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B I Y A G

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| A visit to the showcase of talents of the youth.|

In my recent walks along the capitol area, I witnessed a display of paintings in the capitol lobby.

I am not a fan of paintings and I don't even know how to analyze what they convey. In other paintings, the artist would indicate what media was used or what material was it painted on. They would know the value of painting not only on the painting itself but also on the media used or how it was painted.
But for an ordinary person, we are just left to appreciate the paintings by how they appeal to our senses.

Thus, the first painting of a cat captured me.

CAT AWRA. Being a cat person, this painting lured me to look into the other paintings displayed in the second floor lobby.

The display are entries of the Benguet youth to a contest which is a part of the BIYAG Festival 2024.
"Biyag" in the local term means life.
But in this instance, it is an acronym for Benguet and Indigenous Youth Arts Guild which aims to promote the rich cultural heritage of the Province of Benguet by encouraging the youths to showcase their talents and creativity. It showcases the cultural pride of the Benguet youth.

This is the calendar of activities for the festival.

The activities includes dance competitions, singing competitions, arts competitions, fashion show, display of art and cultural products and many others. Every activity is related to the Benguet Culture.

Personally, I appreciate this festival because I myself don't know a lot about my culture. It is in this festival that young people encounter what our ancestors practiced, their customs and traditions that formed our culture.

For one, this painting depicts a jar. But for us, we call it salaw. It is usually where my ancestors would ferment rice to make rice wine which we call Tafey or if sweetened, Dembeng often served during celebrations such as Cañao (pronounced as Kanyaw).

Cañao is a celebration to appease the god Kabunyan or the departed ones for healing or as thanksgiving.

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Besides these paintings, other activities included in the festival are singing and dancing competitions, arts competitions, fashion show, display or local arts and cultural products and a lot more. For the singing competitions, the participants are required to sing OPM (Original Pinoy Music) and local songs. In the fashion shows, the participants wore clothes made from the traditional cloth.

After appreciating the paintings, I went to the ground floor lobby where there are local products displayed.

YOU ARE WARNED! This display caught my attention. It is made by one of the inmates detained in the local district jail and is being sold for their livelihood. It's missing one chime. Thus, you are hereby warned. Haha.

Other livelihood products being sold by the local jail are dishwashing soaps, hand wash, pillows and pillow cases.

Forever is in "R". This is another hand made product by an inmate.

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I walked away from the Capitol Building to continue my daily walk at the university grounds.

Anyway, here are the paintings displayed in the second floor lobby. The colors may vary due to lighting and camera quality.

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📌Hi. This is Cate. Thank you.for reading my blog. I hope you appreciate the paintings as I do. They are not only paintings. They are a testament to the talents of the youth in my province. Further, most of these paintings are windows to my own culture and tradition. Hope you like them. Thank you! 💕

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Note: This blog does not claim ownership over these paintings. This is me proudly showing off the talents of the youth of Benguet, Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines.