TACLOBAN CITY – The Peace and Quiet Culture and Arts Caravan is gaining momentum as more partners join its cause, to the delight of its organizers and coordinators.
Originally aimed at steering youth towards the arts to keep them from falling prey to recruitment by communist armed groups and engaging in vices such as illegal drug use, the caravan has now expanded its advocacy to include environmental protection and conservation.
This new direction is facilitated through a partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The 5th edition of the Peace and Quiet Culture and Arts Caravan features over 40 artists from across the region, showcasing their works at an art exhibit held from June 5 to 9 on the second floor of Robinsons North Tacloban.
Among the new partners are the Leyte National High School Special Program for the Arts, ACLC Arts Appreciation, and the Palo Culture and Arts Organization (PCAO), a group of young artists from Palo which is known for its community theater play performances.
“PCAO members will present a live theater play on Friday, June 7, as part of the culmination of the HURMA Basic Integrated Theater Arts Workshop,” said Diana Jane Saballe, the event coordinator.
In addition to the live theater performance, the five-day event includes art exhibits, live sketching, a poster-making contest, a dance contest, an acoustic band competition, a ‘siday’ competition, and canvas bag painting.
The Peace and Quiet V is also part of the World Environment Month celebration, themed “Reviving Nature, Sustaining Life: Together We Restore.”
DENR Regional Executive Director Lormelyn Claudio highlighted the importance of providing youth, particularly artists, with a platform to create and showcase artworks that advocate for environmental protection and conservation.
“Artists are sensitive, conscious, and passionate about everything. We want to channel that passion towards environmental protection and management,” she said in her message.
The Peace and Quiet V is organized in collaboration with the 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict, the Philippine National Police, Robinsons North Tacloban, the Hands Off Our Children Movement Inc., Youth for Human Rights International Eastern Visayas, and arts groups Istilo Poetry, Langkaw, Islaw, ArtPalo, and Kasugbong.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
