EU launches cultural festival in Philippines

Viva Europa 2022 poster. From the EU Delegation to the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The European Union (EU) has launched a cultural festival in the country involving several on-site and online events seeking to highlight the ties and shared cultural values between the world’s largest trading bloc and the Philippines.

The festival, dubbed “Viva Europa 2022,” is taking place this month in commemoration of Europe Day, which celebrates “peace and unity” in Europe, according to a statement from the EU Delegation to the Philippines released Monday.

The EU Delegation to the Philippines also said that those attending the festival could expect to experience “the best of poetry, visual arts, music, film, architecture, and sharing of ideas.”

“Viva Europa 2022 aims at highlighting the partnership, friendship, and the shared cultural values between the EU and the Philippines in the context of the bilateral Partnership and Cooperation Agreement,” it added.

European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Luc Véron said the festival provides an “opportunity to signify the partnership and friendship between the EU and the Philippines.”

The festival was borne out of the cooperation between the EU Delegation to the Philippines, the embassies of Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Spain, and Instituto Cervantes de Manila, Ireland, France, and Alliance Francaise de Manille, Italy through the Philippine-Italian Association, Hungary, Austria, Poland, as well as the University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University, according to the EU statement.

Cultural events

On May 18, the Philippine Italian Association and Politecnico di Milano are set to hold a free webinar on “Architectural Heritage as an expression of local communities’ identity.”

On May 21, the Film Institute of UP Diliman, with the support of the Embassy of Italy in Manila and in partnership with the Philippine Italian Association will reopen its Cine Adarna “in celebration of the Centennial of the great Pier Paolo Pasolini,” the EU delegation said.

“The program will feature the outdoor screening – free of charge – of Accatone (“The Scrounger”),” it added.

As part of the festival, a visual arts exhibition titled “Ebb and Flow: Return to Nature” will also be held from May 20-31 at the Yuchengco Museum in Makati City.

According to the EU statement, the exhibition will feature the works of European and Filipino artists, who “joined forces to show their advocacy for ‘Water’ and marine resources preservation through paintings and sculpture.”

“[T]he exhibition is participated in by Louis Dumont (Belgium), René Reitier (Germany), César Caballero (Spain), Henri Eteve (France), Viviana Riccelli (Italy), Radha Makitalo (Finland), Jeanette Kamphuis (Sweden), Romania Diaz (Philippines and Italy), Fara Manuel Nolasco, Kizel Cotiw-an and Ramon Diaz (Philippines),” the EU delegation said.

Meanwhile, a traditional choral festival called “Musica FEUropa” will be live-streamed from May 21-28 on Facebook.

Another event,  “Night of Ideas,” will bring together cultural institutions and film professionals from France, Italy, Romania, and the Philippines “to exchange ideas and talk about how the arts, cinema, and society survived the pandemic and continue to develop in the context of the new environment.”

This will be live-streamed from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Facebook on May 26.

Another program featuring European and Filipino poetry will also be held on May 27 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Poets from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Ireland, France, Italy, Austria, and Poland will be participating in the event together with Filipino poets from the University of Santo Tomas.

“This year, La Punta della Lingua poetry festival from Italy will once again join the Bersong Euro-Pinoy poetry recital. Bersong Euro-Pinoy will be streamed live at the EU Delegation to the Philippines’ Facebook page,” the EU statement read.

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KGA