By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
AGAIN, the City of Cadiz in the province of Negros Occidental will be hosting the district-wide CaSaMa painting tilt this month.
CaSaMa stands for Cadiz City, Sagay City and Manapla town – the three localities comprising the province’s second congressional district.
This is the fourth time that Cadiz, under the headship of Mayor Salvador “Bading” Escalante Jr., will be staging such a contest. This time, however, it’s in line with the resumption of the in-person Dinagsa Festival in the end week of January.
Participants will only be amateur or budding artists/painters from the said three localities.
Well, I was a little bit frisky why Mayor Bading is so passionate about paintings. If you visit the new city hall of Cadiz dubbed as “The White House” in the north, you’ll be delighted by lots of paintings in (almost) every nook and corner.
Too, the city’s newly-constructed themed booth at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City is now billed as the “House of Paintings”.
With this, Mayor Bading is seemingly being branded as the newest “painting connoisseur” in Negros. I personally asked him why he’s doing this and that.
His simple reply: “We’re building stories via paintings.”
Really, I was stunned with such reasoning. Can’t help but admire the guy.
DIFFERENT KIND OF STORY-TELLING
Yes, painting is definitely a different kind of storytelling via canvas. It builds narratives. I, too, is a painting lover. And I really, really love paintings, especially those weird or bizarre ones. They tickle my imagination.
Glossing over the “oddities” in life via painting is beyond challenge. With such, both the artist and the audience have an “inner question” also beyond answer. And an “out of the world” painting per se assembles their “weirdest thoughts” until they become one authentic story. Hence, I can somehow fathom the “innermost will” of Mayor Bading why he’s so fascinated with paintings.
It flashes back into my mind what Laura Peyton Roberts, world-renowned artist, bookmaker and illustrator, had said, “Telling a story visually seems poignant and resonates strongly.”
“There is something about communicating visually that is incredibly powerful, but sometimes words seem overwhelming,” she added.
Thus, Laura related, “I build the story from images I created. That way, the viewer can have their own personal interpretation,”
‘PAINTING CAPITAL’
Positioning Cadiz to be the “Painting Capital” of Negros Occidental is, perhaps, a “stupendous mission” for Mayor Bading. His persistence on this matter is quite splendid and unparalleled. More so with the help of the Cadiz’s native Hill Benitez, an award-winning artist/painter and founder of the non-government organization Hill Benitez Art Foundation International (HBAFI).
Talking to Hill sometime last year, I was really awed with his enormous desire to mentor the younger souls in Negros all about painting.
An engineer by profession, Hill established his niche in painting not just here in the Philippines but likewise abroad.
Now, that he’s retired, he wants to devote his quality time in discovering promising artists that may follow his footsteps.
“My contribution to the world is my ability to paint,” Hill stressed through HBAFI Facebook (FB) page.
Proof to this is his latest 4×10 feet obra maestra about the so-called “whale landing” in his beloved city some 56 years ago. It’s now displayed at the mayor’s office in Cadiz, a head-turner.
Such further immortalizes the historic event when 12 sperm whales got stranded and died in Cadiz City on May 7, 1967.
And so, this is where Cadiz City got its moniker as “The City Whales”, and named after its yearly festival called “Dinagsa” (flocked).
For netizen Raffy Zapa Rillo: “Cadiz locals viewed this event (whale landing) as a positive sign of fortune and prosperity from above.”
BUILDS PROBLEM-SOLVING
In sum, painting ain’t just an ordinary doing. Unknown to everyone, such offers six major benefits to someone who really indulges himself/herself into it.
And www.foxhillresidence.com is vocal in stressing these six benefits that include:
* fosters creative growth
* strengthens memory
* builds problem-solving and motor skills
* provides stress relief
* promotes an optimistic attitude
* nurtures emotional growth
Mayor Bading, therefore, is on the right track in pursuing this kinda boring yet valuable endeavor. Yes, his trajectory on this painting mission might be misunderstood by many. But wait, the effects, yes, maybe taciturn, but I am pretty sure, sooner or later, they may cause a “bang” in the entire CaSaMa realm./PN
