The festival of written words and performances, Performatura Festival, returns on March 31 to April 2, 2023. There will be live and on-site events beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez (CCP Black Box Theater).
The three-day event is themed “Performatura Goes Pop”. It includes poetry readings, multi-arts workshops, literary discussions, spoken word sessions, a poetry contest, film screenings, book releases, a book and art market, and interviews with notable writers.
The first day of the festival, named Unbox@Blackbox, is led by festival director Dr. Vim Nadera Jr. and focuses on literature on social media in the morning session. Carlo Ople, a vlogger entrepreneur, will also make his debut with his creative non-fiction book “Suweldo is Not Enough.” There will also be a panel of speakers, a sneaker shoe auction, and Hannah Lecea’s poetry performance.
A book turnover ceremony marks the afternoon session’s recognition of National Women’s Month. The poetry collection “Lila Mga Tula,” written by women from the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, and Anyo, will also be released. The event, sponsored by the Spark and LILA groups, will include literary performances as well as speeches by female authors.
A special screening of “Brutal,” directed by Marilou Diaz Abaya and written by Ricky Lee, will take place, followed by a discussion.
The second day centers on the art of spoken word, headlined by the Ampalaya Monologues.
Ampalaya Monologues, Philippines’ premier spoken word collective headed by its founder Mark Ghosn.
Participants will have the opportunity to strengthen their writing talents at the Spoken Camp, a page-to-stage writing class; there will also be a seminar on reciting written poetry by National Artist for Literature Gemino Abad. Spoken Fest will include the most popular spoken word acts, accompanied by indie music. Spoken Night, an open mic night, will provide budding poets a platform to express their voices and tales.
During the last day of the event, dubbed Araw ni Balagtas, Performatura pays respect to and commemorates Francisco Baltazar’s 149th birthday. The Makatas with Ingay Likha will perform, as will battle rap artists Tulala, Zantasa, and D.O.C., and Singaporean literary artist Chris Mooney Singh will speak on “Balagtasan in Global Literature.”
National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario will speak about the significance of Bataan in the lives of Balagtas. It will be followed at 2 p.m. by performances by Bataan High School for the Arts instructors and students, as well as multi-arts workshops.
Capping the festival will be the KamPerformatura!
KamPerformatura offers poetry and performances by the youth participants, which will kickstart the Tanghal Makata 2023, the Performatura-born competition. Spoken word expert Mark Ghosn, poet performer Kooky Tuason, and authentic mambabalagtas from Bulacan Melandro Pascual are some of the judges. Librarian Juireo Abela of Lucena City, the Tanghal-Makata 2021, will present the Sam Penaso trophy and laurel sculpture by poet Raul Funilas to the next winner. Finally, GSIS Museum, LIRA, and Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) will present the closing segment.
Multitalented artist Mimi Tecson will hold a mini-exhibit at the lobby of the CCP Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez. Her art materials include book pages.
Thirty artists, writers, and publishers, organized by Pia Perez of The Indie Publishers Collab PH and Mark Ghosn, will sell their works at the venue on Days 1 and 2. Moreover, artists and entrepreneurs from the Unbox team will sell their works at the venue on Day 3. Remote Performatura events will also take place.
The event is free and open to the public, and attendees are invited to bring a book to donate, which will serve as an entry ticket to each segment. Collected books will go to CCP’s partner libraries.
For queries, e-mail ccpintertextualdivision@gmail.com, call 8832-1125 local 1706 or 0919-3175708. Follow the official CCP and CCP Intertextual Division Facebook pages for latest updates.
