The Art Association of Bacolod-Negros (AABN) with the Balik Yuhum Foundation will mount its 2nd On-The-Spot MassKara Painting Competition in celebration of art and creativity during the MassKara Festival 2023 in October.
They are calling on all artists who are bonafide Bacolod residents to join in and preferably to be endorsed by their barangays, AABN president Ihvonie “Tey” Sevilleno said in a press release on Wednesday, September 27.
The painting competition will held at Robinsons Place Bacolod from 2 to 6 p.m. on October 8.
This on-site art event will be for Bacolod artists screened by the art association beforehand. The official contestants will be painting on blank masks instead of the usual canvas or paper, Sevilleno said.
“We are continuing this competition as part of the AABN’s support to Bacolod City as we feature our local artists. We would like to invite all 61 barangays to each have their endorsed representative to have an inclusive art atmosphere in this year’s MassKara Festival, as encouraged by our City Mayor Albee Benitez. Art has long been our language of celebration. Art is the heart of the most unique festival in the Philippines —- the MassKara Festival,” Sevilleno said.
AABN was vital during the birth of MassKara as its artists members like Ely Santiago, Rodney Martinez, and Roy Aguilar were the ones who helped conceive the idea of creating masks for the October festival, the press release said.
The late Ely Santiago was an AABN founding member and cartoonist who coined the title of the MassKara Festival, meaning ‘mass’ for people and ‘kara’ for face.
This year AABN goes back to the original intention of the founding artists of MassKara to help local artisans, out-of-school youth, and barangays to build small industries like mask-making and art merchandise, the press release added.
The 2nd On-The-Spot MassKara Painting Competition is open to all artists of Bacolod aged 18 years old or older. Application to be one of the official contestants for the competition is free and once chosen, the blank masks to be painted on and the other materials will be provided by the organizers, the press release said.
The prizes are P15,000 pesos for first prize, P7,000 for second prize, and P3,000 for third prize.
There will also be 10 consolation prizes and special awards to be given.
Application for participation will be until October 5, and those interested can visit the Art Association of Bacolod-Negros FB Page: OfficialAABNegros or their Instagram: @artbacolodnegros, the press release said.*