at (632) 5272192 or 0928-5081057, or PAF festival manager Vanessa Nicolas at 0918-6380412. Log on to www.ncca.gov.ph or e-mail at [email protected].