The Philippines has breached the world record for the largest art lesson conducted in a single day, surpassing one posted by India with 14,135 people in 2014.
According to Riza Niño Meneses, main coordinator of the PINASayang Sining Festival in Quezon City, PricewaterhouseCoopers Philippines recorded a total of 16,692 participants in a 45-minute art lesson held at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Diliman, Quezon City on Saturday.
PwC Philippines is an audit company approved by the Guinness World Record group to conduct the count.
Meneses said the materials and figures will be submitted to the Guinness World Record for verification, with the result to be released after two to three weeks.
The attempt to break the record was prepared in less than four months after Guinness approved Expressions Stationery Shop’s application in November 2017.
Expressions funded and organized the attempt, in collaboration with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the local government of Quezon City, and the Department of Education.
Most of the participants were students from at least 32 schools in the National Capital Region.
Jason Lim, general manager of Expressions, said the attempt was made to coincide with National Arts Month and their company’s 30th anniversary.
“This [event] is to prove our commitment to positive self-expression by raising awareness for arts,” Lim said in a press conference.
“Standing on the stage seeing the people, you really can see that Filipinos can make great things by working together. We just have to wait for Guinness to validate the attempt, then we can prove to the world that we can make a difference,” he added.
Ferdinand Isleta, head of NCCA Policy Formulation and Programming Division’s Subcommission on the Arts, said PINASayang Sining was the country’s first Guinness attempt on arts that involved their office.
“We appreciate that Expressions considered including NCCA as partner of this world attempt. May there be more collaboration to promote the future of culture and arts,” Isleta said.
A lesson plan, with Guinness’ approval, was used to initially teach the participants how to draw masks, particularly grand and colorful masks usually showcased in Bacolod City’s Masskara Festival.
Given the art subject the organizers chose to create, Isleta is positive that the initiative would instill the importance of the country’s cultural heritage to the youth.