The wealth of the artistic talent among our countrymen proves itself once again as the 24th Visual Art National Competition converges a group of skilled young artists to vie for the prize of becoming the front cover of the Philippine Directory. Organized by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone company and the Directories Philippines Competition, the theme for this year was Cory Aquino:Her Legacy to the Filipinos." In honor of the great icon for democracy.

Though there were many interpretations that were all conveyed so well through this medium of art, the one that stood out the most was the watercolor painitng entitled "Ika 25 ng pebrero 1986" by fine arts student Julian Eymard L.Paguiligan of Bulacan State University.

Featuring Cory Aquino holding a basket of maya birds with the "Laban" Sign in the background. This was in fact a unanimous decision of the judges, winning the grand prize of 100,000 pesos as well as securing a donation of 40,000 in kind for his school and a trophy designed by Napoleon Bueva.

This painting will be featured on the 2010-2011 Directory. Those also receiving trophies are runner ups, Dionamyr S. Ceria who is the second prize winner and Lexter B. Longalong who was in third place.

This February is National Arts Month and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts is holding the Philippine International Arts Festival 2010.  Striving to be true to the spirit of the harvest theme - Ani ng Sining , it will feature the talents and performances of the many artists and arts group in the seven arts on whose trainings, competitions, and creative expressions it has invested the past year or so. The Festival will be a celebration of the fruits of the creative efforts for the past year and a looking forward to a richer, more fertile ground in the coming years for the evolution of artistic modes of expression available to the Filipino creative imagination.

The 5^th Backdoor Ventures Music and Art festival was held February 5-6, in SM Megamall. This event was organized by Backdoor Ventures, an events management and creative agency. Although proficient in managing many other events such as productions, launchings and conventions this brainchild of a group of professionals well-versed in the art and entertainment field has been bringing together artists in all fields and of different mediums for this annual celebration of art and music for 5 years.

Since its humble beginnings, the music and art festival has grown to accommodate more performers, acts, activities and workshops. As its popularity has grown in recent years, so has the amount of participants and visitors. More and more people want to be part of this exciting opportunity to mingle with fellow artists and catch a good show.

Held in Megatrade Hall 2, the three days that this event takes up is three days that contains a packed schedule with many interesting workshops and performances. The festival this year featured many eclectic stores that sold a variety of merchandise. There were stalls with art supplies, musical instruments, Indian food, unique accessories and tattoo sleeves. These are all a collection of different companies, both big and small, given the opportunity to cater to everyone’s unique tastes. There were also nail art, a tattoo area and stalls that sold CD’s from underground rock bands, all quality music for people with discerning tastes.

An exhibit was also featured, carrying a select collection from many different painters, using all types of materials for their mode of self expression, such as oil, acrylic, pen and ink. Sculptures were also strategically placed in the well design makeshift gallery behind the hustle and bustle of the stalls and stage. In this makeshift gallery is a colorful burst of different paintings, bunched together on the walls and even to be observed in a row on the floor. Everywhere you look is a colorful window into an artist’s self-expression.

The performances were also as diverse as anything else involved in the festival. There were underground rock pop bands, unknown up and coming groups as well as more popular bands such as Urbandub and Sinosikat. Aside from bands, there were also performances by musical groups such as the Magindanaon Kulintang Group and FEU bamboo band. This gives a healthy dose of balance in the genres.

The performances are not constricted to just musical ones, there are also dance performances that would pique the interest of anyone and spark the dream of dance from even those with two left feet. Like everything else, these dance performances were also varied having traditional Spanish dancing and Belly dancing as just a few examples.

The talks provided people with the opportunity to learn more about anything that could be of interest to them. These talks featured speakers that are very knowledgeable in their respective fields. These talks were on different subjects such as, Creative Writing Workshops, Photography Workshops, Comic Illustration workshop, Music Art Production talks and many more.

The Music and Art festival was truly a success of 2010, so here’s to more fun and exciting celebrations for art for years to come.