I’ve come across this article by Philippine Collegian circulating on Facebook recently. The author, I summarized, believed that “art should be a universal experience, but exorbitant costs in art are prohibiting us from experiencing and contributing to it meaningfully.”
While I agree with some of the author’s points in that article, like how art should be experienced by everyone and about artists and cultural workers being underpaid and overworked, one must realize that art comes with a cost.
Mounting a production – whether it is a theater play, a ballet show, or a musical concert – needs money.
Let’s say you are producing a play. You need a theater production team – a playwright, a director, a librettist, and a composer if it is a musical, a light designer, a sound engineer, a costume/set designer, a production manager who would do all the logistics and paperwork, and stage managers. You need more people if you’re mounting a big production. Of course, you need to pay all these people.
Then, comes the actors. How many you need depends on the script. Sometimes you need one or two for monologues, but most of the time, you need an ensemble. And of course, you need to pay your performers. You need more budget if you are getting big stars.
Also, you need a venue where you will stage the production, and the rental fee could cost a lot. Lucky are those who have their own performing space. A theater company needs a rehearsal space. Rehearsal can run from two to three weeks. That’s another expenditure. Not to mention that you need to feed the production staff every rehearsal. Then, there are government taxes and fees to consider, among other expenses.
Even visual artists need money to create art. Paints and canvasses don’t just appear out of thin air. They need to buy their art supplies, and they are not cheap. A quality brush and paint can cost hundreds of pesos.
To cover the production expenses, tickets are sold at a certain price. Frankly, theater companies, orchestras, ballet groups, and even the government-owned Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) don’t earn much from ticket selling. Break-even, perhaps, but they don’t really earn much.
While these organizations understand that everyone has different purchasing power and that not everyone can afford a P500 ticket for Dulaang UP or P1,500 for Tanghalang Pilipino’s Pingkian, there is a need to recoup their production capital so they can produce more shows in the near future.
It is not that these organizations want to gatekeep art or make it elusive and exclusive. There is always a cost. I’m pretty sure that these performing groups want as many people as possible to experience their arts. Hence, they sell their tickets at the lowest possible price.
Here is where sponsorships can help. The more sponsors a performing group has, the lower the ticket price could be. That’s how I see it. But unfortunately, not all companies support art. Heck, it is not even the priority of the government. (Hello, budget cut!)
Some institutions offer free arts and cultural events. CCP, for instance, has been balancing its artistic programming with ticketed and free events. Yes, they have art events that don’t require participants to shell out their hard-earned money. Last February, CCP had its Pasinaya, where participants can pay what they can and experience what they can.
They also have free outreach concerts, featuring the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philippine Madrigal Singers, not just in the metro but also in the regions. There are also free workshops anyone can join, free exhibits they can go to at the TIG Gallery, as well as free screenings through its Cinema Under the Stars, Cine Icons, and Lakbay Sine programs.
There are always free art activities happening everywhere, like the Art in the Park, slated this March 17, Sunday, starting at 10:00 a.m., at the Jaime Velasquez Park in Makati City.
For its 18th edition, Art in the Park gathers over 60 exhibitors representing galleries, art collectives, independent art spaces, and student groups to present a vibrant showcase of diverse talents and offer an opportunity for art enthusiasts to engage, interact, and immerse themselves in Filipino creativity.
If you want to start art collecting, this is the place to be. You can find artworks that fit your budget, with a cap of P70,000.
Featured artists for this edition are multimedia graphic artist Demi Padua, abstractionist Pepe Delfin, and visual artist Clarence Chun.
Proceeds from the Art in the Park will benefit the Museum Foundation of the Philippines, which in turn supports the projects and programs for the National Museum of the Philippines and its network.
BPI credit cardholders may convert their purchases into monthly installments at 0 percent interest for up to six months through BPI’s Special Installment Plan for a minimum purchase of P3,000. BPI also offers a Buy Now Pay Three Months Later option, with the first amortization posting three months after the purchase date, and a 100 percent Bonus Madness Limit on installment purchases for qualified credit cardholders.
Art in the Park is organized by Philippine Art Events, Inc., with support from Globe Platinum and Bank of The Philippine Islands, and with partners MACEA, and Barangay Bel Air.