Heritage workshops usher in Kabilin festival

VARIOUS interactive culture and heritage workshops were held yesterday to mark the 1st Kabilin Festival in Cebu City.

The event was held in the West Gorordo Hotel in line with International Museum Day celebrated on May 18.

A collection of paintings was also opened for public viewing in the launch of the Paulina Constancia Museum of Naive Art in the hotel’s second floor.

Kabilin is the Cebuano word for “heritage”.

The workshops consisted of making traditional toys, musical instruments and puso or hanging rice, puppetry, Visayan folklore readings and singing and story-telling sessions.

The making of traditional puppets was handled by puppeteer Pierre Fernador and the Lumad Nomad group.

There were demonstrations of the tambol (drums) and native percussion instruments by Dominic Humphrey Asio.

Asio, a 34-year-old Davao music director is a member of the MAE AK (Makalayang Anak Ensemble Anak Kalinaw ) cultural performing group.

Cebuano artist Carlo Enad discussed the baybayin, a pre-Spanish Philippine writing system.

Lemuel Inanoria of the Cebu Guitar Foundation entertained the audience with Visayan melodies.

Particpants got to sample “sawsaw” or healthy salad dressings using local fruits and vegetables.

The event aims to promote culture and heritage and build communities, said artist and museum owner Constancia.

The hotel’s cultural stewardship program is a prelude to a bigger Cebu summer event, the annual Gabii sa Kabilin on May 31 led by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.

Over 30 museums and heritage sites in Metro Cebu will stay open to the public from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Special fairs, presentations and exhibits are being prepared for visitors who can avail of free bus and tartanilla rides to the sites. Correspondent Michelle Joy L. Padayhag