KABILIN is Cebuano for heritage. West Gorordo Hotel celebrated it with a cultural festival it called Kabilin Fest on International Museum Day with the aim of “connecting crafts people, conserving our heritage, (and) creating vibrant and sustainable communities.”
The day began with Tindak Sugbo in the morning, which was a bike tour of heritage public places and buildings by Psychology Volunteers on Bicycles. In the afternoon, there were several heritage workshops in separate rooms on: traditional toys handled by PJ and Delfin of Mayflower Inn; traditional musical instruments with Filo d’Oro; traditional puppetry by Pierre Famador; the making of puso by Allen of West Gorordo Hotel; the making of sawsaw (or sawsawan) by the Ananda Marga Wellness Centre, which showed how fruits and vegetables can be made into dips; tambol (drum) and the art of malong dressing by the Sunrise Festival 2013 Maharlika artists; dula, mugna, istorya (play, work, story) handled by the St. Michael’s Play Garden; “Sugbuanong Awit Sing-along” with guitarist Lemuel Inanoria; “Sugbuanong Awit and More” with Sistemang Pilipino Inc.; baybayin or “learn to write” in the pre-Spanish writing system of the Philippines with Carlo Enad; Visayan folklore readings guided by Madrileña dela Cerna; “Kabilin Isip Tawhanong Katungod” (access to heritage as a human right) with Atty. Yvonne Artiaga; “Parents as Transmitters of Culture” with Grace Ferreros; and an international crafts workshop on furoshiki, the Japanese art of wrapping with fabric with visiting craftsperson Misa Eguchi Imai.
There was really so much going on almost at the same time that it was inevitable that one would have to miss some of the interesting workshops.
The highlight of the day was the launching of the Paulina Constancia Museum of Naive Art (MoNA), which houses the permanent collection of Paulina Constancia’s works in acrylic.
All these cultural activities are under the West Gorordo Hotel’s Cultural Stewardship Program which aims “to showcase, share and protect local art and culture.”