Monday, September 27, 2010

PEACE PILLARS SEPT 24-26, 2010



PEACE PILLARS: ART WORKSHOP FOR PEACEBUILDING

BACKGROUND
The decorative pillar or totem pole's main purpose is to tell a story with symbols, typically animals and people. The story usually details the history and wealth of the family that commissioned it.
Traditionally, totem poles have been used to commemorate special events. During the totem creation process, the head carver often lived with the host family, sometimes for several months. A head carver managed two or more junior carvers during the process. The head carver was held in high esteem, and the head of the host family was responsible for making sure that he was comfortable, happy and entertained during his stay.
The meanings of the designs on totem poles or pillars are as varied as the cultures that make them. Totem poles may recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events. Some poles celebrate cultural beliefs, but others are mostly artistic presentations. Poles illustrate stories that commemorate historic persons, represent shamanic powers. House front poles were meant to show the success of the families.
Vertical order of images is widely believed to be a significant representation of importance. This idea is so pervasive that it has entered into common parlance with the phrase "low man on the totem pole." This phrase is indicative of the most common belief of ordering importance, that the higher figures on the pole are more important or prestigious.
Using these backgrounds, the Peace Pillars will be used as medium to present peace building and the importance of peace thru the creative process of painting on its surfaces rather than the traditional carving figures. The peace pillars will showcase the symbols of peace and the aspirations of the youth for achieving peace in the region.
The art workshop aims to commemorate peace as the main SUBJECT which will present the very importance of the pillar as proclaimer of special events. The art making itself will give significance to the art makers-participants as their interaction will exert peace building among them and their outputs, their own advocacy for peace.
OBJECTIVES
The workshop aims to:
1. Use the power and significance of the pillar in peace promotion.
2. Create a creative space for young advocates for peace.
3. Establish a venue for greater interaction among the members of the community.
4. Develop the artistic capacities and improve creative talents among the student-facilitators that uses art in peace promotions.
5. Promote peace thru the peace pillars in exhibitions, exchanges, program props or backdrop decorations, or in the ‘Adopt a Pillar Peace Promotion Program’.








 For a break, big bowls of halo-halo in Midsayap

 overwhelmed by the size of the halo-halo got myself speechless


 till night talaga work namin...overnight ang Linayag artists led by Au2x and Rob














 my part of the columns tribal art






 au2x, linayag artists leader and coordinator



Conducted-Facilitated by Al-Nezzar B. Ali, Mindanao Representative National Committee on Visual Arts, National Commission for Culture and the Arts