The Conferment Ceremonies for 12 individuals, a performing group and a publication that were named recipients of the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining in 2020 for their outstanding achievements and contributions to Philippine arts and culture was recently held.
The Gawad CCP Para sa Sining is the highest award given by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
The awarding ceremonies, originally set in 2021, were postponed due to COVID-19.
This year, the award is conferred on
1. Rafael Catalino “Nonoy” Froilan for Dance
2. Raul M. Sunico for Music
3. Felix “Nonon” Padilla for Theater
4. Luis “Junyee” Yee, Jr. for Visual Arts
5. Lualhati Bautista for Literature
6. Clodualdo “Doy” del Mundo, Jr. for Film and Broadcast Arts
7. Cristina Turalba for Architecture
8. Kenneth Cobonpue for Design
9. Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG) for Culture of its Region
10.Nestor Horfilla for Cultural Work and Research
11.Liwayway Magazine for Development of Philippine Culture
12.Antonio Fabella for Dance (Posthumous)
13.Alice Guillermo for Cultural Research (Posthumous)
Danilo Dolor will receive the Tanging Parangal for the development and support of the arts.
About the awardees:
Rafael Catalino “Nonoy” Froilan is one of the country’s most talented and prolific dancers/choreographers. One of the pioneers of Ballet Philippines, he is known as the Philippines’ beloved Premiere Danseur, partnering with the leading ballerinas of his time and best remembered for his leading roles in groundbreaking dance productions such as Songs of a Wayfarer and Song of Adarna by Norman Walker, Full-length Roi David by Jean Qeroc, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Amada, Itim Asu, Carmina Burana, Misang Pilipino, Ang Konsiyerto, Baile de Ayer, Sisa Te Deum, Asong Ulol, Ensalada and Yerma. As a choreographer, he has contributed greatly to the body of original Filipino dance with his Danzas, 1986, One Afternoon, 1987, Iba’t IbangSalita, 1988 and Amparo, 1990.
Raul M. Sunico is an outstanding Filipino pianist, arranger, composer, and teacher. He is an advocate of Philippine music, preserving it for the enjoyment of future generations through his large discography that encompasses around fifty compact discs recordings, including his piano transcriptions of Filipino folk songs and kundimans, original compositions, piano arrangements of Philippine songs in Himig and “Mga Awit ng Himagsikan”. He also championed music education and authored the textbook series “Musika at Sining” for grades 3 to 6 used in public schools. He is a gifted pianist who will always be remembered for his pianistic feat of being the only Filipino pianist to perform four Rachmaninoff concertos in one concert and the three Tchaikovsky concertos in another.
Kenneth Cobonpue is an internationally acclaimed industrial designer who made his mark with his signature designs in natural fibers and materials. His designs mainly focus on nature’s forms using rattan, buri, bamboo and abaca. Cobonpue integrates locally sourced organic materials with innovative hand-made production techniques offering an alternative to the Western definition of modern design. His unique and singular furniture pieces that include chairs, tables, beds and complements are found in private homes and public establishments all over the world, and the recognition given him by the international design community has put Philippine modern design on the map of the world.
The Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG) is a trailblazer in the establishment of an active theater in the Southern Philippines. Its productions are built from local creative expressions in dance, music, literature, the visual arts, and indigenous lore. A dance-theater format based on the Pangalay dance form of the Sulu Archipelago is its signature that helps keep this ancient tradition alive.
Nestor Horfilla is a major force in the propagation of cultural work as part of development work in the regions. He pioneered the establishment of the first ever Mindanao Community Theater Network in the 1980s along with development and social worker Karl Gaspar, which organized hundreds of community and church based cultural organizations in the regions. He is a leading advocate of immersion in the cultural watershed of indigenous knowledge systems and practices towards the creation of art works that explore the dynamics of the times.
Felix “Nonon” Padilla is one of the most original, accomplished and influential figures in contemporary Philippine theater. With a career spanning more than 50 years, he is both a theater artist and a visual artist. He has always been at the forefront of theater, holding the distinction of being the only theater practitioner to serve as artistic director of two of the country’s trailblazing theater companies – Philippine Educational Theater Association in the early 1970s and Tanghalang Pilipino which he founded in 1987. He founded the Tanghalang Pilipino’s Actors Company that became the breeding ground of Filipino theatrical talents that now dominate Philippine theater.
Luis “Junyee” Yee, Jr. has a sizable body of work that definitely established the trend in indigenous materials. His work assembles, binds, or weaves together into various shapes organic materials such as dried pods, twisted roots, banana pulp, coconut shells, twigs, and coconut fiber. Whether exhibited in a gallery or in an urban context, his installations are a reclaiming space for nature. One of his works entitled “Angud, A Forest Once” was exhibited at the Front Lawn of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2007.
Lualhati Bautista is one of the foremost Filipino female novelists in the history of contemporary Philippine literature. Her major works include books such as Dekada ’70, Bata, Bata, Pa’no Ka Ginawa?, ‘GAPÔ, Desaparesidos, Bulaklak sa City Jail, Hinugot sa Tadyang, and Sonata. A winner of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards (1980, 1982, 1983 and 1984), she became a National Fellow for Fiction of the University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center in 1986. Bautista also served as vice-president of the Screenwriters Guild of the Philippines and as chair of the Kapisanan ng mga Manunulat ng Nobelang Popular.
Clodualdo “Doy” del Mundo, Jr. is the legendary screenwriter of films that have become classic gems of Philippine cinema, namely Maynila… Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag, Kisapmata, Itim, Batch ‘81, ‘Merika, Mulanay, and Bayaning 3rd World. He is the author of books such as Writing for Film, Philippine Mass Media: A Book of Readings (ed.), Maynila…, ‘Merika, Alyas Raha Matanda: Tatlong Dulang Pampelikula, and Native Resistance: Philippine Cinema and Colonialism 1898-1941. He is also a highly esteemed educator responsible for starting the Communication Arts program of De La Salle University Manila.
Cristina Turalba is an advocate of heritage conservation and was part of several heritage-related activities of the United Architects of the Philippines. She implemented the NCCA-UAP Documentation of Philippine Heritage Structures and Cultural Sites. She led numerous projects of her company the Active Group Inc. to develop socialized housing, sustainable and living communities for Filipinos and world-class developments. Her published works include Mavid A Vatan (Compendium of Documents on Batanes for the 2004-2007 nomination bid for inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Sites) in 2004 Philippine Heritage Architecture before 1521 to the 1970’s in 2005 and Audio Visual Textbook of Philippine Architecture published by NCCA in 2008. Architect Turalba was one of the first Filipino female architects and was a pioneer in the field of architecture.
Liwayway is a Filipino magazine established in the Philippines in 1922 that published significant works of known writers and poets as well as works of National Artists for Literature Amado V. Fernandez, Lazaro Francisco, Virgilio Almario and Cirilo Bautista and National Artist for Visual Arts Francisco V. Coching. It is home of well-known comic series such as Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (1925) and Kenkoy (1929). As such, Liwayway was the venue for aspiring writers, giving them a space for their work and helping them find an audience for their works. At the same time, Liwayway brought Filipino literature to the masses and helped gain an appreciation for homegrown writers.
Antonio L. Fabella was one of the country’s most talented and most prolific choreographers. His works include Tambol at Padyak, Araw at Buwan (1976) and Kristo (1977) and notable works La Verite (1970), Semana Santa (1971), Prince of the Pagodas (1972). His choreographies contributed to the development of Philippine dance. He popularized the medium of classical and contemporary ballet, fusing them to evolve a distinct form and style. He was a former member and principal dancer of Bayanihan, Alice Reyes Modern Dance, Company, and Ballet Philippines choreographer of the acclaimed Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company, Member of the Artistic Council of the Philippine Ballet Theater and Artistic director of QC Performing Arts Group and the Manila Dance Center that provided free training to poor children in performing arts.
Dr. Alice Guerrero-Guillermo was a giant in the field of art criticism and art history. She was conferred The CCP Centennial Honor for the Arts on February 2, 1999 in recognition for her remarkable contributions to Philippine Art Criticism with a distinctly nationalist perspective. Among her legacies are her multiple books and essays on art history, art criticism and cultural studies that served as foundation for Art Studies in the Philippines. Among her books are – Cebu: A Heritage of Art, 1991, Color in Philippine Art, 1993, CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, 1994 edition, Protest: Revolutionary Art in the Philippines 1970-1990, 2001, Inscapes: The Art of Agnes Arellano, 2008, The Art of Duddley Diaz, 2009, Diosdado Magno Lorenzo; Art Rebel to Legend, 2009, Marxism In The Philippines: Continuing Engagements, 2010 (co-author), Zeal of Art Tam P. Austria: My Inspirer, 2015. She co-authored the textbooks Art: Perception and Appreciation, 1976, Ang Sining sa Kasaysayang Filipino (Art in Philippine History), 1991 and Art and Society, 1997.
Danilo Dolor is known to be a patron of Philippine culture and arts. He founded The Tribung Pilipino Foundation in 1978, which has shown more than 400 concerts that focus on promoting, preserving, and disseminating traditional Filipino music. He mounted an exhibit called “The Golden Years: Memorable Tagalog Movie Ads 1946-1956,” housing prominent postwar movie ads. He presented “Alitaptap Kilap-Kilap” in the opening of the 2012 Cinemalaya, showing notable pre-war movie advertisements from 1936-1941 or the so-called first golden years of Philippine cinema.
The Gawad CCP Para sa Sining, which is given every three years, is awarded to artists or groups of artists who have consistently produced outstanding works, and enriched the development of their art form. The award is also given to cultural workers, who through their works in research, curatorship and administration, have helped to develop and enrich Philippine art. The Tanging Parangal is given to individuals or organizations to honor their outstanding contributions to the development of the arts in the country.
