by College of Arts and Social Sciences
The University of the Philippines Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature, Guro ng Sining ng Bayan, and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts fete icons and the most durable of theatre networks in the country with the conference “Ang Sikat ng Teatrong Pilipino: Mga Tagumpay at Hamon ng Pambansang Ugnayang Pandula.“
Among the prominent national icons is CASS Professor Dr. Steven P.C. Fernandez, DFA, who will present the story of the Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG), the most sustained of theatre companies outside of the professional theatres in Metro Manila.
Fernandez, Artistic Director and Founder of the IPAG, was recently awarded the UMPIL Gawad Balagtas for his lifetime work in Literature and the Theatre. In the last 12 months, he has presented papers and keynote lectures in major festivals in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Shanghai, Bangkok, and in various international conferences in the country, besides addressing the Culture and Arts education in the tertiary level for the new education landscape.
The Institute’s Board of Regents recently approved his proposal for the pioneering Culture and Arts Studies Program in the MSU-IIT, which is calendared to open in August 2015.
IPAG, the resident theatre company of the MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology, has represented the country in over 100 cities worldwide and this year in the Shanghai UNESCO-ITI APB and the Singapore Da:ns festivals.
The conference gathers leading theatre lights, among them Nicanor Tiongson, Lutgardo Labad, Cecille Guidote-Alvarez, and Karl Gaspar for Mindanao.
The conference is set November 26 to 28 at the U.P. Faculty Center in Diliman. – contributed news for OC-OPI