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12 October 2024.The Philippine Embassy in France, in collaboration with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda, conducted a lecture and demonstration on the Aklan Piña Handloom Weaving & Schools of Living Traditions (SLT) on 11 October 2024 at the Embassy’s conference room. The lecture, attended by Embassy personnel, students, and cultural advocates, is in line with the Philippines’ celebration of the Indigenous Peoples’ Month this October. 

NCCA’s team of cultural experts led by Ms. Renee Talavera (center left) with H.E. Junever Mahilum-West (center), Embassy team and the Filipino community participants.

The learning engagement is a corollary activity to the UNESCO exhibit on 14-18 October 2024 that will celebrate the inscription in December 2023 of Aklan’s piña handloom weaving on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as well as the recognition of the Philippines’ SLTs in the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices in December 2021. Established in 1995, SLTs are community-managed centers headed by cultural masters and specialists who teach knowledge and skills on indigenous art, craft and tradition to the youth. The conduct of teaching in SLTs is often non-formal, oral and with practical demonstrations to preserve living traditions of the indigenous peoples. 

H.E. Junever Mahilum-West welcomed guests and participants to the lecture and demonstration. 

NCCA’s Program Management Division Chief and Institutional Programs and Projects Section Head Ms. Renee Talavera led the delegation of cultural masters composed of local weaving experts and indigenous community leaders. Among them are Ms. Raquel Eliserio, cultural master and weaver of the Akeanon-Ati Malindog SLT, Ms. Ursulita Marte dela Cruz, weaver & resource person of the Municipal Government of Kalibo, Mr. Gauden Sireg, a Subanen cultural master, and Ms. Renefe Tremedal, SLT National Coordinator. 

Cultural master Gauden Sireg teaches participants about Subanen indigenous dances as part of SLT demo. 

The lecture included a display of piña fibers, woven products, indigenous clothing and cultural items from the SLT communities. Participants were also able to learn the Subanen dances from the cultural master himself. 

NCCA’s Program Management Division Chief Ms. Renee Talavera discussed SLT’s mandate to preserve living traditions of the indigenous peoples.

H.E. Junever M. Mahilum-West, Philippine Ambassador to France, expressed her appreciation to NCCA for the opportunity to showcase Philippine indigenous culture in Paris through a hands-on learning format. The Ambassador added that “culture cannot be confined to the four walls of museums; it must be lived, experienced, and shared to truly thrive across generations.”

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7 October 2024. The Philippine Embassy in France collaborated with Ms. Nina Daza-Puyat, children’s book author and former editor-in-chief of Appetite Magazine, for a reading of her work Ang Alamat ng Lumpiang Shanghai on 4 October 2024. Attending children and adults both enjoyed the audio-visual spectacle accompanying the usual storytime. 

Philippine Embassy officials led by H.E. Junever Mahilum-West with Ms. Nina Daza-Puyat and participants. 

Ms. Nina Daza-Puyat, daughter of culinary icon Nora Daza, opened her lecture with a brief introduction of her childhood memories in Paris and her family’s ties with the city’s gastronomic culture. Her mother opened in 1972 Aux Iles Philippines, the first Filipino restaurant in Paris, and it became known for its Filipino popular dishes and desserts including sans rival, ube and leche flan. 

Parents and children enjoyed the audio-visual storytime of Alamat ng Lumpiang Shanghai.

Alamat ng Lumpiang Shanghai is a fictional folktale which tells the story of how the popular dish came into being. It explores how two opposing families were united by an unexpected tragedy. It demonstrates important values such as charity, respect for the elderly, and bayanihan which are innate in Filipino culture. It also teaches kids the value of food by stirring their curiosity and giving them a deeper appreciation of the cooking process and the preparation of the ingredients.

Kids engaged in an interactive exercise after the story where they experienced balancing the bilao with vegetables on their heads, as practiced in the Philippines.

Paris-based children’s literature advocate Margaret Gerner also read a story for the kids. An interactive session followed where they shared learnings and asked questions about the story. To wrap up the event, the classic lumpiang shanghai was served among the refreshments.

Following the event, guests browse Filipino children’s books and partake the celebrated lumpiang shanghai.

During the food month celebration, the Embassy launched a directory of Filipino restaurants in Paris to promote Philippine cuisine in the gastronomic capital of the world. Visit the food site here: 
https://sites.google.com/dfa.gov.ph/filipino-food-in-france/home

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OFWs in Spain, Andorra, France, Monaco and Portugal are invited to attend this workshop (hybrid format).  For those who will join online, a zoom link will be provided to them.

Please find our registration link and poster below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc-1wlYHRlAEvVz3og67jGZIBOx9rg3q4oNe89XWVpPp2UTmQ/viewform

Please click the link below:

LIST_OF_APPLICANTS_FOR_POSTING-PC2024-07-01-2024-09-30_FRPA_01_2024-10-07 105830.565X.pdf

03 April 2024.In coordination with the Philippine Embassy’s promotion of Philippines studies in France, the Instituts d'études politiques (SciencesPo) in Paris screened Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag (1975) by Lino Brocka, Philippine National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts, on 29 March 2024 at L'Entrepôt cinema in Paris. Filipino and French students and film enthusiasts attended the film screening.

SciencesPo Paris screens Lino Brocka’s 1975 masterpiece entitled Manille (in French).  

Prof. Jose “Butch” Dalisay, Jr., a multi-awarded author and screenplay writer, led an interactive discussion after the screening, having been one of Lino Brocka’s scriptwriters. He described the nostalgia evoked by watching the film again after almost 50 years given its relevance to the country’s historical and sociopolitical narratives, and the familiar actors in the film who were in the prime of youth during the 70’s.

Prof. Jose Dalisay recounts working with national artist and director Lino Brocka in an interactive discussion with the audience. 

A brief soirée followed the screening where guest students, most of whom were not born yet when the film was made, personally interacted with Prof. Dalisay and with Philippine Ambassador to France Junever Mahilum-West who also attended the screening. The soirée also featured Philippine-flavored macarons — ube, kalamansi, durian, and pandan — from Jem’s Patisserie.  

Earlier, Prof. Dalisay, together with Ms. Criselda Yabes, a critically acclaimed France-based author, graced the Philippine Embassy’s National Literature Month (NLM) commemoration through the reading of their celebrated works in line with the NLM theme “Ang Panitikan at Kapayapaan”. 

The film screening, lectures, and reading marking National Literature Month 2024 showcased the rich heritage of Philippine literature and cinema. 
 

H.E. Junever Mahilum-West (2nd row, center right) with Prof. Butch Dalisay and Ms. June Dalisay (2nd row, center left) with the student audience during the film screening led by of SciencesPo’s Ms. Pauline Couteau (not in photo).

The Philippine Embassy in France remains committed to deepening and expanding its ties with French academic institutions in advancing understanding of Philippine studies.

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