schoolscolleges2020 hed news




The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Xavier University, Capitol University and Liceo de Cagayan University banded together to bring the transformative and healing power of art to the survivors of Sendong.

Billed as “Kalinga ng Sining,” the event, spearheaded by the Xavier Center for Culture and the Arts in partnership with the CCP on March 6 and 7, showcased various forms of art to impart a message of hope to all Kagay-anons. The affair opened with a lecture-workshop on arts psychotherapy given by Clinical Psychologist Grace Evangelista and culminated with a program involving children survivors of Sendong.

“Arts can be used for healing,” said Evangelista.

To demonstrate, she asked her audience, composed mainly of psychology students of Xavier, some of whom were also affected by the flash flood, to draw a picture of how they saw their lives at the moment. Later, she asked them to draw what they felt was their essence.

Evangelista explained that art offers people a medium for expression and communication, especially for thoughts and feelings that are hard to express verbally.

“The goal is to help individuals, families or communities who have undergone a shattering experience become psychologically integrated and whole again,” she said.

Art psychotherapy was also expressed in the form of song and dance. A concert staged at the Rodelsa Circle featured performances by Novo Concertante, Bayang Barrios, Waway Saway, and the glee clubs and dance troupes of Xavier University and Capitol University.

A couple of Sendong survivors also shared how they manage to remain strong despite such adversity.

“There’s no way you can ask for help but through God alone,” said one of the survivors who lost her father and younger sibling to the flood.

As their contribution, members of the Oro Art Guild, Cagayan de Oro’s very own organization of visual artists, showcased their installation art using the acacia tree that stands solid in the center of the Rodelsa Circle. White shirts hung from crisscrossing strings tied to the branches of the tree.

“The art depicts the dualism of life,” said Ivan Faizal Macarambon of the Oro Art Guild. For example, he said, water is helpful but can also be destructive as was experienced by the city.

“The shirts represent the dead bodies that were found slumped on trees,” Macarambon said. “But we also want to show hope and purity.

In his message, Arch Antonio Ledesma SJ DD said that out of the experience, “We will rise again and continue to build a bigger and better Cagayan de Oro.”

The event did not only bring hope to adults but to kids as well. Children from the different temporary shelters in the city, including Xavier University’s Xavier Ecoville, gathered in the covered courts of barangay Lumbia to be entertained by performances from the same set of artists who performed at the Rodelsa Circle.

TV personality and comedian Garry Lim co-hosted the show with CCP’s Chinggay Bernardo. Waway Saway sang a child-friendly Talaandig folk song about a baby monkey while Bayang Barios serenaded everyone with a song of hope titled “Bagong Umaga.” An advocacy drama staged by Xavier University actors and LAKAN dealt on proper waste segregation and water, health and sanitation. After the program, all the kids received Kalinga ng Sining gifts and were treated to some snacks.

The kids were very happy. One touching scene though was a child from Xavier Ecoville who, while leading the opening prayer, was in tears thanking the Lord for sparing her life from the flood. The emotional air was shaken off only when the performances started, showing that, indeed, art can help heal.