Culture and Arts Notebook

Group calls for simple Christmas celebrations, solidarity with disaster survivors 12 November 2025, Quezon City.  Following the series of tragic disasters during the “ber” months that left a trail of destruction and brought immense suffering to countless families, the environmental…

by George Banez “Biologists seem to care more about eagles than the people living in the forests with them.” The executive director of the Social Development Research Center (SDRC), an anthropologist, told me that in 1989. The young me, a budding…

The National Library of the Philippines (NLP), in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), officially opened the 35th Library and Information Services Month (LISM) at the historic Metropolitan Theater in Manila on November 5, 2025.…

The Third Pragjyotishpur Literature Festival, with a series of fascinating deliberations, will open up the doors for author-translators, art-connoisseurs, critics, budding writers, performing artists, and translators with other literature enthusiasts to rediscover the legacy of far eastern Bharat. Organized by…

In the center of Seoul, South Korea, the vibrant district of Insa-dong stands as one of the country’s most visited cultural destinations, a place where art, tradition, and modern creativity unite. Last September, Insa-dong hosted an international art and media…

In a time when corruption continues to bleed the nation dry, artists across the Philippines are joining the Concerned Artists of the Philippines’ (CAP) campaign called KORAPTOBER. This movement transforms anger and frustration into creativity, calling out the systems of…

After a careful review and deliberation by a panel of judges composed of practicing documentary photographers, visual communications experts, and the local Walk Leader, “Tender Resilience” by Christopher D. Leyson was selected as the winning entry of the Scott Kelby’s Worldwide…

The 9th Chalachitram National Film Festival, rescheduled for  29 and 30 November 2025 at Jyoti Chitraban premises in the prehistoric city, will showcase nearly 40 acclaimed short features and documentaries. Organized by Chalachitram, a subsidiary of Vishwa Samvad Kendra- Assam…

by George Banez Picture our destination —  the tiny island of Rapu Rapu, just  22 mi (36km) from the port of Legazpi City on the western shores of Albay Gulf.  In 2013, it took us over three hours to reach it…

Two exhibits celebrate Philippine intangible cultural heritage in celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Month and Museums and Galleries Month. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) presents “Haggi̱yo, Huwah! A Living Heritage of the Tuwali Ifugao of Hungduan,…