Immortality Faces in Baguio City

Baguio City is the home of some of the best artists in the Philippines.

It will come as no surprise that the art of Life Casting is also present in the city.

The art of life Casting started out in Egypt and Greece.

It is a way for Pharaohs and leaders of Greece to immortalize them.

The Art of Life Casting:

This process of portrait creation was practiced 10,000 to 8,000 B.C, and this was thought to be a form of ancestor worship.

They represent a higher degree of artistic representation, and the masks are added with precious stones that are embedded together with the plaster.

Craftsman and artists in Baguio are known for creating life casts.

Edwin Ngina,  one of the best craftsmen in Baguio City is providing the process of life casting.

This is also being offered by performance artist Tara Lalaine Natividad.

Merkaba a one of a kind handmade craft shop and workshop area for artists is offering life casting.

Interested individuals who want to immortalize their face can schedule a life casting session at Merkaba.

The face casting process in the 18^th Century is a way for the nobility to reach beyond the veil of death and touch the future with their presence. (Craftsman Handbook, 1392)

The process is intimate and meaningful and could be done by partners. 

Face casting can be done by friends who want to merge their connection for a lifetime, it can also be done with family members and the person we love the most.

·    Life casting is used by artists to study the human form, by allowing your face to be casted; it is also a contribution to the improvement of sculpture and painting.

·    The art of casting is used to capture, the likeness of great leaders, entertainers and thinkers of their time.

Famous scientists, thinkers and artists have their own face casts- from Newton, Dante and Wagner as well as George Washington.

In the past only the affluent are able to get this privilege.

 Nowadays, we want to make a revival of this precious craft here in Baguio City.

To schedule for a Face Cast process to immortalize you contact Merkaba Hand Made Crafts:

Get to experience something that is rare and special at the same time. 

Do something different this year-- get your face Immortalized.

09054043363 for Globe/ 09305674095

https://www.facebook.com/Merkaba-Hand-Made-Crafts-1560324704290931/

Immortalize your face like the Pharaohs of Egypt through Life Casting Process by Baguio Artists

Baguio City is the home of some of the best artists in the Philippines.

It will come as no surprise that the art of Life Casting is also present in the city.

The art of life Casting started out in Egypt and Greece.

It is a way for Pharaohs and leaders of Greece to immortalize them.

The Art of Life Casting:

This process of portrait creation was practiced 10,000 to 8,000 B.C, and this was thought to be a form of ancestor worship.

They represent a higher degree of artistic representation, and the masks are added with precious stones that are embedded together with the plaster.

Craftsman and artists in Baguio are known for creating life casts.

Edwin Ngina,  one of the best craftsmen in Baguio City is providing the process of life casting.

This is also being offered by performance artist Tara Lalaine Natividad.

Merkaba a one of a kind handmade craft shop and workshop area for artists is offering life casting.

Interested individuals who want to immortalize their face can schedule a life casting session at Merkaba.

The face casting process in the 18^th Century is a way for the nobility to reach beyond the veil of death and touch the future with their presence. (Craftsman Handbook, 1392)

The process is intimate and meaningful and could be done by partners. 

Face casting can be done by friends who want to merge their connection for a lifetime, it can also be done with family members and the person we love the most.

·    Life casting is used by artists to study the human form, by allowing your face to be casted; it is also a contribution to the improvement of sculpture and painting.

·    The art of casting is used to capture, the likeness of great leaders, entertainers and thinkers of their time.

Famous scientists, thinkers and artists have their own face casts- from Newton, Dante and Wagner as well as George Washington.

In the past only the affluent are able to get this privilege.

 Nowadays, we want to make a revival of this precious craft here in Baguio City.

To schedule for a Face Cast process to immortalize you contact Merkaba Hand Made Crafts:

Get to experience something that is rare and special at the same time. 

Do something different this year-- get your face Immortalized.

09054043363 for Globe/ 09305674095

https://www.facebook.com/Merkaba-Hand-Made-Crafts-1560324704290931/

Baguio Convention Center eyed as the new School of Performing arts

Baguio is the home of so me of the most passionate artists in the country, it is the haven and home of community performers like Rene Aquitania, the Father of Performing arts of the Philippines. 

However, there has yet to be an actual space for theater performances and dances that will cater to the creative industry of Baguio.

Everywhere and anywhere you will look there are artists all over the city- in need of a quiet space where they could provide actual creative work and collaborations that will put the Baguio as the Artist Capital of the North.

The Baguio Convention Center, is seen as the most favorable site for regular performances- there is a surplus of artists in the city- and the locals as well as its visitors can have something lasting to share to the tourists by way of culture and the arts.

However, a direction has to be set and made.

Every day you can find groups that are practicing their crafts, dance groups that have been active in competitions outside the city.
There is a growing number of new artists and performers that are in need of a space that they could call their own.

Due to the high number of artists that are in need of space, isn't it about time that the city offer a place where creative ideas can be merged and used for the common good?

The City parks like Burnham Park and Rose Garden has served as practice areas for these creative groups, but much has yet to be done by the city government to provide a space where artists can truly thrive and sustain themselves.

An organic movement is starting to brew in the city, this has been started way back 2013 when groups started creating events at the Rose Garden.

Creative groups and organizations where able to meet each other through the help of social media networks and activities have been created out of these meet ups.

It has been a learning strategy for many young artists, the meet up has caused minds to brew and create new plans and ideas for the city.

Through the help of social media, busking and performing activities are being started at the Rose Garden.

But a direction is being clamored for, there had been many movements, organizations and groups who have aimed to create a space, but a solid proof plan has to be created in order to build a School of Performing Arts.

The idea is to unite city performers, visionaries, artists and musicians into creating a new kind of school that will cater to dances, theater acting lessons, visual arts, photography and other related crafts but with the aim of sustaining and uplifting the quality of life of the students that enter into it.

Traditional schools have yet to recognize the value of the Creative Arts and most school curriculum are still limited- they are not able to meet the need for research, collaboration and information that emerging artists need in the city.

It is a myth that in art there is no sustainability, it is a myth that in the Creative arts-- a person will not be able to achieve their dreams and make a statement in this world- the creative arts has produced some of the best film makers, dancers, musicians, poets and visual artists that we know today.

Picasso, Rembrandt, Salvador Dali, Leonardo da Vinci , Frida Kahlo, Francis Bacon, Paulo Coelho, 
 Lea Salonga, Michael Jackson, J.K Rowling,  Angelina Jolie,  Leonardo di Caprio, Lisa Macuja, Claude Monet among many other names of artists , musicians and theater performers are all well celebrated today. 

They have made the world better- if the creative industry would be given a proper school and studio from which the creative arts can surge, then the productivity and inspiration level of the city would increase.

A group of young artists have sketched an idea, a blueprint of the School of Performing arts that would house some of the best and thriving artists groups in Baguio- 

The idea is to meet up every Saturday in the park,and just share the joy of performance- through busking, eventually more projects and collaborations will ensue in order to build this one of a kind school that young artists have been hoping for.

A space where the young and the old can converge to build the new.

The city of Baguio, cannot afford to allow these ideas and passions to go to waste. 

Baguio City what are your thoughts on this proposal? 

The Multidimensional Artist: Elliot

Baguio City is the home of up and coming artist, it is undeniably the  education center in Northern Luzon and is able to attract some of the best and most talented minds the Philippines has to offer.



Elliot, a 19 year old student from Saint Louis University gives us a glimpse of what a silent but creative mind could do.

At an early age, she was already convinced by her parents to start drawing, they wanted her to become a Civil Engineer.

But a friend of hers named Jireh was the one who told her, that she had the makings of an artist and this increased her confidence  to continue.


Most of her works, are inspired by her dreams- the doodles and scribbles are images that visit her, while in a lucid state of dreaming.

The colors in her dreams are vivid and alive, and the images and visions that she sees in her dreams are the ones that are transpired into her doodles and crafts.




Apart from the dream inspired  creations, she is also a writer by heart.

She is fond of Fantasy novels, but she is also  a good observer of daily life, and this is what she is using as a guide for her written work.



There was a point where in,  she was alone during the New Year's Eve, and she took the time to write something about the experience.

List of Firsts

Would you remember?

Where untouched lips disappeared without consent

Where acceptance of at fault without its repent

Where the last breath had faded away

Where words had disappeared without a say

Where the mind was a soundproof place

Where fear had not been courageously faced

Where hope and dreams had been a harsh knife

Where love had turned to strife

Where warmth had turned to ice and coal

Where skin is scarred and a deadly soul

Where pictures flashed but can’t be intervened

Where? Where? Where have those memories been?

The Solace of the Night has a way of  getting her to write- the random spectrum and emotions visit her in time of solitude.



Her writings at times are able to evoke emotions from friends and classmates.

 There was one time when her written thoughts had touched the emotion of a classmate, which led this person to write an entire reaction paper regarding the story that she has written.

Dance of a Puppet

A smile painted on its wooden face

Its backgrounds are the four seasons

Portraying a job on a dead end’s race

Just for pathetic and petty reasons

“Dance my Puppet.” Money says

Easily controlling the puppet’s strings

He looks at you with his plays

“Aren’t you one of my belongings?”

There are also some male friends, who have asked her to write Love poetry for their partner.

 She has willingly done them in the past, but have learned the strength of poetry and no longer writes love poetry for other couples- it has to be properly done, and is not a game to write poetry for others. It involves emotions.


Elliot, is able to set herself  apart from others by wanting to be different. 

As of the moment, she is writing a novel about a teenage girl who is afraid to go against the will of her parents, and a boy who has a code name- 

The title of the novel is " When I met Nicolas Calabash"-

Her works will be featured in a one of a kind Souvenir Shop at Ili likha Village, Assumption Road Baguio City- Basement that will open in February 2016. 

Merkaba

Merkaba is about the darkness that wants to emit light,  it is every little turmoil that does not want to go unnoticed.

Merkaba is a shop for tortured souls, the desperate, the misunderstood- souls that have been trying to express the colors that are inside their world.

Merkaba is for individuals who have discovered their darkness and have turned them into light...

The Philippines is the home of some of the best artists in the world, it is rich in cultural experience as well as spiritual beliefs.

The country's long history of trade with various cultures has made it even richer- and the skills and abilities have been retained in the genetic code of the Filipino.

Merkaba, will be the home of unique and hand made crafts from various artists all over the Philippines, but it will also be open to collaboration works from artists from different parts of the world.

It will focus on one of a kind crafts that contain the spirit and imagination of individuals who want to create a new kind of consciousness-- each of the crafts that are present inside the shop come from meditative experiences.

The shop will be like no other, it shall focus on uniting beliefs, finding the substance that makes us all connected to each other- it will be the shop for the meeting and exchange of minds- its ultimate goal is to establish respect and rapport from various ideologies through art.

The reflection and life work, as well as personal advocacy of artists are reflected in the shop. Artists who value the environment, the creation of independent music and those who carry on a positive message for the community are welcome to install their works inside the shop.

Merkaba is created in an organic way, slowly it is able to incorporate the values and vision of people who are coming it is a collaboration of many energies.
Souls who come from different parts of the country- artists, musicians, writers, dancers, dreamers and poets who are offering new ideas and explorations-

The works that are inside the shop come from the internal desires of artists, the message that they want to share- the ideas that have a hard time getting understood, but need to be expressed into material form.

Merkaba is more than just a Souvenir shop, it is a way for people to heighten their love and appreciation for creative work- it will also be a way for artists to sustain their daily living- 

The shop will be open for events, and workshop collaborations with various artists- there is no limit to what Merkaba will achieve. 

The shop will also welcome independent musicians, and will create events that would promote original compositions from local singers and bands- it will be a new vehicle for thought.

It will be new, and will do things differently- the mistakes of the past will not transpire in this shop- instead it will be a daily growing and enriching experience for anyone who will become a part of it.

Merkaba is the ability of anyone, to turn the negative thoughts, to turn the darkness that is inside everyone's heart--into light, into love--into real transformation. 

The Multidimensional Artist: Elliot

Baguio City is the home of up and coming artist, it is undeniably the  education center in Northern Luzon and is able to attract some of the best and most talented minds the Philippines has to offer.



Elliot, a 19 year old student from Saint Louis University gives us a glimpse of what a silent but creative mind could do.

At an early age, she was already convinced by her parents to start drawing, they wanted her to become a Civil Engineer.

But a friend of hers named Jireh was the one who told her, that she had the makings of an artist and this increased her confidence  to continue.


Most of her works, are inspired by her dreams- the doodles and scribbles are images that visit her, while in a lucid state of dreaming.

The colors in her dreams are vivid and alive, and the images and visions that she sees in her dreams are the ones that are transpired into her doodles and crafts.




Apart from the dream inspired  creations, she is also a writer by heart.

She is fond of Fantasy novels, but she is also  a good observer of daily life, and this is what she is using as a guide for her written work.



There was a point where in,  she was alone during the New Year's Eve, and she took the time to write something about the experience.

List of Firsts

Would you remember?

Where untouched lips disappeared without consent

Where acceptance of at fault without its repent

Where the last breath had faded away

Where words had disappeared without a say

Where the mind was a soundproof place

Where fear had not been courageously faced

Where hope and dreams had been a harsh knife

Where love had turned to strife

Where warmth had turned to ice and coal

Where skin is scarred and a deadly soul

Where pictures flashed but can’t be intervened

Where? Where? Where have those memories been?

The Solace of the Night has a way of  getting her to write- the random spectrum and emotions visit her in time of solitude.



Her writings at times are able to evoke emotions from friends and classmates.

 There was one time when her written thoughts had touched the emotion of a classmate, which led this person to write an entire reaction paper regarding the story that she has written.

Dance of a Puppet

A smile painted on its wooden face

Its backgrounds are the four seasons

Portraying a job on a dead end’s race

Just for pathetic and petty reasons

“Dance my Puppet.” Money says

Easily controlling the puppet’s strings

He looks at you with his plays

“Aren’t you one of my belongings?”

There are also some male friends, who have asked her to write Love poetry for their partner.

 She has willingly done them in the past, but have learned the strength of poetry and no longer writes love poetry for other couples- it has to be properly done, and is not a game to write poetry for others. It involves emotions.


Elliot, is able to set herself  apart from others by wanting to be different. 

As of the moment, she is writing a novel about a teenage girl who is afraid to go against the will of her parents, and a boy who has a code name- 

The title of the novel is " When I met Nicolas Calabash"-

Her works will be featured in a one of a kind Souvenir Shop at Ili likha Village, Assumption Road Baguio City- Basement that will open in February 2016.