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UP Diliman Arts and Culture Festival 2025

Poster by Cyp Damot

The UP Diliman Arts and Culture Festival 2025 takes stock of the experiences, achievements, and struggles of the UP Diliman community after 75 years of settling in Diliman, Quezon City, and looks to the future toward building a campus community that is ready to engage with the existential threats to human communities, especially climate change, the extreme wealth gap, and various forms of social injustice. 

With the theme Kalahok sa Nagbabagong Kalikasan, this year’s festival highlights the active involvement of UP Diliman in imagining (and realizing) a campus community that is attuned to the stresses from our current ecological arrangements and is committed to building spaces, structures and practices that manifest sustainability, equity, and justice. Guided by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of Sustainable Cities and Communities, UP Diliman is envisioned to take the lead in modeling a green, safe, and inclusive learning and living space for its public within and beyond the campus.


BROCHURE

Kalahok sa Nagbabagong Kalikasan: Seremonya ng Pagbubukas ng UP Diliman Arts and Culture Festival 2025
Kalikhasan: Outdoor Art Projects on Campus Ecology
HIMIGSIKAN 2025
PAGTAtalakay Series: Navigating the Impact of Environmental Changes to Cordilleran Cultural Performance
DuLABhusayan: “Mga Anak ng Unos” Workshops on Environment and Sustainability
Kani-kaniyang Baunan (KKB): Tungo sa Sostenibleng UP Diliman
Future-Proofing Stories: Climate-Responsive Personal Archiving Workshop for Student Filmmakers and Film Scholars
Talakayan sa Bulwagan: Sessions on Equity in Museums
AnthropoScene
Kuwerdas Filipinas Symphonic Rondalla Concert
Art as Pedagogy: Neighborhoods and shared resources
SPEECH CUP 2025
Essays and Assays: Approaches and Experiments in Art Writing
2025 National Conference of the Society for Strategic Education Studies: Enhancing Cultural and Arts Education with Critical Discourse on the Interface of Ecological Issues, Social Justice, and Human Rights
KALbaryo: A Festival of Inconveniences
Bukas, sa UP, bukas: Imagining UP Diliman’s Eco-critical Futures
Youth In-Charge: Environmental Action of the Youth as Champions of Sustainability
IBA PANG INISYATIBA SA ILALIM NG “UP DILIMAN ARTS AND CULTURE GRANTS”

Ang mga inisyatiba ay nagmumula sa mga yunit at organisasyong pang mag-aaral sa UP Diliman na lilikha ng mga proyekto na tutugon sa tema ng UPD ACF 2025.

Likas-Kaya: Community Eco-Sustainability Showcase
UP Diliman Environmental Management Office
Paghandom
UP LAWÔD
Design Blitz 2025
Architectural Students’ Association of the Philippines – UP Chapter
Tunograpiya
UP Junior Music Educators’ Guild
Art for Aid 2025
UP Diliman KALikha: Kasama Ka sa Paglikha ng Arte at Literatura Para sa Bayan

Call for Project Proposals!

Members of the UP community are invited to participate in the Festival through projects, events, or activities that present in creative and thoughtful ways critical perspectives on practices, discourses and normative ideals that contribute to and reproduce conditions of precarity for our environment and our communities. They can also reflect on how such knowledge can serve as the foundation for policies and actions that are appropriate, practical, and accessible, and thus made to be attainable for all.

Proponents are encouraged to find supplementary funding sources for projects that exceed P200,000.00. Project proposals that are fully supported with external funding can also be submitted for inclusion in the omnibus program and calendar of activities.

For inquiries, contact us at specialprojects_oica.upd@up.edu.ph or UPD local 2660.

UPD ACF 2025 – Arts and Culture Grant

DOWNLOAD PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM

Deadline for Submitting Proposals

6 December 2024 (Friday), 5:00 PM

Period of Implementation

February 2025

Who can submit proposals?

UP Diliman Units, Offices, and recognized student organizations

UP Diliman Arts and Culture Festival 2025

DOWNLOAD PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM

Deadline for Submitting Proposals

7 November 2024 (Thursday)

Period of Implementation

February 2025

Who can submit proposals?

UP Diliman Units, Offices, and recognized student organizations


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Art for Aid 2025
UP Diliman KALikha: Kasama Ka sa Paglikha ng Arte at Literatura Para sa Bayan

28 Pebrero (Biyernes), 6:00-10:00PM
UP College of Science Amphitheater


Art for Aid is a benefit concert held by KALikha UPD to promote and give platforms for local student artists for a cause. This year, 2025 Art for Aid will once again be a benefit concert with performers coming from across the country. The event will earn proceeds that are to be donated to the Philippine Action for Community-Led Shelter Initiatives, Inc. (PACSII), a response organization to the situation of poverty and destitution of the homeless people living around the open dumpsite in Payatas, Quezon City in 2002.


Tunograpiya
UP Junior Music Educators’ Guild

23 Pebrero (Linggo), 1:00-4:00 PM
UP Lagoon Stage / Beta Theatrum


Tunographiya is a project that aims to listen to and collect the sound of UP Diliman landscape particularly at heart of the Academic Oval. Create sonic experiences by the use of Quick Response (QR) Code, Global Positioning System (GPS) Tracker and other Data Analytics that will immerse the listeners in a greenscape anywhere in the campus.


Design Blitz 2025
Architectural Students’ Association of the Philippines – UP Chapter

Opening & Design Brief Launch:
22 Pebrero (Sabado)
Design Workshop: 1 Marso (Sabado)
Design Blitz Finals: 12 Abril (Sabado)
UP College of Architecture, Student Union Building


Design Blitz is a design competition that provide educational opportunities to design students all across Metro Manila. Participants will be given a conceptual design brief and problem to work around. The event is set to find a partner client that will collaborate with us on the central theme and director of the design problem.


Paghandom
UP LAWÔD

17 Pebrero (Launching) | Facebook (Online)
24 Pebrero (Exhibit Opening), 1PM | Palma Hall Lobby
24 - 28 Pebrero (Exhibit) | Palma Hall Lobby
28 Pebrero (Exhibit Closing), 2PM | Palma Hall Lobby
1 Marso (Activity Closing) | Facebook (Online)


Paghandom, in Minasbate lexicon which means "to hope", is an art-centered month-long initative within the UP Diliman Arts and Culture Festival 2025, embodying the theme "Kalahok sa Nagbabagon Kalikasan". This project invites the UP and Masbateño communities to explore and creatively respond to the urgent issues of environmental degradation, social inequity, and climate justice through visual storytelling, public engagement, and collaborative action. Through two (2) main components—a compelling Art Exhibit and an interactive Social Media Campaign—this project aims to inspire a shared vision for sustainable and resilient future in both local and global contexts.


Likas-Kaya: Community Eco-Sustainability Showcase
UP Diliman Environmental Management Office

7, 21, & 28 Pebrero (Biyernes) | 8:30 AM – 4:45 PM
UP DEMO Complex


The event will feature learning sessions to be led by the Quezon City Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Department and UP DEMO as well as exhibit booths showcasing environmental sustainability initiatives of various organizations.


Youth In-Charge: Environmental Action of the Youth as Champions of Sustainability
Asian Center

14 Marso (Biyernes) | 12:00-5:00 PM
GT-Toyota Asian Center Auditorium

Learn more


The 2024 World Risk Report ranks the Philippines as the most vulnerable country to multiple hazards, including earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones, and rising sea levels. Its geographic location exposes it to frequent typhoons and seismic activity, with climate change exacerbating the risks through extreme weather events. The report reflects the country’s persistent challenges in disaster risk management and highlights the continuing need for improved strategies to enhance resilience.

The Asian Center believes that the youth plays a crucial role in enhancing community resilience by working closely with local communities to address their unique challenges. In line with its commitment to promote initiatives to understand the Philippines in its broader Asian context, the Asian Center organizes a competition showcasing projects of youth organizations that highlight best practices that can be adopted by other organizations in the Philippines. This initiative aims to recognize the contributions of local youth organizations and communities and foster a dialogue on enhancing community resilience.

This initiative will culminate in a forum of experts to showcase how academic insights can complement the invaluable knowledge and experiences of community members and highlight the value of collaboration among government agencies, policymakers, non-governmental organizations, the youth and local communities. By integrating perspectives from various stakeholders, we aim to emphasize the role of the youth and the importance of shared responsibility and collective action in building resilient communities, ensuring that strategies are not only informed by research but also grounded in local realities and cultural contexts.


Bukas, sa UP Bukas: Imagining UP Diliman's Ecocritical Futures
Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Media and Communication

Pebrero-Marso 2025
Online Platforms and College of Media and Communication, Media Center TV Studio


"Bukas, sa UP, bukas" is a series of mini-documentaries, an exhibit, and conversation that is premised on a future-oriented thinking about the world. Affording greater consciousness of one’s responsibility to care for the environment and a deeper sense of agency in enacting sustainable practices that pave the way for alternative systems, this project visualizes UP Diliman’s ecological future(s) through the imagination of different sectors that consider the University a home, a familiar space, or a place of affinities where the natural and built environments co-exist, acting as abode for human and non-human life.


KALbaryo: A Festival of Inconveniences
Department of Art Studies, College of Arts and Letters

Pebrero 2025 (month-long)
Various places within UP Diliman

Facebook Page


KALbaryo: A Festival of Inconveniences is proposed as a month-long series of activities aimed at activating spaces and exploring discourses on spatial politics and environmental sustainability. It specifically reflects on the displacement of the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) community following the destruction of the Faculty Center by fire on April 1, 2016, and how this displacement has affected its members and their environments over the past eight years.

The proposed series of activities aligns with the KALbaryo campaign, emphasizing that space is essential not only for building community but also for fulfilling the ethical responsibility of environmental stewardship and ensuring a sustainable future.


2025 National Conference of the Society for Strategic Education Studies: Enhancing Cultural and Arts Education with Critical Discourse on the Interface of Ecological Issues, Social Justice, and Human Rights
UP College of Music

27 & 28 Pebrero 2025 (Huwebes at Biyernes)
UPCFA Art and Design West Hall


This conference fosters responsive and responsible discussions on cultural and arts education in the Philippines, focusing on how practitioners address social injustice, human rights violations, and socio-ecological challenges. It envisions keynotes, plenaries, parallel paper presentations, and workshops emphasizing that cultural and arts education transcends reducing diverse cultural frameworks to mere heritage and identity issues. Additionally, the conference provides a platform for critically reviewing current initiatives by state-led and non-governmental organizations in recognizing, promoting, protecting, and safeguarding Philippine cultural and arts productions in this complex, more-than-human world.


Essays and Assays: Approaches and Experiments in Art Writing
Department of Art Studies, College of Arts and Letters

17 & 24 Pebrero 2025 (Lunes)
Venue: TBA


Essays and Assays: Approaches and Experiments in Art Writing is a two-part workshop that actuates beyond conventional methods of writing about art. Revolving around exploring forms of art writing, it is an invitation to rethink the significance of the (art) essay, not only as a genre that drives the point of an argument or criticism, but to also consider its multitude of forms (and ergo
purposes) where it takes shape: through a blog, a memoir, a poem, perhaps a piece of ekphrastic writing.


SPEECH CUP 2025
UP Speech Communication Association (SPECA)

23 Pebrero 2025 (Linggo)
UP School of Statistics Auditorium


Speech Cup, organized by the UP Speech Communication Association, is a flagship event that provides a platform for high school students passionate about performance and advocacy. Participants will be competing in two categories: Choral Recitation (Group Performance) and Oral Interpretation (Individual Performance). This year’s theme, “Makabagong Makata, Bakit ka Tumutula?” challenges students to address climate action, focusing on the Philippines' environmental struggles amidst natural and man-made disasters. The event encourages students to interpret and perform literary pieces, aiming to inspire young voices, foster competition, and promote communication beyond the academic setting, highlighting the power of art in advocacy.


Art as Pedagogy: Neighborhoods and shared resources
UP Vargas Museum

Gardening session and workshop: 22 Pebrero 2025 (Sabado)
Publication launch: Marso 2025
UP Vargas Museum


This project aims to develop expanded pedagogical materials that weave art practices, sustainability goals, and the museum’s social practice project. It expands the museum’s ongoing Gardens and Homesteads initiative which proposes art institutions as a site for gathering and sharing. It foregrounds education as one core thrust alongside curation and research. The materials, in print and digital format, will include an expanded study guide, a documentation of gardening activities, and an activity booklet that can be used by groups from the university and its adjoining communities.


AnthropoScene
Department of Studio Arts, College of Fine Arts

Pagbubukas: 14 Pebrero 2025 (Biyernes)
Forum: 1 Marso 2025 (Sabado)
UPCFA Parola Arts Gallery


The AnthropoScene is an art installation composed of ceramic flora and fauna and moving images of superstorms, to be shown beginning February 14 at the UP Fine Arts Gallery I. The installation, involving participants from the arts and the sciences, will depict a scene at the end of the Anthropocene, serving as the backdrop for a forum on climate change and the effects of human activities in this epoch: natural disasters, human and wildlife conflicts, diseases, and extinction, engaging participants in coming up with a list of personal and practical solutions in addressing these threats to life on the planet.


Talakayan sa Bulwagan: Sessions on Equity in Museums
Bulwagan ng Dangal University Heritage Museum

Session 1: Accessibility and Inclusive Practices
13 Pebrero 2025 (Huwebes) | 2:00 PM
Aldaba Recital Hall, UP Theater Complex

Speakers

Session 2: Artistic Responses to Environmental Sustainability
27 Pebrero 2025 (Huwebes) | 2:00 PM
Aldaba Recital Hall, UP Theater Complex


In international discourses on museum practice, the question of equity tends to revolve around efforts to foster wider museum accessibility and nurture a culture of sustainability. On the one hand, the former places focus on providing avenues for groups, who are disadvantaged by practices that take their specialized needs and conditions for granted, to experience, participate in, and collaborate with museums. On the other hand, the latter stresses on the collective responsibility of humanity to safeguard our natural environment not only for the sake of developing nations who often are the primary victims of the effects of ecological degradation and the future generations who will carry the burden during their time, but also for the sake of the planet itself. This two-pronged approach that will be employed in this series of audience development sessions allows these discourses to seep in more deeply to the museum practitioners and other audiences within the university community.


Future-Proofing Stories: Climate Responsive Personal Archiving Workshop for Student Filmmakers and Film Scholars
UP Film Institute Film Archives and Library

10, 17, and 24 Pebrero 2025
Ishmael Bernal Gallery, UPFI Film Center, Osmeña Avenue, UP Diliman


The Future-Proofing Stories: Climate-Responsive Personal Archiving Workshop, organized by UPFI Film Archives and Library and funded by UP Diliman OICA, addresses the need for climate-responsive cultural preservation, equipping participants with archiving skills to protect their collections and ensure a sustainable cultural future. The workshop responds to October 2024 typhoons that damaged livelihoods and heritage, aiming to empower student filmmakers and scholars to safeguard their works. Target participants are UP Diliman students involved in filmmaking, moving image arts, and related disciplines.


Kani-kaniyang Baunan (KKB): Tungo sa Sostenibleng UP Diliman
University Food Service (UFS)

3-28 Pebrero 2025
Mga piling yunit/opisina sa UPD


Bahagi ng ating pang-araw-araw na buhay ang pagkain. Malaki ang epekto kung mapananatili ng bawat opisina sa UP Diliman ang pagkakaroon ng mga reusable na baunan, kubyertos, baso, at iba pang gamit.

Kapag naisakatuparan ito, mababawasan ang mga single-use plastic sa kampus na isa sa mga pangmatagalang mithiin ng UPD Task Force on Environmental Sustainability na binuo ilang taon na ang nakararaan. Mabuting maipagpapatuloy ang adhikaing ito para sa ating kampus, mga miyembro nito, at sa Inang Kalikasan.

Bilang pangunahing tagapaghatid ng serbisyong pampagkain sa UPD, katuwang ang UFS sa pagpapaigting ng mga sostenibleng gawain sa Unibersidad.


DuLABhusayan: "Mga Anak ng Unos" Workshops on Environment and Sustainability Component
Dulaang UP, Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts, College of Arts and Letters

1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 & 23 Pebrero 2025
Pavilion 1 & 3, Palma Hall


"DuLABhusayan: Mga Anak ng Unos Workshops on Environment and Sustainability" is a series of lectures and training sessions that focuses on sustainable practices in performance making, innovative eco-responsible costume design and fabrication, and set construction through repurposing and upcycling. These practices will inform Dulaang UP's production "Mga Anak ng Unos", a twinbill of performance investigations on climate. Experts in industrial design, visual communication, clothing design and technology, and members of the Cordillera Green Network will be facilitating the workshops. This workshop series is intended for Dulaang UP students and faculty.


PAGTAtalakay Series: Navigating the Impact of Environmental Changes to Cordilleran Cultural Performances
Paggawisan Tako Am-In (PAGTA UPD)

6 Pebrero 2025 (Huwebes) | 9:00 AM - 3:35 PM
7 Pebrero 2025 (Biyernes) | 9:00 AM - 3:45 PM
UP Center for Ethnomusicology


The Cordillera Administrative Region’s rich cultural heritage has an intrinsic kinship with nature, with Indigenous performances reflecting the cycles of the environment. However, environmental and societal changes like climate change, deforestation, and urbanization, threaten these traditions. This workshop endeavors to (re)introduce Cordillera cultural performances through workshops and dialogues with community culture-bearers and experts. Topics include Cordilleran performances and the consequent impacts of climate change, the evolution of dances and music, and ways to preserve cultural integrity while
adapting to ecological shifts. The goal is to sustain these performances as vital expressions of Indigenous identity and cultural sustainability.

Poster by Cyp Damot

Kuwerdas Filipinas Symphonic Rondalla Concert

20 Pebrero 2025 (Huwebes) | 6:00 PM
GT-Toyota Asian Center Auditorium

Eventbrite

Souvenir Program


Kuwerdas Filipinas is the first (and only) rondalla orchestra in the Philippines composed of musicians from all over the country. It is the culmination of two (2) decades of musical synergy borne out of the performances and camaraderie of the rondalla community that developed through the several iterations of the International Rondalla Festival, which celebrates its 20th year in 2024. Kuwerdas Filipinas is currently conducting a concert tour in the different cities that hosted the Festival, including a stop at UP Diliman in Quezon City. Kuwerdas Filipinas represents one of the living heritage in and of the country.

Poster by Phoebe Lina

HIMIGSIKAN 2025

11 Pebrero 2025 (Martes) | 5:00 PM
UP College of Science Amphitheater

28 Pebrero 2025 (Biyernes) | 5:00 PM
UPD College of Music Lawn

2 Marso 2025 (Linggo) | 5:00 PM
Quezon City Liwasang Aurora


The three (3) concerts will feature artists from UP Diliman, other UP campuses, and Quezon City. This year’s concert series aims to develop the community of performing artists with other UP constituent units, the greater UPD community, and Quezon City, strengthening the artists network that was initiated during UPD ACF 2024.

The venues chosen for the Himigsikan concert series symbolize our appreciation of the University’s biosocial ecosystem, characterized by its biodiversity, highly urbanized spaces, and an active community of inhabitants that continue to shape its landscape and living heritage.

Poster by Ynah Garcia

Kalikhasan: Outdoor Art Projects on Campus Ecology

Pebrero - Hunyo 2025

Pagbubukas: 4 Pebrero 2025 (Martes) | 4:30 PM
University Amphitheater


The exhibit will feature 3 artworks that will be displayed at prominent spaces in UPD campus. It intends to present in creative and engaging ways information on the status of the campus environment to the UP Diliman public.

Locations:
University Amphitheater
Lawn South of University Amphitheater
Mass Comm Hill

Poster by Ynah Garcia

Kalahok sa Nagbabagong Kalikasan: Seremonya ng Pagbubukas ng UP Diliman Arts and Culture Festival 2025

4 Pebrero 2025 (Martes) | 4:30 PM
University Amphitheater

Event Photos


Guided by the concept of performance as display, popularized by performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s explorations at the intersection of performance art and curation, the opening event is designed as an exhibition where each installation—or a preview of it—will be activated or used as the foundation for a devised performance. Dayang’s work will be brought to life by mover-musicians (Tugma), Karl’s work will be activated through theatre and performance art (led by Rex Nepumuceno), and Cian’s work will be animated by dance artists (led by Elena Laniog).

The entire event will unfold like an exhibition opening, with the audience free to move between works. However, each station will feature a performance and be introduced by a docent, offering the experience of an exhibition walk-through. This approach is rooted in a process-based methodology.