I came all the way from Dagupan City just to see and experience what the Toy Making Workshop with Pilipinas Street Plan is all about. I reached Ortigas at around 7:00am and this gave me a chance to try the food at Banchetto. I was the first one to arrive at the Lopez Memorial Musuem.
Renz, a "mommy blogger" (who I met for the first time), came in next. Since we came early, we were able to have a quick tour of the museum thanks to Ms. Mary Ann Pernia, the museum's education consultant who ably assisted us and made us feel at home. As it was my first time in the museum, I was in awe when I discovered they had a lot of Luna's and Hidalgo's. I'll surely feature the Lopez Memorial Museum in a separate post.
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| The workshop participants |
It was also my first time to meet Teacher Ria Tirazona and Mark Cerbo the Toy Photographer and his famous toy, Optimash Prime. Other participants include DigitalFilipino.com's founder Janette Toral, PR Professional Rosan Cruz, jewelry designer and gemologist Tara Soriano, Martin Vargas, Bettina Go 0f Cathay Drug Co., Eloisa San Juan and Karen Ang. Some of us tweeted via foursquare as soon as we had access to the museum's wifi:
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at toy making workshop (@ Lopez Memorial Museum)http://4sq.com/eiM3PV
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At the #ToyMaking workshop @ Lopez Museum w Pilipinas Street Plan's street artists Whooop,Wed, FJ. http://yfrog.com/h3mcszaj
Toymaking Workshop (@ Lopez Memorial Museum)http://4sq.com/fauglQ
It turned out that the original plan of having public school children as workshop participants didn't push through and the Gawa/Laro Toy Making Workshop became a toy customization workshop instead. The facilitators of the workshop were Wesley Valenzuela, Whooop (it should be with three O's according to him) and EpJey Pacheco, members of Pilipinas Street Plan.
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| Pilipinas Street Plan explained |
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| Wes Valenzuela |
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| Whooop and EpJey (partly hidden) |
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| The participants |
Wes explained what the group Pilipinas Street Plan (PSP) is about, the street wall art or graffiti movement, toy customization and it's historical connection to Philippine culture- the colorful jeepney! He also gave out instructions on toy customization. I found out that we are both alumni of UST. We graduated from college on the same year. You may check the youtube videos:
Whooop specifically explained further about the customized toy, where DIY toys can be seen and bought, and how the customization is made. He shared to me how PSP was formed. It all started individually in 2006. Artists who delved into stickers, graffiti and street art posted their works in the internet and soon they found common ground among themselves. A "conference" was done by gathering the artists until the whole concept was formed. There are about 10 active members of the group.
I livestreamed the workshop via the http://livestream.com/whatsupdagupan account which I use exclusively for What's Up Dagupan. The link was tweeted by @Lopez_muse, the official twitter of the Lopez Museum and @digitalfilipino:
Ongoing at Lopez Museum now! http://fb.me/MsTQSiK4
livestream of toy customization workshop by @sirvishttp://bit.ly/eb22IS
Sarah Meier - Albano dropped by the workshop she mused:
Love is wandering around a museum by yourself. Bliss is when there's a graffiti/street art installation when you go. #lopezmuseum
And of course I had to take advantage of a photo opportunity. Starstrucked me!
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| @SiRVis and @sarah_meier Photo by: Mark Cerbo |
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