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This is the blog of Ian Rosales Casocot. Filipino writer. Sometime academic. Former backpacker. Twink bait. Hamster lover.

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Wednesday, August 23, 2023

entry arrow4:39 PM | Remembering Handulantaw, 10 Years Later



Ten years ago, we published this mammoth work of cultural history — a comprehensive book dedicated to mapping out and writing the entire artistic history of Silliman University from 1901 to 2013, in time for the 50th anniversary of what was then the Silliman University Cultural Affairs Committee [now the Silliman University Culture and Arts Council].

It had never been done before. I was editor and main instigator, and Diomar Abrio was my managing editor [and stress buffer], and we were helped by so many people who contributed articles, who made the art, who did the photography, who helped design the book, and who made the backbreaking work of research. Research was particularly hard because Silliman is actually notorious for being lax about archiving cultural work, and part of the work was being horrified by the discovery that we lost so much to termites, to fire, to World War II, and to plain neglect. [We documented an Amorsolo painting, for example, that was found neglected in the Buildings and Grounds Department. Albert Faurot's library was lost to termites. Et cetera.] Choosing fifty cultural movers that shaped Silliman culture was also a test of will and politics, and involved a lot of compromise. Creating a timeline of art-making in campus [literature, visual arts, dance, theatre, music, architecture, cinema and photography] was next to impossible — until we found out that Rodolfo Juan had been collecting programs and various memorabilia from all campus events since forever. Writing a definitive history of all the fine arts in Silliman was also hard, given constraints in space. We left out so much material actually, I swear I can devote 100 more pages to include them.

I'm proud of this work, even though this project almost killed me. [It made me fat actually, because food was my only recourse and pleasure after so much stress making this. I was thin and lean when I started this. The weight I have now can be traced back to this project!]

I really had no idea what I was diving into when I pushed for this project all those years ago. Sometimes being naive helps, because you are fearless. We also got a fantastic grant of P1.5 million from Tao Foundation, and that compelled us to finish the project once and for all. But it's done. This has been my enduring contribution to Silliman [and Dumaguete] culture, the text with which people will consult to understand the evolution of local arts.

Thank you to everyone [Julio Sy Jr., Moses Joshua B. Atega, Jacqueline Veloso Antonio, Annabelle Adriano, Leo Mamicpic, Elizabeth Susan Vista-Suarez, Warlito Caturay Jr., Isabel Dimaya-Vista, Ben S. Malayang III, Sherro Lee Arellano, Greg Morales, Yvette Malahay-Kim, Jeric Fernandez, Ian KS Malayang, Ron Calumpang, Sonia B. SyGaco, Myrish Cadapan Antonio, Dessa Quesada-Palm, Earl Jude Cleope, and all the writers, artists, photographers, researchers, and historical consultants] who made this possible.

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