Philippine Cultural Officers Engage with National Artist and Cultural Experts in Cultural Retooling Course Year 2

            Mr. Paolo Mercado discusses the promotion of Philippine Creative Industries.                 

MANILA 29 November 2023 – Thirty (30) cultural officers from various Foreign Service Posts (FSPs) and personnel from Home Office participated in the Cultural Retooling Course Year 2 held in Baguio City from 20 to 25 November 2023, conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs - Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy (OPCD), in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

With the theme “Navigating the Cultural Landscape: Strategies for Sustainable Arts Diplomacy,” the Retooling Course equipped the participants with adequate knowledge and skills to efficiently and effectively conduct cultural diplomacy through various approaches in the planning and implementation of projects related to cultural heritage and the creative industry. The following subthemes ensured the participants’ holistic training in different aspects of cultural diplomacy: (1) Philippine Creative Industries; (2) Arts, Culture and Philippine History and Arts Programming and Production Management; (3) Project Development and Project Proposal Writing; (4) Project Curation and Designing a Space/Venue; and (5) Image Branding and Marketing.

In his message to the participants, DFA Assistant Secretary for Public and Cultural Diplomacy Arvin R. De Leon emphasized the importance of the DFA Cultural Diplomacy Framework and the strategic utilization of cultural initiatives in pursuit of foreign policy interests in national security, economic diplomacy, and Overseas Filipinos.

Ms. Patricia Santiago talks about the mapping of cultural resources in different Foreign Service Posts.

The Retooling Course brought together a roster of distinguished resource persons, including National Artist for Film Kidlat Tahimik and public historian/columnist Professor Ambeth Ocampo of Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU). Other speakers included Mr. Paolo Mercado, President of Ogilvy Consulting Asia Pacific; Ms. Patricia Santiago, Trainer and Workshop Designer from CCP’s Arts Education Department; Mr. Dennis Marasigan, Vice President and Artistic Director of CCP; Mr. Guillermo “Ige” Ramos, author and food historian; Mr. Nestor Jardin, CCP Consultant; Mr. Eric Sanchez, Founder and Creative Director of Contrast and Creative Design Services; Ms. Eva Marie G. Salvador, Associate Artistic Director of CCP’s Arts Education Department; and Mr. Benicio Sokkong, a multi-instrumentalist, researcher, performer and teacher of Music and Dances at University of Baguio.

Mr. Carlos Tamayo talks about sea turtle conservation in La Union.              

The participants during the Image Building and Community Engagement session in La Union.

Participants were also treated to a day trip to La Union, where they learned about La Union culture, as well as the societal and environmental advocacies of Mr. Lorenzo Cosio, Founder of El Union Coffee; Ms. Ea Torrado, Founder and Artistic Director of Daloy Dance Company; Ms. Eva Marie Wang, a Founding Member and Executive Committee Member of the Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Iskolar sa Ibang Bansa (ANIB); Mr. David Gerard Lougran, Co-Founder of Emerging Islands, a coastal arts residency program; and Mr. Carlos Bhima Tamayo, an environmentalist and head of Coastal Underwater Resource Management Actions (CURMA).

National Artist Kidlat Tahimik tours the participants in Ili-Likha Artist Village where he talks about filmmaking, Philippine history and indigenous cultures. 

The participants’ cultural immersion included  a lecture-demo with the students of Prof. Benicio Sokkong, Kalinga artist and academician; visit to the BenCab Museum; market tour with Mr. Ige Ramos, independent food scholar; and visit to the Ibagiw Festival 2023 at the Baguio Convention Center. 

Participants with OPCD Assistant Secretary Arvin R. de Leon and Ms. Eva Mari DG. Salvador, CCP Associate Artistic Director for Arts Education, during the Closing Ceremony of the Cultural Retooling Course.

The training was a mix of knowledge and strategy-building, with cultural immersion activities that included visits to the Ili-likha Artists’ Watering Hole, BenCab Museum, and Baguio Convention and Cultural Center. Participants also took part in events related to the Ibagiw Festival 2023, such as the Masferré Exhibit, the Dap-ay construction, and the Mandëko Kito artisans’ market held in the University of the Philippines Baguio. These immersive experiences allowed the rich culture of Baguio, a UNESCO Creative City for Crafts and Folk Art, to add flavor and context to the participants’ learning journey.

The cultural retooling course is part of OPCD’s initiative to further strengthen the Department’s cultural diplomacy mandate and professionalize its corps of cultural officers with the view of institutionalizing this training. This is a follow-up to the inaugural retooling course successfully held in 2022 in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. END