The Asian Cultural Council celebrates 60 artistic years
Manila Hotel’s Maynila has been the top social hall for Fil-American social and cultural events since the early 1900s and it proved to be the top choice to celebrate the Asian Cultural Council’s 60th anniversary with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos as special guests of honor.
Founded 60 years ago by USA philanthropist John D. Rockefeller III to support cultural exchange between the United States and Asia, the ACC is privileged to count more than 300 Filipino artists and scholars among its distinguished alumni, nine of whom are National Artists Jose Joya, Lucrecia Kasilag, Jose Maceda, Lamberto Avellana, Alejandro Roces, Francisco Feliciano, Ramon Santos, Alice Reyes and Kidlat Tahimik.
Distinguished guests from ACC New York, Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo were regaled with musical revue "Harmony Across Cultures: Celebrating 60 Years with the Asian Cultural Council” featuring the best in our performing arts with the Alice Reyes Dance Philippines, the renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers, musical theater actors Poppert Bernadas and Bituin Escalante, musicians Rony Fortich, Jordan Amaca and Christine Noelle Vargas.
The show was created by the country’s foremost talents, many of whom are ACC grantees, namely Barbie Tan-Tiongco, light and technical director; Gino Gonzales, production design; Nestor Jardin, project director; Teresa Rances, ACC Philippine program director and event management; and Chris Millado, stage director. Projection design was beautifully executed by Joyce Garcia.
As the magical evening ended, the exhilarated ACC Philippine treasurer Malu Gamboa Lindo explained, “It took a village and an army of artists to hold the ACC 60th Anniversary Gala at the Maynila Ballroom tonight. Seeing it unfold before gave me a deep sense of pride for presenting a world-class event to our guests, from the ambiance created by ACC grantee Gino Gonzales and the performances of our amazing artists. It was a such a complete evening. Am so grateful to the ACC family for making this occasion such a meaningful event.”
ACC awards grants in the following fields: Archaeology, Architecture, Art History, Arts Administration, Arts Criticism, Film, Photography & Video, Conservation, Crafts, Dance, Design, Literature, Museology, Music, New Media, Painting, Sculpture & Installation, Printmaking, and Theater.
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Learn more about the ACC at asianculturalcouncil.org.
