AGAIN, I yield my column space to prolific blogger Ronelo Ladiao, a friend and confidant, who is coming closer to understanding my real vision for Ilonggo arts and culture.
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Peter Solis Nery’s Functus Dos opens a New Roadmap for Ilonggo Arts
By Ronelo S. Ladiao
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Peter Solis Nery, a literary icon of Western Visayas, a filmmaker, and art revolutionary persona who leads with great passion has accumulated a lot of writing awards, even installed himself in the forefront of literary award giving bodies in the country for his creative vision including his feat of receiving the 2012 Palanca Hall of Fame title, as well as various international recognition and invitation to various writing and book fair events.
He remains steadfast and dedicated to his calling more than just his craft. As a travelling writer and artist back and forth in the country and in the United States of America where he partly resides, Peter decided to push through in staging Functus Dos, the Iloilo arm of his Peter Solis Nery Arts Festival on February 29, 2020 from 10am to 5pm at Cinematheque Centre Iloilo in Iloilo City.
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The event is his visionary initiative to gather local artists, writers, and performers in Iloilo, as well as other parts of the region for both presentation purposes and consultative conference. He aspires to give a platform for local arts to flourish through his own vision of collective arts. The event boasts with a silent short film festival showcase, dance, and visual arts presentation, a whole day sharing of ideas, passion, and future plans for Ilonggo artists to flourish with a sense of direction.
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How was the acceptance of Functus Dos among Ilonggos?
PSN: Functus was envisioned to be an artists’ meet up, a consultative meeting, and a survey as I try to culturally map the region for my textbooks. As its convenor, I didn’t really have high expectations. (There was no budget for it, and it was scheduled on a weekend.) But I did hope it would be greatly attended. That there were over 30 people who came to see me at various times of the day, and these people represented sectors I wanted to reach, I thought Functus was pretty successful.
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Days after the event, we chat and had coffee with Peter Solis Nery to share with us his thoughts about the recent success of Functus Dos.
Who are the people, organizations and artists that you would like to express your gratitude in making Functus Dos a relevant success?
PSN: I won’t name all the participants, but I’m grateful to them for coming to my event. We had a great discussion about the current, and real, Ilonggo art scene. We also discussed politics in the arts and literature of the region. They were the things that I hoped for about the event, and we did it, so I declare Functus Dos an unqualified success.
Do you think you were able to boost the confidence and pride of our local artists?
PSN: Definitely. That was the other purpose of Functus—to instill confidence and pride in our local artists & writers. That was what I came for. And when people came to see me, that’s what I did. But the real proof is in the heart of the attendees.
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Is there any particular competition or element of the event that you are most excited and proud of?
PSN: The fact that respected artists, filmmakers, educators, and writers came, that’s a proud achievement for Functus Dos. The first Functus had about the same number of audience, but at that time, it was only for 2 hours, and we had food catering. For Functus Dos, for the whole 7 hours, I only served bunches of bananas (which I found cheap on my way to the city) and packs of bubble gum (which I brought with me from the US to share with friends). That I achieved my purpose with almost zero-budget, it was amazing.
As a multi-awarded writer and artist taking a big leap through this community arts event for Ilonggos, what was your significant achievements?
PSN: The initial listing of artists and writers who matter in the region is no mean achievement. I would have wanted that all the writers and artists registered and personally told me about themselves for my research; but since not everybody came, I’m okay with a partial list. I just have to do with the internet for the rest. Of course, I tend to trust and believe more the people who showed up. And then, I can always say, there’s never a perfect list. So there.
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How do you see yourself in the future organizing this kind of event?
PSN: It is satisfying to know that I can still call, create, and hold an audience. I think I’m pretty good at this thing—budget or no-budget. Region 6’s creatives respect and recognize me. I call, they come. I speak, they listen. I ask, they answer. I’m pretty sure if I organize events like this with some budget (from sources other than just my Foundation), I’ll get a still bigger crowd.
I know you’re always envisioning great things, can you share with us your future plans for this kind of event?
PSN: In the next five years, I plan for my Foundation to have a bigger visibility in Iloilo, and in Region 6 in general. Cultural and art mapping is not a one-person show. I cannot do this alone. But I’m positive my project will gain momentum, and soon we will see a bandwagon effect. For now, it’s just important that we continue to educate people & popularize the Peter Solis Nery brand. Already, I’ve heard non-fans say, “At least, PSN gathers people using his own money, not squandering the government’s and the taxpayers’ money.” That’s such a compliment for me. (500tinaga@gmail.com/PN)
