The Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, in cooperation with the Art Circle Gallery and Shangri-la Plaza, will toast the winners of the 2008 Maningning Miclat Art Competition in an evening of arts, poetry and music on September 24, 2008 at the Art Plaza of the Shangri-la Plaza Mall.

The grand prize winner shall receive an exquisite glass sculpture trophy by world renowned artist, Ramon Orlina, plus PhP28,000.00 cash and a special collector’s edition of “Beyond the Great Wall: A Family Journal” by Mario, Alma, Maningning and Banaue Miclat. The book was awarded the National Book Award for Biography last year by the Manila Critics’ Circle in cooperation with the National Book Development Board.

Thirty eight paintings shall compete for the award. They have been chosen for exhibit/sale at Shangri-La Plaza Mall from September 19 to 30 out of more than 80 entries coming from around 20 universities, colleges and schools.

The board of judges consists of Orlina, and multi-awarded and highly respected artists Danny Dalena and Egai Fernandez. As of this writing, the board has listed their preliminary choices for 12 semi-finalists. They include (in alphabetical order of their respective schools): Abigail C. Dionisio of Bulacan State University, Raffy T. Napay and Rudolf V. Serrano of Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science & Technology, Mary Grace Corpus of Far Eastern University, Jerome G. Revilla of De La Salle University, Alexander M. Roxas of Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Janelle Tang of St. Scholastica, Sherwin Callejo of Technological University of the Philippines, Emmanuel E. Servito and Billy James A. Francisco of the University of the East, Bjorn Hardy V. Eding of the University of the Philippines Diliman, and Elvin John F. Villar of University of Santo Tomas.

A gallery favorite will also be awarded cash prize by the Art Circle Gallery come awards night. The ceremonies shall feature poetry reading by authors and poets Krip Yuson, Neil C. Garcia, Michael Coroza, Benilda Santos, Pambie Herrera, Kris Lanot Lacaba and Maningning Miclat Poetry Award winners in 2005 and 2007, Allan Pastrana and Raymond John de Borja.Aba Lluch Dalena and Carol Bello will give an opening song number in the program emceed by Jose Wendell Capili.. Auchee Villaraza will give a dance number, while Girl Valencia will close the program with Pete Lacaba’s Salinawit as well as her own composition and Maningning’s poem set to music by Joey Ayala. National Artist Bien Lumbera together with the Maningning Foundation Board Directors will cut the ribbon to officially open the art exhibit and to award the winners of the art competition.

Named in honor of the China-born visual artist, trilingual poet, writer and teacher, Maningning Miclat, MMAFI first held the painting competition in 2004. It is held during even numbered years alternating with the poetry competition held during odd numbered years since 2003. Miclat won the Grand Prize in the non-representational category of the Art Association of the Philippines Art Competition in 1992 with her oil painting “Trouble in Paradise.” She penned a trilingual book of poetry, “Voice from the Underworld” (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2000), the one and only book of poetry in Filipino, English and Chinese languages written by a sole author. Her meaningful life well lived was cut short on September 29, 2000.

Maningning Miclat was co-author, if posthumously, of the book, Beyond the Great Wall: A Family Journal, which won a 2006 National Book Award for biography. The Manila Critics Circle citation reads: “From 1971 to 1986, the Miclat family lived in the People’s Republic of China and this gathering of essays from Mario, Alma, Banaue and the late Maningning Miclat flow together in a majestic yet personal recollection of a time and place between times and places. Beyond the Great Wall signifies the act of celebration through memory, and moving on through returning.”

Email maningningfoundation@gmail.com or acmiclat2008@yahoo.com.

Rules of the competition are posted here.

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The Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, Inc. is calling on young artists 28 years old and younger to enter their masterpiece to the 2008 Maningning Miclat Art Competition. Named in honor of the late awarded artist, poet and writer, Maningning Miclat, MMAFI first held the painting competition in 2004. It is held during even numbered years alternating with the poetry competition held during odd numbered years since 2003.

The grand winner of this year’s open art competition shall receive PhP 28.000.00 in cash and a Ramon Orlina glass sculpture trophy.The awards ceremonies shall be held on September 24 at the Shangri-La Edsa Plaza in Mandaluyong.. Shortlisted entries will be on exhibit sale from September 17 to 30.

Entries may be submitted on September 13-15, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Art Circle Gallery, Shangri-La Edsa Mall ( Tel. 634-3305 ) as well as in its other branches at Megamall, Mall of Asia, Festival Supermall, Glorietta 4, UP Bahay ng Alumni Diliman and Robinson’s Place Manila.

The painting entries may be done in oil, watercolor, pen and ink, acrylic, brush and ink, or mixed media in Western or Oriental style. Three-dimensional works are allowed, provided the final product is wall-bound. No specific theme is required. Entries must be original and executed in 2007-2008. Entries must be framed with the minimum size of 45 cm x 60 cm and maximum size of 120 cm x 180 cm or equivalent area without the frame.

China-born Maningning Miclat, trilingual poet and writer, was an awarded visual artist, having won the Grand Prize in the non-representational category of the Art Association of the Philippines Art Competition in 1992. She penned a trilingual book of poetry, Voice from the Underworld (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2000), the one and only book of poetry in the world in Filipino, English and Chinese languages written solely by one author. Her meaningful life well lived was cut short when she passed on in September 29, 2000.

Maningning Miclat was co-author, if posthumously, of the book, Beyond the Great Wall: A Family Journal, which won a 2006 National Book Award for biography. The Manila Critics Circle citation reads: “From 1971 to 1986, the Miclat family lived in the People’s Republic of China and this gathering of essays from Mario, Alma, Banaue and the late Maningning Miclat flow together in a majestic yet personal recollection of a time and place between times and places. Beyond the Great Wall signifies the act of celebration through memory, and moving on through returning.”

For more information on the 2008 Maningning Miclat Art Competition, please email maningningfoundation@gmail.com or acmiclat2008@yahoo.com.

Rules of the competition are posted here.

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Three young poets, two Filipinos and a Chinese, were proclaimed winners of the 2007 Maningning Miclat Trilingual Poetry Awards by 2 National Artists for Literature, Virgilio Almario and Bienvenido Lumbera in an evening of poetry and music held at Philamlife Theater on September 26. The event which featured the singing prowess of the beautiful and accomplished singer-composers Cynthia Alexander, Susan Fernandez and Girl Valencia earned accolades for the seamless and outstanding direction by thespian Joel Saracho and his assistant, Geraldine Villamil.

Chen Siyuan of Guangdong, China, Erica Clariz delos Reyes of Ateneo de Manila University, and Raymond John de Borja of the University of the Philippines won in the Chinese, Filipino and English language categories of the 2007 Maningning Miclat Poetry Awards.

Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, Inc.(MMAFI) Board Director Fe Mangahas in her invocation and President Herman T. Gamboa in his opening remarks remembered the late Maningning as a brilliant and multi-awarded artist and poet and writer in Chinese, Filipino and English, teacher and translator whose legacy gave birth to the foundation's vision of encouraging and nurturing outstanding young artists and poets, and promoting appreciation of literature and the visual arts.

Each of the poets in the three language categories received a check of P28,000.00, a trophy sculpted by Julie Lluch, and hardbound collector's editions of "Voice from the Underworld: A Book of Verses” in three languages by Maningning Miclat; "Beauty for Ashes: Remembering Maningning"; and "Beyond the Great Wall: A Family Journal" by Mario, Alma, Banaue and Maningning Miclat, which recently won a National Book Award for Biography from the Manila Critics Circle.

Chen Siyuan, 21-year old junior Literature major at Shaoguan Normal College, Guangdong province, came to receive her prize from MMAFI Executive Director Alma Miclat together with the judges for Poetry in Chinese, namely James Na, Lyonel Ty and Shirley Lua. Chen read her poem in Mandarin and Shirley Lua who translated the poem into English read her translation of "Cold Spring." Honorable mention went to Chen Wei and Zhang Hui Chao, both from Guangdong Province.     

Erica Clariz de los Reyes , a BS Management student of the Ateneo de Manila University and associate Filipino editor of the school paper, Heights, received her prize from National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario and the judges for the Poetry in Filipino category, Benilda Santos, Luna Sicat-Cleto and Michael Coroza. De los Reyes’ poem called "Walang Lugar ang Makata" from the collection "Bilang Babae" was read by Frances Makil-Ignacio of Dulaang UP. Honorable mention was given to Mark Anthony Sy Angeles and Carlos Piocos III.     

Raymond John de Borja, a BS Electronics and Communications graduate of the University of the Philippines and fellow for poetry of UP Creative Writing Center, received his prize from National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera and MMAFI Board Director Edna Manlapaz, together with judges Marjorie Evasco, Neil Garcia and Joel Toledo. De Borja's poem "Uncertainty Principle" from the collection "Field Effect" was read by Ricky Ibe, also of Dulaang UP. Honorable mention went to Mark Anthony Cayanan and Joy Anne Icayan.

Singer-composer Cynthia Alexander sang her own music compositions and arrangements like the haunting song "Ginugunita Kita," a poem of Maningning in "Voice from the Underworld." Susan Fernandez soared with her rendition of Filipino songs like "Kung Ibig Mo Akong Makilala," a poem by Elynia Mabanglo and arranged by Upeng Galang Fernandez. Girl Valencia performed the memorable lullaby "Ugoy ng Duyan" by Lucio San Pedro in a medley arrangement with "Saan Ka Man Naroroon” and Pete Lacaba’s salinawit of “A Shadow of your Smile.” And for a rousing finale, the three sang a poem by Maningning Miclat called "Berso/Dumaan Ako" set to music by Joey Ayala and arranged by Cynthia Alexander.

Mario Miclat, Maningning's father and MMAFI Board Director, closed the evening's feast of poetry and music with a haunting recollection of the moments that led up to Maningning's death that September 29 seven years ago. Like a phoenix, Maningning rose from the ashes to begin a new cycle of life since 2003 when the Maningning Miclat Award for Poetry was first held and is now annually held alternately with the Award for Painting .This year’s event was enthusiastically supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, San Miguel Corporation, Emerson Network Power, Huatong Xinli Flooring Co. Ltd., and World News Publications.

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Nine finalists in the 2007 Maningning Miclat Poetry Competition in Filipino, English and Chinese have been named and will vie for the grand prize to be awarded during the poetry awards and musical concert to be held at the Philamlife Theater, UN Avenue on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, at 7:00 P.M.

The finalists in the English division of the competition are Mark Anthony Cayanan, Raymond John A. de Borja, and Joy Anne Icayan; in the Filipino division are Mark Anthony Sy Angeles, Carlos M. Piocos III, and Erica Clariz C. de los Reyes. All 3 finalists, Chen Si Yuan, Chen Wei and Zhang Hui Chao, in the Chinese division of the competition came from Guangdong province which sent the most number of entries. Other entries were received from the Chinese capital, Beijing, as well as from the provinces of Shanxi, Gansu, Fujian and Chejiang. Entries were also received from Vietnam and the Philippines.

“Maningning: An Evening of Poetry & Music” will present the grand winners cash awards amounting to P28,000.00 each, a Julie Lluch sculpture trophy, and limited hardbound edition of Voice from the Underworld: A Book of Verses in 3 languages by Maningning Miclat , Beauty for Ashes: Remembering Maningning, and Beyond the Great Wall: A Family Journal by Mario, Alma, Maningning and Banaue Miclat. All 3 books published by Anvil were finalists in the National Book Awards in 2001, 2002 and 2006 respectively. Excerpts from the winning poems in English, Filipino and Chinese will be read in the awards and concert which will feature the musical talents of Cynthia Alexander, Susan Fernandez and Girl Valencia.

The poetry awards and concert is sponsored by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, San Miguel Corporation, Emerson Network Power, Huatong Xinli Flooring Co. Ltd., and World News Publications. For tickets, pls. call or SMS Alma @ 0918-9057311, Astrid @ 0916-4340167, or call 812-4885/6. You can also get tickets from Philamlife Corporate Affairs Office @ 526-9250/72/65, Conspiracy Café @ 453-2170, or Mag.net Katipunan @ 929-3191, ALIWW @ 426-6001, loc. 5811, and Kaisa sa Kaunlaran @ 526-6796, 527-6083. Email maningningfoundation@gmail.com, acmiclat2004@yahoo.com.

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In 1987, China-born Maningning Miclat held her 1st solo exhibit of Chinese paintings entitled “Maningning: An Exhibit of Chinese Brush Works” at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The 15- year old artist, the youngest who exhibited that year at CCP, was a trilingual poet and writer and an awarded artist adept at both Chinese Si Junzi Hua (Four Gentlemen’s Painting of bamboo, orchid, plum blossom & chrysanthemum) and Western style of painting. Her abstract oil painting, “Trouble in Paradise,” was the grand winner in non-representational painting of the Art Association of the Philippines in 1992. Her trilingual book of poetry, “Voice from the Underworld,” was a 2001 National Book Award finalist.

Twenty years after that 1st exhibit of the artist who passed away in September 2000, the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation which was founded in her honor, will present “MANINGNING : AN EVENING OF POETRY AND MUSIC” at Philamlife Theater. The occasion will celebrate and award the winners of the 2007 Maningning Miclat Poetry Competition in Filipino, English and Chinese and present a musical concert by three of the most talented and celebrated singers in the country -- Cynthia Alexander, Susan Fernandez, and Girl Valencia.

Cynthia Alexander is a singer-songwriter-producer-arranger-multi instrumentalist all rolled into one. She has won awards for her solo work “Insomnia & other Lullabyes” in 1997, Rippingyarns in 2000, and Comet’s Tail in 2005. She won NU107 Rock awards for 1st Female Icon in 2004 and Best Guitarist and Producer of the Year (with Angee Rozul) in 2005. She is a fixture in the local alternative music doing gigs at Conspiracy Café among others.

Susan Fernandez is a performing vocal artist, freelance voice talent, a researcher for advertising agencies and a senior lecturer at the Department of Socio-Anthropology at the Ateneo de Manila University. Her “Habi at Himig” is an album of original Filipino songs she independently released in 1990.

Girl Valencia, the youngest of the 3 songbirds, finished B.A. Communications at Ateneo de Manila University. She was awarded the 1995 UNESCO Peace Prize of Excellence in writing songs of hope and peace. She was also the recipient of the 2005 National Book Award for Children’s Literature for her book, “The Christmas Fireflies.” A TV commercial model and product endorser, Valencia is a featured performer at Richmonde Hotel.

“Maningning: An Evening of Poetry & Music” will present the winners of the Trilingual Poetry Competition P28,000.00 each and a Julie Lluch sculpture trophy. Excerpts from the winning poems in English, Filipino and Chinese divisions will be read in the awards/concert. This is the 5th year of the Maningning Awards. The Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, Inc. (MMAFI) has been holding poetry competition during odd numbered years and painting competition during even numbered years. In 2005, MMAFI held “Triptych/Tatluhan” Poetry Awards/Concert at the CCP. In April this year, we had “Banaue In Concert” to support further activities of the foundation and featured Banaue Miclat singing arias and excerpts from operas and kundimans as well as some West End & Broadway songs.

MMAFI has undertaken many projects, among which are the books, Beauty for Ashes: Remembering Maningning, an anthology of poems, essays, elegies and letters written by award-winning and promising young and old poets of the country, and Yin Ming-Voice from the Underworld, Maningning Miclat’s book of poetry written in Chinese, English and Filipino. Published by Anvil Publishing, both books were finalists in the prestigious National Book Award for Poetry chosen by the Manila Critic’s Circle in 2002 and 2001 respectively. Last year, Beyond the Great Wall : A Family Journal was published and launched at the Shangri-La National Bookstore and at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, and in East Side New York. The book is about the 15-year experience of the Miclat Family in the People’s Republic of China where Maningning and her sister, Banaue, were born.

The poetry awards and concert is sponsored by San Miguel Corporation, Emerson Network Power, Huatong Xinli Flooring Co. Ltd., World News Publications, and National Commission for Culture and the Arts. For ticket reservation, pls. call or text 0918-9057311 or call 812-4885/6. You can also get tickets from Philamlife Corporate Affairs Office ( Tel. 526-9250/72/65). Tickets are priced at P500.00. Email maningningfoundation@gmail.com, acmiclat2004@yahoo.com.

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We’re all glad she came back when she did, early this April. And that within the same month, there she was, rendering a concert at an ideal venue, for nothing less than a noble cause, that of family and art.

These times any mention of Banaue either still calls to mind that street (and area) in Quezon City where one picks up cheap automotive spare parts, or raises a brow half-condemning the Ifugao nation for having allowed the killing of a Peace Corps volunteer. Well, that had really been in Battad, but Banaue was the end stop for the public route for the unfortunate lady. Oh, and there was that largely forgettable movie of that place-name title, where the diminutive Nora Aunor bared her teats under long thick tresses.

Banaue. Who would name their child such? Perhaps only a homesick Filipino couple stranded in Beijing during Marcos’ martial law years — passionate lovers of country who had to endure the bittersweet experience of exile for very long years, even as they learned inexhaustibly from a new world that had been ancient.

Mario and Alma Miclat named their first daughter Maningning, in Tagalog meaning "shining, scintillating, splendorous, lustrous ..." They traveled inside vast China, and must have seen rice terraces where they were first carved, and which reminded them of the nobility of their own forebears, or at least those in Northern Luzon’s Cordilleras. They named their second child Banaue.

Both girls grew up to be excellent artists. Maningning left us some years back, and yet has remained as the fount of a continuing cause for art and the written word, for she had been both painter and poet. Today the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation stages a yearly contest that alternates between painting and poetry.

Banaue Miclat grew to be an actor and performer, albeit tentatively in the shadow of a precocious older sister she lovingly called "Ate." Two years ago she left for the US, where she has just earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Acting from City University of New York’s Brooklyn College.

Upon her return a few weeks ago, readily did Banaue agree to the idea of showcasing her vocal prowess in a benefit concert to help raise funds for the foundation in her Ate’s name.

Last Wednesday, April 25, quite a crowd of extended family and friends gathered at the Church of the Risen Lord in UP Diliman to share in Banaue’s blessings. And did they ever; were they ever. I wish I could have interviewed music impresario Pablo Tariman after the show, and gleaned an authoritative set of quotes from him, as to the featured singer’s outstanding performance.

For that was how I found it, but then again as layman I am also beholden to friendship with the Miclats. Yet again, others who had paid a thousand pesos for a ticket were all in praise for the 50-minute performance of 13 operatic arias, kundimans and West End theater showstoppers.

Banaue was backstopped, nay, aided and abetted, by pianist Mary Anne Espina and tenor Dondi Ong, with whom she did a couple of duets. Oh what a wonderful evening. All our fine memories of how UP Diliman can assemble a fine bunch of people in pleasant communion were revived, revivified.

Here was a scene so removed from the rest of chaotic country and fractious nation. Even as politics swarmed like a plague outside, all over our islands, here in Diliman’s momentary Camelot, in a Protestant church whose A-frame sanctified a blessed spot, we all enjoyed an evening of excellent music and good, godly vibes.

Banaue began mesmerizing us with Maalaala Mo Kaya by Constancio de Guzman, and followed that up with Puccini’s O Mio Babbino Caro, Verdi’s Saper Vorreste, and Massenet’s Gavotte.

For the fifth piece (How come when it’s the classics it seems inappropriate to refer to it as a number? Kahit gig din naman, a. Tell us, Pablo.), out came the young but already accomplished tenor Dondi Ong, himself a product of UP Diliman.

Why, only recently he had regaled intimate writers’ company at a joint birthday celebration, honoring Karina Bolasco and Erlinda Panlilio, hosted by the latter. And yes, Charlson Ong (who claims relations, which facts deny) and I for one had essayed duets with him. Obviously, Dondi Ong was none the worse for wear after that occasion.

He sang with Banaue; oh, lovely: Verdi’s Parigi, O Cara. Then Banaue left him solo onstage, er, rather, on the altar, and Dondi thrilled us further with Nicanor Abelardo’s Bituing Marikit, then a stirring Nessun Dorma. The last was preceded by a charming explication of the Turandot episode where the city of Beijing is ordered by the princess to stay awake all night until someone finds out the riddle-me name of a stranger of a prince.

Bravo, Dondi.

Banaue came back to sing Puccini’s Signore, Ascolta and Quando Me’n Vo, Johann Strauss’ Mein Herr Marquis, and Verdi’s Ave Maria, before her partner came out again for their last duet and penultimate number, er, piece: Claude-Michel Schonberg’s Last Night of the World.

For the final cut, take, entry, rendition, cover — ahh, exaltation! — Banaue did Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Music of the Night. Her dad Mario, with whom I was competing taking digital pictures from the front pew, sidled up and whispered impishly: "Di ba pang-lalake ’yan?" "Oo nga, naka-maskara pa."

But it was no phantom entertainment that night; it was real, it was live in the flesh, it was goose-pimply excellent. And the applause couldn’t have been capped by a better occasion than a raffle draw of paintings donated by artists Arturo Dacayo, Michael Kao, Wilbert Wee, Egai Fernandez, Nestor Vinluan, Pablo Baens Santos, Alfredo Liongoren and Manuel Baldemor. Eight lucky patrons took home good memories and fine art. But not before they partook of cocktails and a buffet dinner on the CRL’s garden.

Banaue in Concert: Great Painters in a Raffle will benefit the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, which will in turn pass on the rewards to three young poets who will win the trilingual poetry competition (in Filipino, Chinese and English).

An all-around performer, the lovely, 27-year-old Banaue has been an actress, singer and dancer who has had the good fortune of mentorship from topnotch UP professors and directors Antonio Mabesa, Alexander Cortez and José Estrella. She has appeared in dramatic plays, such as Palasyo ni Valentin, Blood Wedding, St. Louis Loves Dem Filipinos, The Trial/Ang Paglilitis, and Divinas Palabras. She also played the character Huling in Lav Diaz’s multi-awarded film, Ebolusyon ng Pamilyang Pilipino.

Five years ago, she sang in Tokyo and Hirosaki in Japan, where she joined an international cast in the play Indian Summer directed by Koji Hasegawa and sponsored by Japan Foundation.

While an MFA student in New York, her membership in the Vangeline Theater boosted her talent as a dancer. She had earlier trained with the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Dance Group. She also performed as a lyric soprano in the following productions: East Meets West with Philip Glass, Memoirs of a Geisha, Tokyo Scope, C.A.R.O.U.S.E.L., Bleu, Blanc, Rouge and Hanae Mori: A Paris-Tokyo Love Affair.

She has had vocal training under Judylee Vivier, and later under Robert A. Carpenter, as well as in Masters classes under F. Murray Abraham, Ruth Maleczech, Agnieszka Holland, Andrew Wade (RSC), Dee Cannon (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts), and Vernon Morris (Shakespeare). Banaue qualified for a stint at the famed Metropolitan Opera, New York, in productions of Faust, La Boheme, Don Carlo, I Puritani and La Traviata.

At 27, Banaue Miclat continues to distinguish herself onstage. The world’s her own, from an altar in Diliman to the hearts of family, friends, and soon, countless fans.

(Check her out at www.banauemiclat.com — and the literary contest she has generously helped out at www.maningning.com)

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Back from New York after a 2-year Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Acting from the City University of New York’s Brooklyn College, Banaue Miclat will be home again at the University of the Philippines, Diliman when she holds her concert on April 25, 2007 at 6:00 P.M at the campus’ Church of the Risen Lord. Her concert for her late sister, multi-awarded artist, trilingual poet, writer and teacher, Maningning, will benefit the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation founded in her honor. 

An all-around actress, singer, dancer and performer,  Banaue Miclat  was honed by topnotch  UP professors and directors, Antonio Mabesa, Alexander Cortez and José  Estrella  in dramatic  plays which include Palasyo ni Valentin, Blood Wedding, St., Louis loves dem Filipinos, The Trial/Ang Paglilitis , and Divinas Palabras.  

The cities of  Tokyo and Hirosaki heard  Banaue  sing Caccini’s Ave Maria and Mozart’s Ave verum corpus when she joined an international cast in a play “Indian Summer” directed by Koji Hasegawa and sponsored by Japan Foundation in 2002. She is also remembered  as the character “Huling” in Lav Diaz’s  multi-awarded film, “Ebolusyon ng Pamilyang Pilipino.” 

While an MFA student in New York, her membership in the Vangeline Theater  boosted  her talent as a dancer ( formerly of Ramon Obusan Folkloric Dance Group)  after learning the Japanese Butoh dance and as a lyric soprano in a string of performances which include “East Meets West with Philip Glass,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Tokyo Scope,” “C.A.R.O.U.S.E./L,” “Bleu, Blanc, Rouge,” and “Hanae Mori: A Paris-Tokyo Love Affair.” Thanks to her vocal training under Judylee Vivier, and later, under Robert A. Carpenter as well as her Masters classes under F. Murray Abraham, Ruth Maleczech, Agnieszka Holland, Andrew Wade (RSC), Dee Cannon (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts), and Vernon Morris (Shakespeare), Banaue qualified for a stint at the famed Metropolitan Opera, New York, in productions of Faust, La Boheme, Don Carlo, I Puritani and La Traviata. 

Home to raise funds for the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation (MMAFI, which is holding a Trilingual Poetry Competition this year, deadline of submission of which is on April 17, 2007, see www.maningning.com), Banaue  (www.banauemiclat.com ) will sing arias from the operas Turandot, La Boheme, La Rondine, among others and some Filipino kundimans. There will be special participation by the accomplished tenor, Dondi Ong,  who will sing duets with Banaue. Mary Anne Espina, a concert pianist in her own right, will be the piano accompanist. 

The concert will also highlight a  raffle of artworks donated by some Filipino masters including Manny Baldemor, Fred Liongoren, Adi Baens Santos, Eghai Fernandez and Nestor Vinluan and some new , young artists. Cocktails will be served at the CRL Garden.  For ticket reservation priced at PhP1,000.00, call  0918-9057311, 812-4885 (6) , 816-7490 (1) or email: maningningfoundation@gmail.com , acmiclat2004@yahoo.com , pinktikbalang@yahoo.com . 

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The Poetry Contest consisting of 3 divisions - Filipino, English and Chinese – is open to all poets, age 28 and below. An entry must consist of at least eight (8) but not more than fifteen (15) poems. Authors may join all the divisions but can submit only one (1) entry in every division. All entries should be original in every language and not a translation of another entry.

All entries should be submitted in four (4) copies, double spaced on 81/2 x 11 inches bond paper with one inch margin on all sides and with ARIAL or TIMES NEW ROMAN size 12 font. Entry should be submitted with pen name only. Real name and pen name should be submitted in a separate sealed envelop together with a biodata, copy of birth certificate and a notarized declaration of originality and authenticity of authorship of the entry.

Entries must be addressed to the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation, Inc. (MMAFI), 2nd Floor Mile Long Building, Amorsolo St., Legaspi Village, Makati City (Tel No. 816-7490 to 91) not later than 5:00 P.M. of April 17, 2007. Entries sent by mail should be postmarked/invoiced not later than April 3, 2007.

The Maningning Miclat Award has been launched to honor her short but meaningful life and to encourage, recognize and nurture young talents like her. Every year since 2003, MMAFI has been awarding outstanding poets during odd numbered years and winning painters during even numbered years. This year’s grand winners will receive PhP28,000.00 cash award for each of the 3 categories, copies of collector’s edition of “Voice from the Underworld” and “Beauty for Ashes : Remembering Maningning” as well as the Miclat family journal, Beyond the Great Wall and trophies  by the eminent sculptor, Julie Lluch. Read the contest rules or email maningningfoundation@gmail.com for more information.

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Any young artist aged 28 or below may join this open art competition which will give an award of PhP28.000.00 and a Ramon Orlina glass sculpture trophy to the grand winner to be chosen by the board of judges. There will also be a People's Choice award which will be given to a painting which gets the most number of votes during the exhibit of the paintings short-listed by the judges on September 25-27, 2006 .

No specific theme is required. The entries may be done in oil, watercolor, pen and ink, acrylic, brush and ink, or mixed media in Western or Oriental style. Three-dimensional works are allowed, provided the final product is wall-bound. Entries must be original and executed in 2004-2006. Entries must be framed with the minimum size of 45 cm x 60 cm and maximum size of 120 cm x 180 cm or equivalent area without the frame.

The Maningning Miclat Award for both poetry and painting is named after the late multi-awarded artist, trilingual poet and writer, teacher, and translator, Maningning Miclat. The trilingual poetry competition is held during odd numbered years and the painting competition during even numbered years.

Miclat was a 1992 Art Association of the Philippines Grand Prize winner for non-representational painting entitled “Trouble in Paradise .” Her book of poetry in English, Chinese and Filipino, "Voice from the Underworld" (Anvil, 2000, 2002), was a National Book Award finalist. Miclat was recognized during the International Women's Year held in Beijing as one of the World's top-rated 39 women poets in Chinese, having been included in an anthology published in China in 1995. She is also co-author, if posthumously, of the book, Beyond the Great Wall: A Family Journal , which was launched at National Bookstore, EDSA Shangri-La Plaza, as well as in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C, Cranwell International Center of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, and in New York East Side.

In 2004, some 60 students from 17 universities, colleges, and high schools participated in the 1 st Maningning Miclat Painting Competition. Dexter M. Sy of the Far Eastern University took the top prize which included a P28,000.00 check and a glass sculpture trophy by eminent artist, Ramon Orlina. Receiving honorable mention were three young painters: Vicente H. Estandarte and Lady Diana Mendoza of the University of the Philippines Diliman and Fitzsimon Herrera of the University of the East.

The 1 st Maningning Miclat Poetry Award in 3 languages was held in 2003 with Naya S. Valdellon and Joselito delos Reyes winning the English and Filipino divisions respectively. There was no winner for the Chinese division. Last year's winners were Allan Pastrana, Joseph Saguid and Ye Cai-sheng for English, Filipino and Chinese divisions respectively. They were awarded in a Tatluhan/Triptych concert/awards night at the Cultural Center of the Philippines featuring artists Raul Sunico, Renato Lucas and Regina Buenaventura.

For more information on the 2006 Maningning Miclat Art Competition, email maningningfoundation@gmail.com and acmiclat2004@yahoo.com

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Maningning still shines for all of us
From The Manila Times, August 14, 2006
By Rome Jorge
She passed on in 2000 at 28 years of age. And now, more than ever, she touches lives.

Maningning Miclat, published poet in Mandarin, Filipino and English, noted painter distinguished by her Chinese bamboo Zen paintings, has become an inspiration for today's generation of artists, most especially for young artistic women for whom she has become a romanticized icon.

It is clear enough to see why a new generation not only identifies with her beauty and passion but also draws inspiration from her works. A brief enumeration of accomplishments is impressive, especially for a life tragically ended young:

Miclat was a 1992 Art Association of the Philippines Grand Prize winner for nonrepresentational painting entitled Trouble in Paradise. Her book of poetry in English, Chinese and Filipino, Voice from the Underworld, was a National Book Award finalist. Miclat was recognized during the International Women's Year held in Beijing as one of the world's top-rated 39 women poets in Chinese, having been included in an anthology published in China in 1995. She is also co-author, if posthumously, of the book, Beyond the Great Wall: A Family Journal, which was launched at National Bookstore, EDSA Shangri-La Plaza, as well as in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C, Cranwell International Center of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, and in New York East Side.

But for those who knew her, she was simply someone we loved. All those she touched, she changed. Of the reasons why I came to be a writer and an art advocate, foremost was the promise I made on her wake that her death would not be wasted on me—that I would pursue my dream with purpose. And I am but one of many in whose life she continues to live.

Alma and Mario Miclat, Maningning's parents, along with other chief proponents of the Maningning Miclat Art Foundation Inc. continue their advocacy to recognize, support and promote young artists.

The 2nd Maningning Miclat Art Competition has been declared open.

Eligible are artists aged 28 or younger with original entries in oil, watercolor, pen and ink, acrylic, brush and ink, or mixed media in Western or Oriental style with a minimum unframed size of 45x60 cm and a maximum of 120x180 cm executed not before 2004. No theme is required. Though three-dimensional works are allowed, they must be wall-bound. Entries will be accepted from September 21 to 22.

At stake is a P28,000 cash prize and a Ramon Orlina glass sculpture trophy for the grand winner, to be determined by a panel of judges. A People's Choice award will be determined by votes cast from September 25 to 27 at an exhibit of short-listed entries at the Liongoren Gallery, 111 New York Street, Cubao, Quezon City, which itself will run until October 6. Awarding will be held on September 29 at Liongoren.

The Maningning Miclat Award for visual arts is held every even numbered year, alternating with the Maningning Miclat trilingual poetry competition. In the first Maningning Miclat Art Competition, 60 students from 17 universities, colleges and high schools participated. With the continued support of patrons and participation of youths, today's emerging artists will find their struggles less daunting and their path ahead more brightly lit, thanks to Maningning.

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They have come out with a book about their journey through history narrated in terms up close and personal. The stories told by the Miclats are engaging and inevitably weave a resonant whole, much like music composed in the same style, with each one expressing a distinct voice in this family literary concert.

Straddling the northern boundary of a vast territory, the Great Wall is the icon of China, sometimes vilified for its barbaric toll in human lives yet enshrined as an expression of the soul of a most civilized nation.

In the minutiae of daily living, individual experiences could be considered as mere pieces of brick in the great wall. But the personal is also historical. Mario realizes this for himself and his family.

China is no utopia. The proletarian hegemony had caused pains to many, including Mario who was punished with solitary confinement after committing an alleged political sin against the state. Maningning, young as she was, also felt the pain from the experience that from then on she looked at the world no longer with innocent eyes but with an inward gaze that knew how reality could be a source of inexorable heartbreak.

She became an artist like her father. She was a painter, polyglot writer, translator, and more. Her essays show her refined sensibility and intelligence. She can be whimsical as in her piece “Morning Is a Bit Cold” or scholarly in “Visual Poetry in Chinese Bamboo and Xieyi Painting.”

Alma Miclat is a witness to the vicissitudes of her family. She's a writer in her own right, producing lucid, evocative prose. Her narratives are imbued with the maternal touch and have a deep understanding of the places, events, and characters she chooses to be her subject. One particular lady Alma met at the radio station, Yuan, had a poignant story to tell. She studied music in the Philippines and had a most beautiful voice yet she was banned from practicing her art.

In Alma's words, “She was forced by the Red Guards to wear a dunce cap and paraded around the Radio compound with head bowed and with Chinese script in front and at the back of her body declaring her ‘political crime.' She was accused of cultural decadence for possessing a ‘Western voice.'”

Banaue's only piece in the collection tells of her sojourn in New York as a theater student and how much she misses Maningning (who took her own life in 2000) in a loving and thoughtful poem.

In his piece “Learning My Fist Mandarin Words,” Mario demonstrates his wry sense of humor as he tells how he learned topsy-turvy in the Chinese language. One gets a dose of his witty storytelling in “The Movies in Our Mind.” A most funny thing happened to his mother-in-law who visited the Miclats in Beijing and watched Atsay, which was showing then in the public theaters. But she could not understand one word from Nora Aunor nor Eddie Garcia. Why? Because the Filipino film was dubbed in perfect Mandarin.

As a matter of course, he experienced the bitter Beijing winters; the first time being the most serious as it almost cost him his life. At another time, he volunteered to live in a commune and witnessed firsthand the unremitting facts of peasant life.

Mario played the judicious father to his wise daughter. When one day Maningning came home crying after her teacher told her not to write about beggars, Mario told her not to heed the adult's advice. She must instead always “look into her heart and write.” From such an event, one can glean that what saved the Miclats from the arrows and slings of the times were writing and love of the arts.

Aside from a literary passion, the book shows photographs that tell a thousand tales. Most of these were taken by Mario who learned the dramatic style of taking pictures from his Turkish friend—Ahmet Türkistanu—to whom the book is dedicated.

Alma and Maningning posed a la Madonna and Child many times in pictures that capture the beauty and magnificence of the spirit of the Miclat family.

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The book launch sponsored by the Library of Congress' Asian Division Friends Society was only the second Filipino activity in the Library's history coming after the Carlos Bulosan Symposium held in April of this year. Present at the launch were the chief of the Library's Asian division, Dr. Hwa-Wei Lee and his assistant, Dr. Anchih Ho and guests from different organizations around the US Capitol, Our Own Voice e-zine editor Reme Grefalda, Filipino cinematographer Paul Tanedo as well as some compatriots from Washington D.C. , New York , and New Jersey .

The book which is a selection of personal essays on China , the Chinese, and being Filipino, covering the periods of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, the death of Premier Zhou Enlai, the downfall of the Gang of Four, and the reforms initiated by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, was also launched at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg , Virginia . It was attended by Dr. John Ballweg and Dr. David and Mary Britt who have been very supportive of the Philippine-American academic exchanges as well as some Filipinos and Asians studying and teaching at Virginia Tech. UP Diliman Chancellor Sergio Cao supported the US trip of Dr. Miclat. A book signing also followed at the New York East Side attended by New York-based Filipino writers and artists. The book was first launched at the National Bookstore, Shangrila Plaza , EDSA, Mandaluyong in May.

Co-author Alma is senior vice president of Data Center Design Corporation in Makati , daughter Banaue is a film and theater actress who graduated in June with a Master of Fine Arts in Acting at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. The late Maningning was a multi-awarded artist, poet , translator and writer in Filipino, English and Chinese.

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