One Mantra Is All That It Takes: Events: Experiencing Linggo Ng Wika 2015

Friday, August 21, 2015

Events: Experiencing Linggo Ng Wika 2015 - Komiks Ang Bida

The 1st day of August 2015 has been a day of first. It was my first time to attend this event organized by GTMACcon Pinoy Komiks Cosplay. It was also my first to go to Fisher Mall, let alone attend an event on it.

The event proper started at 11:00 a.m. and from the looks of it the event appeared to be too early for attendees. If this is the usual scenario for events held at the mall, it would be suggested to the attendees to visit the event center 2 hours after the mall's opening time.

It was interesting to see in the program of a komiks event the participation of school children. I guess this event was made in partnership with the school, who made it as a school event in celebration of Linggo ng Wika.

As a komiks enthusiast, it will always be great to see events like this that are geared towards the exposure of the youth to our local arts and heritage, in which this event highlights our very own local komiks. Introduction of this material to the younger generation will always be full of hopes and dreams that in the future they will be able to sustain and continue this form of art and literature. A much better scenario would be seen if they themselves would be the ones to bring back the golden age of komiks in our country. An age wherein an illustrator or writer for komiks is considered a full time job, enough to sustain the needs of the creator's family.

In introducing komiks to the younger generation, it was a good idea to give away free komiks to any individual who checks out the works of an artist. I must say, I'm really impressed that most of the artists gave away more than four (4) free komiks, in contrast to the announcement that it is limited only to four. I only got freebies from the two artists whose works I had already planned on purchasing their stuff. From the countless hours I normally spend at Komikons, I know it is best to let other people, especially those who are not aware of the existence of our independent local komiks, be engulfed and be in awe of the beauty that each komik posses.

What differentiates events like this from the usual komikons was the way the payment was made. The system was like the one that was implemented in Southside Collective, wherein payments are directed towards a single cashier. You will need to get the payment slip from the artist, then show it to the cashier and pay it there. Afterwards, you need to show to the artist your official receipt, in order to get the item you had purchased. This is in contrast to the system done during komikons, wherein transactions took place directly between the komik book creator/s and the buyer.

Aside from the different contests being held, the event area of Fisher Mall attracted more attention as different bands performed various OPM hits. It really made a crowd gather, watch and listen, as they entertained both the event and mall goers.

The program was fun even though it was short. Awareness and exposure to our local komiks was the main goal of this program, which could have been the reason why it was done at the mall. There could have been no other way, as of the moment, that could have serve as a better avenue to conduct awareness but through malls, since it is one of the places Filipinos mostly go to.

As our local komiks struggle to reach out to a wider audience, they depend on the fans of the Kikomachine, Zsa Zsa Zaturna, Trese and Combatron to help bridge the audience to other komiks that are currently present in the market. The love for this type of art/literature would translate in helping the komiks community stay alive by connecting and keeping in one place our talented artists and writers for accidental readers, that could eventually end up as soon-to-be-fans.

NCCA (National Commission for Culture and the Arts) did a great job of sponsoring this event as part of their recognition that komiks is definitely part of our Filipino culture that we should be proud of.

Comic Book Creators