PERFORMATURA, the festival of written words and performances, returns on March 31 to April 2, 2023, with live and on-site activities happening from 10:30am onwards, at the Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez (CCP Black Box Theater).

With the theme Performatura Goes Pop, the three-day event presents performances, poetry readings, multi-arts workshops, literary talks, spoken word sessions, poetry contest, film screening, book launches, book and art fair, and interviews with renowned writers.

Headed by its festival director Dr. Vim Nadera Jr., the first day of festival – dubbed Unbox@Blackbox – focuses on literature on social media in its morning session.  Vlogger entrepreneur Carlo Ople launches his creative non-fiction book “Suweldo is Not Enough.”  There will be a panel of speakers, sneaker shoe auction, and a poetry performance by Hannah Leceña.

Afternoon session celebrates the National Women’s Month, with a turnover ceremony of the printed copies of the book “In Certain Seasons: Mothers Write in the Time of COVID” with the PEN Philippines and Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines’ Bureau of the Copyright and Related Rights.  It will be followed by the launch of the “Lila Mga Tula,” a poetry book written by women from the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo.  Sponsored by the Spark and LILA groups, the launch will offer talks by women writers and literary performances.

There will be a special screening of “Brutal,” a film directed by National Artist for Film Marilou Diaz Abaya and written by National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Ricky Lee, who will do a talk back session after the screening. Moderated by Patricia Holgado, this film event is co-presented by the CCP Film, Broadcast and New Media Division and the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

The second day of the festival centers on the art of spoken word, headlined by the Ampalaya Monologues, Philippines’ premier spoken word collective headed by its founder Mark Ghosn.

At the Spoken Camp, a page-to-stage writing workshop, participants will have the chance to develop their writing skills; a talk on performing written poetry by the National Artist for Literature Gemino Abad will also take place.  Spoken Fest will feature the hottest spoken word artists, backed by indie music. Spoken Night, an open mic session, will give a platform to aspiring poets to share their voice and stories.

Dubbed Araw ni Balagtas, Performatura pays tribute and celebrates the 149th birth anniversary of Francisco Baltazar on the last day of the festival.  The Makatas with Ingay Likha battle rap artists Tulala, Zantasa and D.O.C. will perform; while Singaporean literary artist Chris Mooney Singh talks about “Balagtasan in the World Literature.”

National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario speaks about the significance of Bataan in the life of Balagtas; followed by performances by teachers and students of Bataan High School for the Arts, and multi-arts workshops at 2pm.

Capping the festival will be the KamPerformatura’s offering of poetry and performances by the youth participants, which will kickstart the Tanghal Makata 2023, the Performatura-born competition.  Spoken word expert Mark Ghosn, poet performer Kooky Tuason, and authentic mambabalagtas from Bulacan Melandro Pascual are some of the judges.  Librarian Juireo Abela of Lucena City, the Tanghal-Makata 2021, will present the Sam Penaso trophy and laurel sculpture by poet Raul Funilas to the next winner.  The closing segment is presented by GSIS Museum, LIRA, and Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL).

Multitalented artist Mimi Tecson will hold a mini-exhibit at the lobby of the CCP Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez.  Her art materials include book pages.

Thirty artists, writers, and publishers, organized by Pia Perez of The Indie Publishers Collab PH and Mark Ghosn, will sell their works at the venue on Days 1 and 2.  Artists and entrepreneurs from the Unbox team will sell their works at the venue on Day 3.

Remote Performatura events will also take place. 

On April 8, the Pinoy Reads Pinoy Books Book Club will discuss the life and works of Lualhati Bautista. Venue is to be announced soon. It is free and open to public, interested individuals may get in touch with Facebook page of the PRPB. 

An online book discussion will happen on April 15 via Zoom app. The members of the book club Flips Flippin’ Pages will share their insights on “The Reddest Rose Unfolds” comics with the help of Milflores Publishing. The comics is the latest offering of Swedish writer and artist Liv Stromquist to the Filipino people. For those who are interested to join, get in touch with Gege Sugue, the discussion moderator, on Facebook.

Poesia poetry reading will be held face to face on April 26, 3pm, at the Zaguan of Museo de La Salle in Dasmariñas, Cavite.  MDSL, led by Mary Ann Jimenez Salvador, aims to promote the museum as a space for creativity and self-expression. The basis of the poetry reading is the works that can be read in the CCP Literary Journal Ani 41st issue. 

While Performatura is open to the public, everyone is encouraged to donate a book, which will serve as an admission ticket to each segment.  Collected books will go to CCP’s partner libraries.

For queries, e-mail ccpintertextualdivision@gmail.com, call 8832-1125 local 1706 or 0919-3175708.  Follow the official CCP and CCP Intertextual Division Facebook pages for latest updates.