In a bid to promote and celebrate the city’s cultural heritage, the City Government of Davao, through the Davao City Office for Culture and the Arts (DCOCA), together with Museo Dabawenyo and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), is set to mount several activities for the celebration of the National Heritage Month in May.
Donna Richel Sarong, Museum Researcher I at the Museo Dabawenyo, said during a press conference on May 12 that the activities are centered on the theme “Roots and Horizon: Our Shared Heritage, Our Collective Future.”
On May 29, the Museo Dabawenyo will mount an exhibit titled “Calle San Pedro” at the fifth floor of the National Museum of the Philippines Davao.
“It is a multifaceted exhibition that will focus on telling the story of the city’s primary artery using archival photos, artifacts, and artworks,” Sarong said.
The exhibit will feature the City Hall of Davao, which is also celebrating its centennial anniversary; the Sangguniang Panlungsod; the Centennial Monument of Peace and Unity; and the San Pedro Cathedral.
Artifacts, photographs, and artworks centered on the San Pedro Square will be displayed. Four short videos will also be screened during the event: “Piping Saksi,” a short documentary on City Hall; a video story on Jose Mendoza’s Centennial Monument of Peace and Unity; another on Rachel Holazo’s mural “The Making of a City”; and a video story on the works of Lamberto Acyatan inside the San Pedro Cathedral.
A heritage lecture titled “The Architecture of Democracy” will be given during the exhibit’s opening by Architect John Immanuel J. Palma.
“He will talk about the architecture of the City Hall of Davao kasi yung city hall natin is actually considered a Davao-type. Ginaya siya ng ibang mga presidencia or ng city hall or municipal hall ng iba’t ibang lugar (He will talk about the architecture of the City Hall of Davao because our city hall is actually considered a Davao-type. The presidencia, city hall, or municipal hall of other cities or municipalities adopted this architectural design),” Sarong said.
In the afternoon of the same date, the DCOCA will mount a film forum on the 1982 film “Himala” at the Cinematheque Center Davao.
“We will conduct a film forum on folk religion that speaks about the film. We invited Prof. Aya Ragrario from UP Mindanao as our main speaker, and two reactors from Ateneo de Davao’s Anthropology program, and from the Holy Cross’ Institute of Davao Studies),” Oscar Casaysay, Head of DCOCA, said.
Following this, the FDCP Cinematheque Center of Davao will hold a special screening of Ishmael Bernal’s “Himala” on May 29, 5 p.m.
“On May 29, it’s a special screening because we’re the only Cinematheque in the Philippines that’s given the right to screen “Himala,” Jose Malabar, Project Development Officer of the FDCP Cinematheque Center Davao, said.
He added that the film will be screened only once and is free to watch on a first-come, first-served basis, as seating is limited.
“The version of the film is the black-and-white copy. Ito yung scanned version ng “Himala.” We’ll be screening the black-and-white copy here. We’re only given the chance to screen this once by the ABS-CBN and by PFA so I would like to invite everyone to grab this opportunity and chance to watch “Himala” once again here in Cinematheque (The version of the film is the black-and-white copy—this is the scanned version of ‘Himala.’ We’re only given the chance to screen this once by ABS-CBN and the PFA, so I would like to invite everyone to grab this opportunity to watch ‘Himala’ once again here at Cinematheque),” Malabar added.
Davao City has several heritage sites, including the Davao City Hall, which was built in 1926, and the old Davao International Airport designed by National Artist for Architecture, Architect Leandro Locsin, among others. CIO
Written by: J. Villaluz
Edited by: A. Nawal