Art Flourishes in Dagupan City, Philippines
For the first time ever the City Government of Dagupan under the auspices of its dynamic mayor Benjamin Saplan Lim included an event that has something to do with art on its annual celebration of Dagupan City Bangus festival. The Bangus sa Lansangan First Dagupan Art Wall (which is also known as Dagupan Graffiti Wall) took place in the City Plaza last April 12, 2011 to showcase the artistic panache of local artists in the city and in the Province of Pangasinan.
The “bangus” or milkfish is the major product of the city and it is sold as far as Metro Manila. The bangus harvested from the various fishing ponds in Dagupan is considered to be the best tasting not only in the country but in the whole world as well.
The various artists showcased milkfish and illustrated its economic importance to the city with their equally impressive artworks. An amalgam of vivid imagination, vibrant colors and artistic flair made each artwork truly eye-catching and captivating. The milkfish is already part of the people’s lives here and the artists perfectly did their part in depicting its essence.
Bangus Art Wall Pictures or Images
Click thumbnail to view full-sizeNot to be outdone is the Bangus Sculpture Painting Contest last April 13 to 14 where the various artists in the city and nearby cities and municipalities participated and poured out their creative juices in an attempt to collar the top prize of the competition. Bragging rights of who is the best is also at stake here and the artists truly did their best to come up with the best painting. The artists are given each sculpture of a bangus and they are given ample time to paint it using all kinds of techniques. Although at the end a winner will emerge, for me all of the contestants are winners since their artworks are displayed in the front of the city plaza and continue to draw crowd for picture taking. This just shows how powerful and attractive their artworks are although they used blood and sweat to do them.
It truly leaves you a good feeling that finally art is used as a medium to depict the way of life of the people of Dagupan City and to appreciate life. These two art events which was a joint endeavor of the Dagupan Artist’s Circle, Metro Dagupan Culture and Arts Council and City Government of the Dagupan truly lived up to its purpose which is spreading goodwill and sending various messages about the fish the people here love the most.
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