TAGUM CITY -- In recognition of the literary arts’ unique contribution in achieving the full potential of this city’s creative economy by 2025, Tagumenyo creative writers convened in the first-ever Tagum Creative Writers Summit last August 20, 2021 at the Tagumpay Theatre of the Tagum City Historical and Cultural Center.
The need to awaken the culture and the arts through literary creativity and igniting the force toward a creative future are two of the overarching themes of the summit.
The summit was graced by prominent Mindanao writers, starting with a Homegrown Tagumenyo Creative Writer Reymond Pepito talking about Celebrating Tagum and the Need to Write About It, Palanca Award-Winning Playwright Karlo Antonio Galay David who talked about the Mindanao Narrative through Plays, and a Published Poet Nassefh Macla with his topic entitled Poetry and Beyond: A Memory Project.
“We are very happy that today we will be commencing a dream we hatched some years ago for the Creative Writers of Tagum to group together and write stories about our beloved Tagum City,” stressed Acting Assistant Department Head Louie Lapat during his opening remarks.
The said summit kicked off the months-long activity of the Center which will culminate with fringeTGM in November, a community arts and festival as a tool to develop and sustain creativity and the artistry of various artistic groups of the city.
“This is an open-access event because we want everyone to take part, and to show what is best in Tagum City,” TCHCC Chief Xylee Labastida-Palomata said.
Palomata shared that fringeTGM is a program highlighting a colorful mix of the different disciplines of the arts, namely, theater, music, dance, visual art, film, performance art, and literary arts.
The introduction of fringeTGM envisions to propel the establishment and sustainability of the city’s creative economy with its objectives of establishing a Tagum writer’s organization, achieving healthy and productive collaboration between artistic groups, and producing a literary folio written for and by the Tagumenyos.
The TCHCC management also unveiled the activities lined up for the culmination of the activity in November. These include an arts exhibition and literary folio launch, Sayaw Tagum Dance Conference, Staging of Palanca-winning Play entitled Killing the Issue, Art and Design Conference, and a Performance Art and Literary Concert.
Summit participants are now working on their respective literary pieces to be scrutinized during the scheduled Tagum Writers Workshop in the last week of September, where selected outputs will be interpreted by Tagumenyo visual artists and performing artists for an art exhibition and performance at the Tagumpay Theatre, respectively. (PR)