My First Komiket: One Big Collective of Filipino Artists (3 of 3)

Overall, my first Komiket experience was really a lot of fun! It was therapeutic too!

It was an exciting place to be knowing the pulse of young readers and the directions that this generation of artists, komikeros, fan boys and fan girls and its supporters are taking. As a parent of two budding artists, one is a musician and the second is a visual artist, I know how to support both of them in honing their craft.

There are future Komiket events scheduled until October 2019. My daughter and I are considering participating as sellers. We have the next seven months to plan and prepare. It is time to do some research and development. More than anything, the Komiket I witnessed last week gave a big support to Filipino artists, young and old, to start ups and established ones, publishing houses big and small, indie artists with a cause and fans from all walks of life.

How I wish life, in general, could be this diverse yet, unified.

As a teacher librarian, I have many takeaways.

Teenagers learn better at their leisure, especially when they make choices for themselves. The nature of zines as a DIY, ala-makerspace product and self publishing platform for one's art and identity is a game changer. This should be a wake-up call for teachers and school librarians like me. How are we teaching and facilitating learning to teens of this generation? This is a radical idea, but I do want that school textbooks be kept as mere references. Use authentic and student made materials to teach reading and writing. Listen to kids critic each other. Trust them more. Agree on actions and its consequences when the trust is broken. Grow up with them! 

Until next Komiket, Gen Zees!

Book Review: Wrap Them Store Them Peddle Them: The Filipino Way

Wrap Them Store Them Peddle Them: The Filipino Way
Written by Marilen Nolasco-Espiritu
Photos by Johann Espiritu
ArtPostAsia, 2008

This book is in the cataloging pile that caught my eye!

What an interesting read. 

It has stories about the creative ways of preparing and packaging Filipino delicacies as well as the persistence and ingenuity of the people who make them. I had to pause from meeting my cataloging quota to read a few chapters. 

It is the book's cover that got me first: a stack of sundot kulangot. Kalamay. Rice cakes inside the bitaog shell. As a child, I would receive sticks of sundot kulangot as pasalubong from a favorite aunt who loved to travel in the provinces of the North. My lola cooked Kalamay, of course, but back then, cracking open the shell and scooping the kalamay from the inside with a small bamboo stick adds to the adventure of eating one.

Ah, and there are more kakanin and delicacies in the book that brought forth memories and stories of growing up. The chapter on Bagong Balayan reminds me of a neighbor who sold them per scoop or takal from a tapayan. My mother would make me buy 3-5 scoops of bagoong for seasoning in pinakbet. On a Sunday, after morning mass, my father would drop by an old house near Pateros church to buy trays of balut and itlog maalat. A tray of salted eggs would land in my Lola's sari-sari store where it was sold for 5-7 pesos a piece. Add 3-5 pesos and you get one tomato and one small onion.

Amazing how one book can channel me back to those memories of childhood.

Apart from the folkloric appeal of the narrative, the photos are art pieces complementing the book's concept of a vanishing culture put under a microscope. Thus the book is a precious title to add to a library's collection. In teaching and learning context, the book is a valuable source for developing units of study in Philippine studies, art, design and even business.

Rating: 4 Bookmarks