The story behind the smiles
Posted on September 17, 2006
It was in the late 1970’s. The world sugar prices took a nosedive slump. Imagine How the entire populace fully dependent on the sugar insdutry would react to this crisis. Then, in 1979, M/V Don Juan, the Philippines’ top passenger ship at that time sank and killed hundreds of its passengers. Then the Internationally-acclaimed TIME Magazine reported the malnutrition in the Philippines and the photograph of an undernourished Ilonggo kid made its way as the cover of the magazine, thus, the birth of the Batang Negros image.
Crises left and right, here and there. Seems an endless cycle of problems in the sweet sugarlandia.
To hide the grief, sadness and dispair in the faces of the Bacoleño, people thought of dressing in colorful costumes and painting their faces with smiles. They all went out to the streets dancing with their faces painted with smiles. And so this happened in October of 1979. This is the birth of the Masskara Festival.
The word Masskara came from two words, mass, meaning manyor multutude, and Kara, form the Spanish tern cara, meaning faces. Thus, Masskara literally means a multitude of faces
Today, the the Masskara festival has changed in one way or another. The people no need to hide their faces because of gloom. Their new battle cry: Sige Lang, Sige Na! Bacolod Bato^ kita!. (It’s Ok, It’s Alright. Bacolod, Let’s Fight on!)
The new battlecry of the Masskara festival simply shows the indomitable spirit of the Ilonggo people. The power to keep on moving despite all the crisis and the tragedies that happen.
» Filed Under Festivals
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5 Responses to ”The story behind the smiles”
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Hello Eric
One of these days, I will write the true history of the MassKara Festival based on the point of view of an artist’s son. The term MassKara was coined originally by my father, the late Ely Santiago, who was a cartoonist, caricaturist and painter.
This was what happened. In 1979, the Kiwanis Club of Bacolod City paraded the streets during the City’s charter anniversary wearing imported masks. I recall they were latex masks of Ronald Reagan, Chewbacca of Star Wars and other characters. My father, who was also a Kiwanian saw that the masks were an interesting addition to the parade. He then conceptualized on creating a festival of masks, together with his friends from the Arts Association of Bacolod, Kiwanis, the press and the city who was then under Mayor Montalvo. His conceptualization of the festival was also his way of helping the economy of the city by providing livelihood through mask making. He travelled and went to the grassroots level, training people how to create paper mache’ masks using newspapers, starch and paint. These were the early days. Then politicians and business joined with some messing up the festival and easing out my father from the main picture. It came to a point when he was no longer involved in the festival’s planning. Plain bullshit happened when someone in power claimed MassKara to be his own and this enraged my father and some artists. In the past few years, the name of Ely Santiago is no longer mentioned during the festival. His memory slowly being erased.
It was he who called it MassKara. It was his big idea. He did not do it for money. He did it because as an artist, he felt the need to create.
Eric, I need your help to help me tell the people the real history behind the festival. My father has been dead for more than a decade and I don’t want his memory to be eased out of the festival he conceptualized.
I have seen the official site of MassKara and read the history written by Imogene Kanaan. She played safe by omitting my father’s name and just stated “artists” in general. I will not go on an all out war against the Foundation, I just need them to tell the truth as it is.
Lee Santiago
thanks lee,
ive been to your blog before but i never thought that u were Ely’s son.
If i am not mistaken. it was only during the administration of mayor leonardia that Ely Santiago was introduced to the people as one of the brains behind the masskara.
hope to see you there. i’d be very very happy to meet you there. so that i can re-create another story based on another perspective.
madamo gid nga salamat!
see Masskara themed parade in Dublin Ireland:::::::::::::::::::
[IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/PLAYLIFE05/aa.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/PLAYLIFE05/AAA.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/PLAYLIFE05/aa.jpg[/IMG]
masskara Pride Ireland
[IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/PLAYLIFE05/francis123115.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/PLAYLIFE05/francis123180.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j303/PLAYLIFE05/176537403_0ee56a8753.jpg[/IMG]
great comment lee. commerce should never be allowed to triumph over art.
@eric, hope you continue telling the real maskara story . today’s mass + kara was just a concoction they had to come up with in order to provide a sense of history kuno.