[ Manila Bulletin Online ] November 12, 2008
By MALOU M. MOZO
CEBU CITY — Local designers are banking on the creativity of Cebuanos to actively push the province’s creative economy, following the British Council’s proclamation of Cebu as the "Creative City" of the Philippines.
Jewelry designer Butch Carungay vowed to lead a group of designers to pool Cebuano artists and creative entrepreneurs in a "Big Brother" program to help mentor players in the industry to market their products and services to a bigger clientele.
"We would like to set up a creative entrepreneur or designer incubator for everyone. There are a lot of creative people in Cebu that are untapped," Carungay said in a press conference announcing the formal opening of "Creative Cebu" campaign this March 2009.
The British Council has picked Cebu to represent the Philippines in its Creative Cities in Asia list owing to the province’s history of success in the arts and the long list of creative Cebuano entrepreneurs recognized internationally.
However, Carungay said the challenge of Cebuano entrepreneurs from the creative sector is the lack of venue to bond together and exchange ideas as well as provide opportunities to link with related industries.
Furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue and entrepreneur Jay Aldeguer, among other big creative entrepreneurs, will soon form a working committee to craft a program to sustain the "Big Brother" concept where Cebu’s creative entrepreneurs can join an international network.
"If they can be part of the network, Cebu will have another aspect to market, which is the creative side,"said Anna Tan, British Council-Philippines public relations manager.
Creative entrepreneurs go beyond jewelry and furniture designing. It includes industrial graphic artists, architecture, visual arts, performing arts, screen, inter-active web designers, culture and heritage and festivals, and film animation artists, among others.
"We can only speak of a creative economy if our designs are put in a sustainable business set-up that will effectively enable artists to express themselves and show their works to others," said Aldeguer, who is also president and chief executive officer of the Islands Group.
"We should erase the image of a starving artist because his business potential is immense," he added.
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