“unang daloy”: the 1st central luzon visual arts congress

“Daloy” is a term common among the people of Central Luzon that means “flow,” specifically, the flow of water in the many rivers that descend and cross over its seven provinces, uniting them through the traditional settlement pattern of riverine communities. This can be seen in the identities of people themselves: both “Tagalog” and “Kampampangan” are derived from peoples living on the river’s edge. (“taga-ilog” meaning “people of the river,” and “pampang” referring to the riverbank). In a sense, the precense of rivers allowed people to settle and identify with the unique physical and social environment of Central Luzon. Daloy thus also connotes a symbolic unity and direction by which the people of Central Luzon can come together to enrich the common cultural heritage through infusions of their own artistic contributions.

This is the premise behind Unang Daloy: The 1st Central Luzon Art Festival. Occuring from October 3-4, 2012, the festival unites for the first time visual artistic communities from all seven provinces of Central Luzon (or Region III): Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija,Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales. A region rich in visual artistic heritage, proof of which can be found in the many celebrated artists who were born and raised here, or whose ancestry is based here, like National Artists Guillermo Tolentino, Vicente Manansala, Jose Joya, or Benedicto Cabrera. They also include great masters like Simon Flores, Teodoro Buenaventura Sr., Diosdado Lorenzo, Amadeo Manalad, Vicente Alvarez Dizon, Cesar Buenaventura, Miguel Galvez, and Jose D. Castro.