RP wins gold, silver in Delphic Games

MANILA, Philippines – An Ifugao woodcarver won over a dozen international artists who joined the third Delphic Games in Jeju, Korea.

Wood sculptor Ernesto Dul-ang, a semi-retired artisan who spent time working for an American base in Baguio City and has done works for the Baguio Mountain Provinces Museum, grabbed the gold medal over competitors from Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, India, Germany and South Africa.

Following the overall theme “Tuning into Nature,” former Baguio student and now Manila-based artist Leo Agtuca got the silver medal in the Graphic Story Telling category, behind Won-kyo Jueng of Korea, said Art Tibaldo from the Department of Trade and Industry who went with the team.

For about 1,000 years from the 6th century BC to AD 394, the Delphic Games was a festival of culture and arts in ancient Greece and reborn after 1,600 years as an international festival of arts and culture with Russia hosting the 2000 games, Malaysia in 2004 and Jeju City in 2009.

With collaborations and consultations among the Filipino participants, Dul-ang carved a cedar timber and formed a human figure pouring water from an earthen jar into a base of mixed subjects, while Agtuca depicted a dreaming child in a bird’s nest in paper then computer-enhanced the final artwork.

The Philippines’gold and silver medals put it in third place overall behind Korea (six gold, eight silver, six bronze) and Mongolia (five gold). In all, 460 delegates from 54 countries participated in the games.

A Lira medal was also given to each of the nine RP participants for their creative rendition of a shadow play based on Filipino folklore and myths.

The RP team led by International Delphic Council president Divina Bautista is composed of Edgardo Viray Espiritu, Claudia Wayway, Norma Lealey, Rishab Tipon, Nida Gabriel (shadow play), Mila Lopez (drawing), Ernesto Dul-ang (sculpture), Rafael Kapuno (mime improvisation), Ruel Bimuyag (percussion), Alexander Tumapang (traditional double reed woodwind instrument) and Art Tibaldo (documentary production).

The delegates were joined by Delphic Philippines’ Liza Ilagan and Narda Capuyan, DOT’s Purificacion Molintas and educator Reinaldo Bautista Sr. –Artemio Dumlao (philstar.com)