Culture and Arts Notebook

With the beginning of a new year comes the dreams of “Better.” We all desire this picture of a better this or better that. Most want it to fall into our lap, myself included. What dawns on me is that…

VISUAL ARTS     Sorsogon is a city in the Bicol Region located in the southern part of Luzon island, Philippines. Starting out as a mural artists’ group and joining several contests in the city, the group coined the term…

THREE HAIKUS AND A BACKSTORY       #1. all-embracing sky under your protective dome seas breath, mountains rise.   #2. there on an empty lot on a lone brown hilltop— tall, tall sunflowers.     #3. the dew on…

A call for bugkos — Bicolano term for unity in the upcoming elections through choosing better governance was depicted through symbols of a pink rose, ribbon, and different sectors in the community, in a recently unveiled citizen-led mural in Sorsogon City.…

Part Three of the Ayuweng Series to celebrate the International Decade of Indigenous Languages by Estella Wanden and Genevieve Balance Kupang On Celebrating the UN Decade of Indigenous Languages and Healing from the Virulent Covid-19 Virus Ahey, Ahoooy, Ahoooy, Aho-eeey! Greetings…

Song by Trudi Richards   Hopeful blues. Happy, upbeat, and free. The way she was told life was supposed to be! Look around and see a whole new world of possibility… “We’re here for each other, me for you and…

A SHORT SHORT STORY       From where I sit, eyes closed, I imagine myself journeying towards it, there where the absolute fount of inspiration can be found. The road is long and I see myself walking, on foot,…

POEM     by Erlie Lopez two am of a new year after raising a wineglass to the eve countdown the future spirals into my daze abed with a clock ticking in my head in seeming calendar whirl – one,…

PROSE POEM     Early morning is sacred time. Time to look far into the lightening horizon, calmly searching for signs inscribed in the skies. Time to look heavenward, there where the moon still sits high upon her throne, sharing…

Since 2017, a consortium of 12 different organizations has launched an annual Tibeb be Adebabay art festival (the Amharic expression equivalent with the English term art in public space). This year, the festival is happening with “the idea of filling…