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| frank rivera: crusader for the arts |
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| frank: "if a picture paints a thousand words..." |
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| frank: a paradigm shift |
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| frank speaks |
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| mr. frank rivera with his partner jun laurel |
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| frank with the theater actors of philippine stagers foundation |
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| frank with friends in an art exhibit |
TINITINGALA SIYA SA MUNDO NG TEATRO, PELIKULA AT TELEBISYON. ISA SIYANG BUHAY NA MAKATA. MINAMAHAL NG HUSTO AT INIIDOLO NI VINCE TANADA NG PHILIPPINE STAGERS FOUNDATION.
ISA RIN SIYANG KAIBIGAN. CRUSADER FOR THE ARTS. AND LOVER OF POEMS. INAABANGAN SA FACEBOOK PALAGI ANG MGA NILILIKHA NIYANG TULA.
AT SA ISANG SIMPLENG PANAYAM, NAKAUSAP SIYA NG ISANG BLOGGER.
TUNGHAYAN AT BASAHIN SA IBABA ANG QUESTION & ANSWER (Q & A) NA PANAYAM NAMIN SA DAKILANG BUHAY NA KALULUWANG ITO SA MUNDO NG TEATRO!
WALANG IBA KUNDI SI FRANK G. RIVERA.
SWORDSHINES10: WOULD YOU LIVE AND DIE FOR ARTS, KUYA FRANK?
FRANK RIVERA (F.R.): There's too much rhetoric in the question would I live and die for Art.
To live in Art, to live for Art -- is a wonderful thing to do. In fact, to live for Art is a very brave act. Consider this -- artists or people who delve in Art are deemed by our society, even by our educational system, as not very important because for the longest time Art & Culture have been treated as only extra-curricular activities. What does that make me as an artist? That makes me brave. To remain in the arts inspite and despite of that stigma is to be brave, not only for oneself but for making a real stand that the arts is part and parcel of society and humanity. Big words, yes, because man is of body and soul made -- art is man's soul. We must never treat our soul as an unimportant part of ourselves, not just mere entertainers but true agents of the true, the good, and what can be considered beautiful. To die for Art, Kapatid, that is too much naman kahit rhetorical question. However, when a person chose the arts as his road to tread he has already risked his life. Di ba ang tunay na artistang totoo sa kanyang Sining ay laging tumutulay sa alambre sa pagtuklas ng bago, tama at totoo? But it does not mean that when he falls and fails, he dies. No, I will not die for art. That's crazy, even as metaphor. I would rather look at it as the road to immortality since artistic legacy seldom dies with the artists. Art makes the artist live forever. Art makes them immortal. How is that for the Philistines who say Art is unimportant?
SWORDSHINES10: DO POETS STILL EXIST IN THE MILLENIAL AGE, KUYA FRANK? IF SO, HOW CAN THEY SURVIVE?
F.R.: Poets have existed all the time as long as language remains in use. Poets and artists have their own peculiar way of expressing themselves. Poetry never died. In the advent of rap, a new poetic form is rediscovered and enhanced by new and modern experiences through unexplored innovations on metre and rhyme and insights. The popularity of what has been coined as "Spoken Word" by the millennials is the perfect pitch that Poetry is alive and kicking.
We have new Shakespeares, Balagtas and Huseng Batute in the making.
SWORDSHINES10: WHAT CAN YOU ADVISE TO THE YOUNGER POETS AND ARTISTS IN ORDER FOR THEM TO EXIST?
F.R.: One of the most prevalent problems of young artists is lack of concern and knowledge of the past. While they are really good, creative and articulate, they must also be well-versed on history. After all, many art forms did not just pop out of nowhere. Young and budding artists must be aware of the works of other artists preceding them because these elder artists were the ones who laid down the groundwork for them. And millennial artists must be politicized. History has proven that only artists who represented their era, their own particular period and space, were the real artists of consequence. For Art to be more meaningful and therefore relevant in a country like ours that takes so long to progress, it must always make a stand, right or wrong, on issues. By doing so, artists become an integral part of the country's development and thus become an important player in society, not only mere entertainers like court jesters in some powerful arena, no matter how expensive the artistry was worth.
SWORDSHINES10: WILL YOU AGREE WITH ME NOW IF I SAY TO YOU THAT VINCE TANADA IS THE NEXT 'ROLANDO TINIO' OF PHILIPPINE THEATER?
F.R.: No, I don't agree with you when you say that Vince Tañada is the next Rolando Tinio of the Theater World. Vince is entirely different from Rolando in every aspect. While Rolando concentrated on the world's classics, Vince delved on his own takes on Philippine issues. While Rolando openly declared that there was no Filipino masterwork comparable to the works of Shakespeare, Moliere, Ibsen, etc., Vince works on creating Filipino theater pieces that eventually will be at par or even better than the foreign counterparts. No, Rolando and Vince did not come from the same school of thought and they will never be the same.
SWORDSHINES10: IN YOUR OWN WORDS, HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THE PLAY "OBRA NI JUAN"?
F.R.: OBRA NI JUAN is a league of its own. A class act. Beautiful is not a very apt word to describe it because the production is even much, much more than that description.
SWORDSHINES10: SIR FRANK, CAN YOU BRIEFLY SHARE TO US YOUR THEATER CAREER?
F.R.: I've been in theater for more than 5 decades, that's a non-stop work, year in, year out. The leanest year was when I was confined in the hospital fighting stage 4 cancer but even then my career in theater did not stop.
SWORDSHINES10: WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE PRESENT STATUS OR POSITION OF THEATER IN THE PHILIPPINES?
F.R.: There's a renewed interest in theater. We have very, very good young directors in our midst -- Ed Lacson, Dexter Santos, Angelo Aurelio, JK Anicoche, Paul Jake Paule, Pepito Sumayan and of course Vince Tañada. Those who claim Philippine Theater is on the verge (of dying) have not been thoroughly in touch with reality.
Napakagagaling ngayon ng mga artista sa teatro at dapat lang. Kalikaliwa ang mga workshops -- kapag hindi pa naman sila natutong gumaling, dapat magbago sila ng propesyon. Mga hindi magagaling na artista o 'yung naggagaling-galingan lamang ang nagbibigay ng masamang pangalan sa Teatro.
SWORDSHINES10: WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST DREAM AS AN ARTIST?
F.R.: My greatest dream as an artist is a paradigm shift at how established institutions regard artists and the arts. Artists are culture engineers. We shape and build minds like educators, sometimes even better as we can keep our students on toes unlike so many boring lecturers who rely on uninteresting Audio-Visual Presentations to perk up otherwise important message made to look unimportant by the speaker who must have gotten his zero-level energy from a sleepwalker.
SWORDSHINES10: LAST QUESTION, WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST MISSION OR CRUSADE NOW AS AN ARTIST?
F.R.: The quality of Artistic Consciousness must always be considered. But it must be a consciousness that is stiff on national identity. Let us not carry on with the phrase "world-class" because it is just keeping up with what they deem as their standard. We can be the "world's best" if we show them what we really have as our own people. Huwag magpaka-Amerikano, huwag magpaka-Europeo, huwag magpaka-Arabo o Intsik, may sarili tayong pagka-Filipino. At kung hindi pa natin alam kung ano 'yun --
SWORDSHINES10: WILL YOU AGREE WITH ME NOW IF I SAY TO YOU THAT VINCE TANADA IS THE NEXT 'ROLANDO TINIO' OF PHILIPPINE THEATER?
F.R.: No, I don't agree with you when you say that Vince Tañada is the next Rolando Tinio of the Theater World. Vince is entirely different from Rolando in every aspect. While Rolando concentrated on the world's classics, Vince delved on his own takes on Philippine issues. While Rolando openly declared that there was no Filipino masterwork comparable to the works of Shakespeare, Moliere, Ibsen, etc., Vince works on creating Filipino theater pieces that eventually will be at par or even better than the foreign counterparts. No, Rolando and Vince did not come from the same school of thought and they will never be the same.
SWORDSHINES10: IN YOUR OWN WORDS, HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THE PLAY "OBRA NI JUAN"?
F.R.: OBRA NI JUAN is a league of its own. A class act. Beautiful is not a very apt word to describe it because the production is even much, much more than that description.
SWORDSHINES10: SIR FRANK, CAN YOU BRIEFLY SHARE TO US YOUR THEATER CAREER?
F.R.: I've been in theater for more than 5 decades, that's a non-stop work, year in, year out. The leanest year was when I was confined in the hospital fighting stage 4 cancer but even then my career in theater did not stop.
SWORDSHINES10: WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE PRESENT STATUS OR POSITION OF THEATER IN THE PHILIPPINES?
F.R.: There's a renewed interest in theater. We have very, very good young directors in our midst -- Ed Lacson, Dexter Santos, Angelo Aurelio, JK Anicoche, Paul Jake Paule, Pepito Sumayan and of course Vince Tañada. Those who claim Philippine Theater is on the verge (of dying) have not been thoroughly in touch with reality.
Napakagagaling ngayon ng mga artista sa teatro at dapat lang. Kalikaliwa ang mga workshops -- kapag hindi pa naman sila natutong gumaling, dapat magbago sila ng propesyon. Mga hindi magagaling na artista o 'yung naggagaling-galingan lamang ang nagbibigay ng masamang pangalan sa Teatro.
SWORDSHINES10: WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST DREAM AS AN ARTIST?
F.R.: My greatest dream as an artist is a paradigm shift at how established institutions regard artists and the arts. Artists are culture engineers. We shape and build minds like educators, sometimes even better as we can keep our students on toes unlike so many boring lecturers who rely on uninteresting Audio-Visual Presentations to perk up otherwise important message made to look unimportant by the speaker who must have gotten his zero-level energy from a sleepwalker.
SWORDSHINES10: LAST QUESTION, WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST MISSION OR CRUSADE NOW AS AN ARTIST?
F.R.: The quality of Artistic Consciousness must always be considered. But it must be a consciousness that is stiff on national identity. Let us not carry on with the phrase "world-class" because it is just keeping up with what they deem as their standard. We can be the "world's best" if we show them what we really have as our own people. Huwag magpaka-Amerikano, huwag magpaka-Europeo, huwag magpaka-Arabo o Intsik, may sarili tayong pagka-Filipino. At kung hindi pa natin alam kung ano 'yun --
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