NCCA funds 10 Benguet Schools of Living Tradition

ARTS AND CULTURE

Susan C. Aro

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Preservation of the province’s culture and tradition was boosted as the National Commission on Culture and the Arts allotted funds again this year to School of Living Tradition (SLT) projects.

For this year, 10 projects which include one in Baguio City were approved with   funding of P2.385 million,  said Clarita Prudencio, chief of the Provincial Tourism Operations Office.

With the aim of preserving cultural heritage in its living form in the generations to come, SLTs are carried out through a living master or culture bearer possessing the skills and techniques of traditional art or craft through a non-formal, oral and with practical demonstrations.  

Prudencio said the SLTs have big impact in terms of cultural preservation with the goal to let the youth appreciate the traditional practices of their ancestors. Taught are performing arts, indigenous food making and handicrafts.

The approved projects which are in the form of crafts and performing arts are : Training on Ibaloy Performing Arts  by  the Kamora National High School (KNHS); Training on Banayakeo Traditional Bamboo Crafting local government unit of Poblacion Atok ; Training and Workshop for Skilled Gong ‘Gangsa” Makers Cum Production of the Bedbed Senior Citizens Association of Mankayan; Training on Ibaloy Performing Arts of LGU Topdac, Atok; Installation of Local Cultural Icon-Doligen Legendary Rock of LGU Poblacion, Bakun; Bobok-Bisal Cultural Festival of the LGU of Bobok-Bisal, Bokod; Tapey Festival of LGU Poblacion, Bokod, Kapangan Museum Enhancement of  LGU Kapangan; and Sagawsaw Ekip Cultural Festival.

Due its geographical location, Baguio City is also included in the list. The approved proposal is entitled “Multiculturalism and Ethnic Identity: Experiencing Authenticity in the City” to be implemented by the University of Baguio Alumni Foundation.

The NCCA is regularly funding SLT proposals of the Ibaloy and Kankana-ey cluster for the past years. Last year, SLT Center was established Datakan, Kapangan which is intended as a convergence venue for SLTs.