THE Department of Trade and Industry 11 (DTI-11), along with Lawig-Diwa Inc., the artist group that organizes the Mindanao Art Fair, inaugurated two units of equipment under DTI’s Shared Service Facility for MindaNEXT.
Inaugurated were a CO2 Laser Cutting and Engraving Machine, an Epson SureColor SC-P9530 Photo Graphic Large Format Production Printer, and a 3D Printer at Balai Kalipay in Malagos, Davao City, Lawig-Diwa’s art workshop and museum.
This is the first shared service facility (SSF) given to the creative sector outside the academe, DTI-11 Regional Director Romeo L. Castañaga said.
Castañaga said they have been focusing on agri-business for over a decade, providing the sector not just technical assistance, but equipment as well. In recent years, the cacao industry has been their focus. DTI-11 has already set up more than 150 SSFs all over the region.
For the MindaNET with Lawig-Diwa, he said, the different equipment is intended “hindi para lang makagawa, pero para rin makabenta.”
“That’s why DTI is here now, not only for expression of art but this is also a vital engine for economic empowerment and inclusive development,” he said, adding that this will be a package that includes capacity building.
This is part of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (Republic Act No. 11904), which aims to promote and support the growth of the creative industries.
Through MindaNET, DTI Davao City Field Office City Director Lucky Siegfried M. Balleque said, “We equip artists with essential tools, resources, and technology to industrialize their creative process, enhance the quality and skill of their output, and advance cultural entrepreneurship in the region.”
The shared service facility will help “build a future where culture, arts, and heritage are recognized, supported, and sustained as a thriving sector,” Balleque said.
The digital equipment shared service facilities started with the University of Southeastern Philippines DigiHub Fabrication Laboratory (USEP FabLab) in 2018. A similar Fablab has been turned over the equipment for another Fablab to the Davao Oriental State University, named Materials Development and Innovation in Davao Oriental Fabrication Laboratory (MADE in DAVLAB) earlier this year, and soon at the University of the Philippines in Mindanao for its Center of Research Supporting AI and Robotics (CORSAIR), this time for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.
Lawig-Diwa Inc. president Rey Mudjahid “Kublai” P. Millan recalled how he, with friends in the art sector, built Balai Kalipay to mentor young artists all over Mindanao. Since its construction during the pandemic, more than 500 artists from various regions of Mindanao have been mentored there under Lawig-Diwa’s Lunang and Daro Mentoring Programs.
This is an offshoot of the valuable lesson he got when he built the Agung House in Kapatagan, Digos City, in the mid-2000s, he said.
“I was trying to change the world. I had a vision. So ginawa ko ‘yun (the Agung House) for 15 years, 2 hectares of monuments and sculptures, hoping that the values that I planted there will make a change. The problem was I was alone,” he said. “I built this for and with my fellow artists. We were able to mentor hundreds of young artists.”
More equipment is expected to be turned over to enable artists to pursue art forms that are too expensive for them to explore on their own. SAE