Angeles, Pampanga – The National Historical Commission of the Philippines – Museum of Philippine Social History (NHCP-MPSH), in cooperation with Mr. Gerone Baladhay and Angeles Elementary School, will conduct an exhibit opening on 19 August 2023 entitled Ticpanan: Blackout Poetry Exhibit.
August, celebrated as Buwan ng Wikang Pambansa in our country, where there are many regional languages and dialects, aims to promote inclusivity amidst the diversity of Filipino languages, especially the Kapampangan language.
Recently, the NHCP-MPSH held a workshop to promote the usage of the Kapampangan language and find new ways to appreciate through unique art forms that were never done before – one of these is blackout poetry.
Blackout poetry is a form of found poetry where erasures are done on a particular text, prose, and verses which are re-arranged and reordered to form new poetry. The workshop’s output will be exhibited and open to the public from 19 August to 19 September 2023 at the MPSH. The exhibit will also be embossed in braille by the Angeles Special Education Division for the visually impaired students who will be invited to participate in the exhibit.
The exhibit entitled “Ticpanan” is the Kapampangan word for “covered” or. “blocked from view”, Baladhay who lead the instruction during the workshop shared how “we often miss out on important things in our society and are obscured or hidden from both our sight and consciousness because of the unnecessary social noises we find in times of social media where trends, disinformation, and entertainment gains more attention. A response to this is mirrored through blackout poetry.”
For inquiries, email Ms. Bettina Arriola, Senior Shrine Curator of the NHCP-MPSH, at mpsh@nhcp.gov.ph.
The NHCP is the national government agency mandated to promote and preserve Philippine history and heritage by administrating national shrines, museums, research and publication, heraldry, conservation, and marking historic sites and structures.
Prepared by: Maria Edna Santiago
Source: FB page of NHCP-MPSH