National Artist Bernal dies

MANILA, Philippines - National Artist for theater and film Salvador Bernal passed away yesterday. He was 66.

Bernal suffered cardiac arrest at around 11 a.m. and died in his house in Cubao, according to his niece Maricel Ramos.

Ramos said the wake will be held at the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City. His remains will be brought to Dagupan City in Pangasinan.

Frances Alincastre, planning officer at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), said necrological services at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and a state funeral will be held for Bernal.

Bernal was named a National Artist in 2003 for his work in over 300 productions since 1969.

Bernal took stage design and made it an art in itself. With his unerring eye and unbounded imagination, Badong took any stage and transformed it into the world that the play or ballet or opera needed it to be, from a magical forest to a bustling city neighborhood to a stark world of geometric shapes.

In years of collaboration with Ballet Philippines, Badong created some of his best stage and costume designs, lifting each production from the mundane to the sublime. A true artist in tune with the realties of art in the Philippines, he learned early on to work within a budget usually less than a shoestring and meet the directors’ demands without leaving the company too much in debt. He elevated bamboo and katsa and abaca fiber to artistic heights, and put old cassette tapes and newspapers to good use.

He was also a teacher, sharing his genius with countless students, leading them to discover the world of theater and dance and art. He also wrote poetry, and was a sought after fashion designer. He was an art collector and music lover, as well as a gourmand.

Bernal created the CCP Production Design Center, and was also a teacher at the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University.

To promote and professionalize theater design, he organized the Philippine Association of Theatre Designers and Technicians (PATDAT) in 1995 and by way of the Philippine Center of OISTAT (Organization Internationale des Scenographes, Techniciens et Architectes du Theatre), he introduced Philippine theater design to the world.

He was also a writer and poet, having authored ‘The Firetrees Burn All Summer and other poems’ (Bookmark 2000). An exhaustive faithful chronicle of Bernal’s lifework can be found in Nicanor Tiongson’s ‘Designing the Stage’. 

Bernal, in an interview with Starweek in 2000, said the late National Artist for Theater Rolando Tinio was his mentor at the Ateneo.

“The one who got me into writing was Rolando (Tinio), because he was my teacher. We had writing exercises on rhythm. He would ask us to write a poem, then remove all the words. And keeping the meter and the accent, he would ask us to fill in (the blanks),” he said.

Bernal was the third national artist to die this year. National artists for literature Alejandro Roces and Edith Tiempo died in May and August 2011, respectively.

Alincastre said currently there are 11 living national artists.

The Order of National Artist is a title given to a Filipino who has been given the highest recognition for having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts.