Baguio City, Philippines– Thousands ran past the Lion’s Head on the 10th of November, not because of a bloody chase in the jungle but because the hunters that use their hands to create converged in the den that is Baguio City.
Recently hailed as the first UNESCO Creative City in the country, it was apparent that a Creative Festival was lying in wait to explicate how Baguio was put on the map on the United Nations Creative Cities network. As one of the 180 cities to join the network, Baguio was prompted to promote creative industries and integrate culture into sustainable urban development policies. Thus gave birth to ENTACool, the city’s first Creative Festival.
ENTAcool was hatched from the union of the words Entaku, the Cordillera indigenous word for “let’s all go,” and the cool climate of the city. To spark the fire of the teeming artistry of the place, the local government unit of Baguio City, Department of Trade and Industry Cordillera Administrative Region, University of the Philippines Baguio and the Baguio Arts and Collective curated activities including cultural presentations, gallery exhibits, art discussions and workshops by master artisans.
Speaking to adobo, Tourism Promotions Board CEO, Venus Tan, shared how the collaboration came to the thought of the creative economy being a driver of the city’s progress.
“Being a UNESCO Creative City, it has to be lead by the city, and so I think that we have provided impetus to it, coming from the national agency plus the other stake holders, the creative community, the academe for instance, like UP,” she explained.
Watch her full interview below:
Creative Crawl
To successfully revitalize, the organizers used mobility to show that their creativity is not only housed in one place, but seeps through the entire summer capital. A tour of the Tam-awan Village hyped the anticipation for the opening of the festival.
The Crawl Tour featured different creative sites that power the craft sector of Baguio. One highlight was the grand launch of the Forest Bathing Trail, a personal retreat with nature and a treat to the human well-being.
ENTAcool also provided a venue for the exchange of experiences on a wide range of topics on culture and the arts: silver and metal crafts, weaving and fabric tie-dying; 1-on-1 mentorship on creative economy, and a mini book and zine fair. Also on display were graffiti arts, tattooing, plein air or the art of painting outdoors and portrait sketching.
Featuring local masterpieces on film and media art, the creative festival hosted an independent film festival as well as a cultural concert featuring local bands and performers.
A bridge between generations
The festival was considered a take two of the former Baguio Art Festival, a famed international festival celebrated before the 2000s, and as a revival, it needed to serve a bigger purpose: the Creative Festival was not merely a showcase but an engagement of the established artists and the upcoming young cubs of the industry.
“We started with name artists like Santiago Bose, and then Robert Villanueva and also there was BenCab and Kidlat Tahimik who are now our National Artists. So they’re like the lolos, I would say. Now we’re coming and seeing what the next generation is going to be,” shared Adelaida Lim, Chairperson of the Baguio Arts and Creatives Collective Incorporated (BACCI).
As part of the first generation of the Baguio Art Guild, Lim found it exciting to nurture the young blood that would sustain the creative fire of Baguio, emphasizing that the artists may be anonymous now but have talents that need introduction.
“We’re with the second generation and it’s something to see what they’re going to come up with,” she continued.
An Institution on the Prowl
But more importantly, the clamor to Baguio as a tourist designation needs to be paired with the commitment to its heritage and culture. The hopes of the people behind the festival is to institutionalize it and position the city as gateway to the world of creativity.
“Our intent is the following: the first one is for people to discover that creativity actually happens year-round in Baguio, not just during the Creative Festival,” said Paolo Mercado, Founder and President of the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines.
From here, a conversation will start and there will be no downtime for the City of Pines.
“You know, we hope it’s going to be a continuing thing because suddenly Baguio was catapulted into this global awareness so we have to show what we can bring out,” added Lim.
Mercado surmised that the implications of being a creative city will turn artisans into innovators and creators into entrepreneurs. After all, the painting of a vibrant creative economy will not mar the picture of Baguio but will wake the lion and roar to call the other cities to join its pride.
