The Kahayag Dance Company Philippines Inc. (Kahayag) will represent the Philippines at the ASEAN Festival of Arts (AFA), a flagship project of the ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information (COCI).
Organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia, the festival will be held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 22-26 October 2018 and will be participated in by art troupes from ASEAN+3 countries (China, Japan and Korea).
The festival will coincide with the 8th Meeting of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Culture and Arts (AMCA), 14th Meeting of Senior Officials on Culture (SOMCA) and ASEAN Related Meetings with Dialogue Partners.
As the ASEAN City of Culture for 2018-2019, Yogyakarta will play host to various activities to be participated in by all 10 ASEAN Member States, as well as ASEAN’s Dialogue Partners such as China, Japan, and Korea. The region’s rich heritage and traditions will be showcased through performances and other cultural events to promote goodwill among the peoples of ASEAN and its Dialogue Partners. The AFA shall be the highlight of the 2019 festivities, which will be graced by ASEAN+3 Ministers of Culture.
“It is a great honor for Kahayag to represent the country in a diplomatic event such as the AFA. This will be, once again, a great opportunity for us to show our neighboring countries how beautiful and diverse our culture is through dance,” said Aiken Emmanuel Quipot, Kahayag Associate Artistic Director.
Based in Dumaguete City, Kahayag has been actively involved in carrying out various artistic programs that have contributed to the development of the rich dance tradition in the Philippines. The group has produced excellent dance performances that promote Philippine traditional dances to various audiences within the country and abroad. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) believes that the group’s participation would highlight the uniqueness of Philippine culture in this significant ASEAN event in Indonesia.
The ASEAN-COCI is composed of the Ministries of Culture and Information of the ASEAN Member States. As the de facto Ministry of Culture of the Philippines, the NCCA joins its counterpart agencies in the region to promote the ASEAN identity and awareness through various cultural engagements that highlight a people-to-people and people-centered ASEAN.
For further queries on this press release, please contact Mr. Aiken Emmanuel Quipot, Artistic Director of the Kahayag via mobile, (0917) 715-5570 or email, aequipot@gmail.com, and/or Ms. Rulet Salgado of the NCCA-International Affairs at telephone, 527-2206 or email, ncca_iao@yahoo.com.
