Ibagiw: The Baguio Creative City Festival 2019 wants to showcase the city’s vibrant and diverse cultural and artistic skyline. The festival’s main event will be a series of competitions called Made in Baguio, which features four categories: woodcarving, textile weaving, basketry, and metalcraft. These are the four types of crafts and folk art that Baguio is recognized for.
Made in Baguio Competition Guidelines Out
The Festival Secretariat has announced the guidelines for the Made in Baguio Competitions on its Facebook page. The competition is open to all artisans and artists from Baguio and other parts of the Cordilleras. Participants may enter as individuals or as a group collaborating on a piece of work.
Each category also has specific guidelines for entries, with emphasis on introducing innovations to design and materials.
Anyone interested to join needs to accomplish an audition form wherein they describe their proposed design and submit a sketch. Each entry must also participate in scheduled live skills demonstration. A total of eight (8) finalists will be selected for each category.
Finalists will be provided with an honorarium for each entry and basic materials that they will need for the competition, except for the metalcraft contestants who need to bring their own materials.
Craftmaking on the spot
Contestants will have a designated competition site at the Baguio Heritage Hill and Nature Park (formerly Diplomat Hotel). They will be given seven (7) days with 8 hours in a day to work on their piece. This will run from November 11 to 17. With the festival opening on November 16, visitors and guests will get a glimpse of the artists at work.
All entries will be available for exhibit from November 18 to 24, and will also be made available for sale through a silent auction. Artists will determine their base price, but they may also choose not to sell their work.
Winners for each category will be awarded on November 24 during the festival’s closing ceremonies. Cash prizes await the winners: 1st Prize (P50,000.00), 1st Runner-up (P30,000.00), 2nd Runner-up (P20,000.00).
Slated on November 16 to 24, 2019, the festival aims to celebrate Baguio City as a UNESCO Creative City for Crafts and Folk Art.