What Cebu can learn from Malaysia Art Tour

CEBU, Philippines -  Cebuano artists Celso Pepito and Radel Paredes were among the 30 artists from all over Asia and as far as Iran and Finland who joined the Malaysia Contemporary Art Tourism held last April 10-14, 2011.

The international event was sponsored by the country's Ministry of Tourism and Art Malaysia, a leading art magazine based in Kuala Lumpur.

According to Paredes, participants were organized into two groups - one "assigned to homestay in a traditional village in Pahang" and "another sent to a sightseeing tour of Putrajaya, the new city near Kuala Lumpur known as Malaysia's showcase of state-of-the-art urban design."

Once at their respective venues, participants documented their experiences and impressions through paintings and sketches that will soon be exhibited in Kuala Lumpur this month.

"Cebu can learn a lot from the idea of art tourism and the way Malaysia made it happen," Paredes said when asked on these fresh strokes they've imbibed from their recent art tour. "The point is simply to find a way in which promoting art and promoting a place need not be in conflict."

He said that in the Malaysia Contemporary Art Tourism, this is done by inviting artists from Malaysia and other countries to go around tourist sites to induce art making. "The works, which come in different styles and techniques, are then collated for a future exhibition. But best of all, there was a lot of interaction among artists who agreed to collaborate for future projects, such as exchange exhibits, residency programs, or their own initiatives in organizing art tourism projects back home," he added.

As for Pepito, he shared that "what can be learned from their recent participation in the event is the great cooperation between a private individual and the government agencies."

The Art Tourism project in reality is an idea of Art Malaysia which is headed by Liew Kian Yap, this was learned. "With the strong belief in the project, the Ministry of Tourism of Malaysia has adopted, funded and implemented the project. It simply has shown that great ideas are mostly coming from the initiative of the private sector. One thing good about them was that the Malaysian government is very supportive of this Art Tourism initiative," Pepito emphasized.

Because of such initiative, government support back here was raised during the construction of this article, to which Paredes had replied: "The lack of government support has been a major source of frustration among artists, particularly those from the regions. But personally, I believe the arts are better left as a private enterprise rather than have a government acting as the biggest patron. Thus, I still think that artists must aim for self-reliance and try to make their own initiatives both as a group and as individuals."

"With regards to the negative implication and direction of Cebu art," Pepito pointed out that he thinks there is really nothing to worry about. "As per idea of Art Tourism in Malaysia, artists and art enthusiasts are enticed to visit their country not to compete with their local artists but to paint the things of beauty that hopefully inspired them."

"Such situation will never be a deterrent to any artists but additional inputs for their creative knowledge. On the other hand, in terms of marketing our artistic outputs, the government and the private sectors must cooperate to come up with activities that enhance the artistic awareness and understanding of our local people about the importance of art in one's society. Art fairs and exhibit of works with international substance are few good moves to attain this goal," he suggested.

Paredes credits Pepito for his sense of initiative. "Through his own network of artist friends (met largely through Facebook) abroad, he was able to get himself invited to exhibits, art fairs, and other art events in other countries."

Such opportunities Pepito shared with other artists here in the Philippines, Paredes added. "It only goes to show that with technology fast shrinking the world into a global village, artists don't need to depend so much on government or institutions to provide them opportunities to travel or market their works here and abroad. Anybody now can strike it on his or her own."

"Definitely, however," Pepito stressed, "our government can truly help our artistic and cultural heritage grow by putting up appropriate venues that can house the great potential outputs of our local artists." (FREEMAN)