Erehwon Center for the Arts started 2024 gilded in gold.  The prestigious award-giving body, Philippine Leaf Awards, conferred two Golden Leaf Presidential Awards to Erehwon Center for the Arts, one to its founder, Rafael Benitez, for his contributions to arts and culture, and another to its Chief Cultural Director, Anton Juan, for his outstanding contributions to theater.  Dr. Juan directed and composed songs for “Bayan Bayanan: Letters from Home,” which won a Golden Leaf Award as well for Outstanding Ensemble Cast for a Musical.

 

FILM

Dr. Anton Juan’s film, “Amon Banwa sa Laud (Our Island of the Mangrove Moons,” which was co-produced by Erehwon and the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Notre Dame University, has been nominated in five international film festivals and won the Best International Feature Film Award at the Louth International Film Festival in Ireland.  Locally, the film has had its gala preview at Ateneo de Manila’s Arete and at the FEU theater.

 

DANCE

The Erehwon Dance Company, under the leadership of Janet Amor, competed with other dance troupes in the International Folklore Festival Colors of Thailand, and emerged with the Best Performance trophy.

 

THEATER

True to its mission of being a People’s Art Center, broadening access to art for the masses, Erehwon has continued its advocacy of LIBRENG PALABAS (free theater shows).  The Center literally opened its gates for free entry to six free shows welcoming students, neighborhood kids, and other theater enthusiasts.  Holy Week ushered in “Daan ng Krus,” produced by Artist Playground, highlighting the passion of Christ.  Legendary conductor and composer Jerry Dadap produced and directed “Ang Pagpaslang ni Andres Bonifacio,” a musical lamenting his betrayal and death.  It featured an excerpt from “Andres Bonifacio ang Dakilang Anak Pawis,” which was first performed at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1979 with a cast of 200.

These were followed by an interpretation of Jose Rizal’s novels, “Noli Me Tangere” (“Huwag Mo Akong Hawakan”) and “El Filibusterismo,” produced by Artist Playground and Gantimpala Theater Foundation (GTF).  Boni Ilagan’s theater play of Francisco Balagtas’ “Florante at Laura,” was also staged as a free show at Erehwon’s outdoor performance stage by GTF. The month of December ended this year’s libreng palabas with RCG Entertainment Productions’ “Espere Kengkeng, Espere Kangkang,” which is Rene Villanueva’s Filipino adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “A Comedy of Errors,” and “Ampiyas,” a staged reading by Cine Sirena and Iskribol Productions.

Erehwon also supported other theater plays by providing affordable spaces for rehearsals and/or performance spaces.  These include “Spirit of the Glass,” a commentary on red-tagging by playwright Boni Ilagan and directed by Joel Lamangan.  It was shown at the UP-IBG-KA Theater.  Polytechnic University students through Aries Theatrical Production produced and staged “Indigo Child” at the Erehwon Black Box Theater.  Lualhati Productions staged “Ang Habilin ni Lola Liwanag,” while TeleVista and Pistagenio Productions interpreted the 1990’s Batibot with “Ibalik ang Bati sa Batibot.”  On the other hand, the Longgan Theater Group conducted their acting and directing + dramaturgy workshop at Erehwon, with an ending recital called, “Nowhere:  Performing the Stageless and Unscripted.”

 

PUBLICATIONS

Erehwon Center for the Arts is proud to produce Boni Ilagan’s first book, a 400-page tome containing the inspirations, contexts and full scripts of seven play including the iconic, anti-dictatorship “Pagsambang Bayan.” It also produced “Followers of the Season,” by Oscar Peñaranda whom the National Bok Development Board has called “an icon of Philippine-American studies.”  It also published “Bridges of Memory,” a collection of writings by 12 men and women who attended the writing workshops of Mr. Peñaranda at Sunshine Place.

 

VISUAL ARTS

Romeo Ballada of the Erehwon Art Collective was chosen to render the portrait of Bangko Sentral former Governor Benjamin Diokno.  This was unveiled last April.    Erehwon’s Atelier also provided the exhibit spaces for Artipolo artists in its fifth edition of ArTurismo.  Other art exhibits at Erehwon were;  Spontaneous Order, No Boundaries, Mind Flow: A Journey through Artistic Perspectives, and MA-ISSUE KA organized by PINTURA.

 

MUSIC

Erehwon collaborated with MiraNila Heritage and Library Foundation to support the concerts of the internationally awarded young cellist Damodar Das Castillo and the Manila Junior Orchestra, the Gold Prize winner at Austria’s 2024 Summa cum Laude Music Festival.  It supported the further studies of Mark Kenedy Rocas for Masters in Flute Performance at the Langly School of Music Band College in the US.  It also supported the further studies of Greg de Leon in Vocal Performance at the School of Music, St. Paul’s University.  A travel subsidy was also given to Angeli Benipayo who was especially selected to perform at an opera in Vietnam.  Towards the end of the year, for the purpose of raising more funds for such grants and subsidies for talented artists, the Erehwon Center formed Erehwon Cantabile, composed of formally trained classical singers able to render a wide repertoire of songs.

 

The year ended with a get-together of Erehwon friends and supporters.

Happy holidays and wishing everyone the best for 2025!

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