Filipino is finalist in 2011 Imprisoned Artists Prize
By Pablo A. Tariman
The Philippine Star
November 21, 2011
The other two finalists are musician Win Maw of Burma and filmmaker Dhondup Wanchen of Tibet.
Win Maw was imprisoned for seven years under emergency regulations from 1996 to 2002 for performing as lead guitarist in the rock group Shwe Thansin, one of Burma’s top bands of the 1990s. He wrote songs in support of Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 1997. He was released from Taunggoo prison in November 2002, but his music remained banned and can only be listened to through exiled broadcasters and online soundfile networks.
Detained filmmaker Dhondup Wanchen of Tibet made a film titled Leaving Fear Behind which has been screened in more than 30 countries worldwide and translated into five languages, including Chinese. The worldwide campaign for his release continues.
Cover of CD recordings of the compositions of Ericson The finalists for 2011 Freedom to Create Main Prize are Ayat Al-Gormezi (Bahrain), a 20-year-old poet and student at the Faculty of Teachers in Bahrain, who was put on trial for merely expressing her opinion peacefully and openly; Sister Fa (Senegal), one of the most widely recognized female rap artists in Senegal, who has devoted her life’s work to raising awareness on the dangers of female genital mutilation, a practice in theory outlawed by the state but which continues across Africa; and Ramy Essam (Egypt) who spent 18 days in Tahrir Square writing music and performing songs to motivate the protesters, suffering threats and attacks from the military police, but refusing to leave until Mubarak’s regime collapsed.
The Imprisoned Artist Prize is one of the awards given by Freedom to Create, an international award-giving body launched in 2008 to “celebrate the courage and creativity of artists and the positive influence of their work to promote social justice and inspire the human spirit.”
The prize — according to the Freedom To Create website — is given to artists who are incarcerated “because of their courage and creativity in pursuing their art, and the role of their work in highlighting injustice.”
One winner will be awarded $25,000, which will then be utilized in securing the artist’s release and advocacies and campaigns for his or her freedom.
Acosta is an artist, journalist and cultural worker who was arrested by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Feb. 13, 2011 in Barangay Bay-ang, San Jorge, Samar province in the Eastern Visayan region. He faces trumped-up charges of illegal possession of explosives and is currently detained at the Calbayog City sub-provincial jail.
The UP activist’s counsel has filed a Petition for Review of his case before the Philippine government’s Department of Justice (DOJ) last Sept. 1.
Even in jail, Acosta continues to make his art and music heard despite and in spite of the most pressing of circumstances. A raw recording dubbed Prison Sessions featuring Acosta singing his original compositions in jail instantly enjoyed thousands of hits and followers online. He also maintains an online journal, Jailhouse Blog.
Acosta’s supporters — among them National Artists for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera and F. Sionil Jose, Philippine Center of International PEN (Poets & Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists), Concerned Artists of the Philippines, University of the Philippines National Writers Workshop fellows, filmmaker Joel Lamangan and Carlitos Siguion Reyna and actors Nanding Josef and Bibeth Orteza — have called on DOJ Sec. Leila de Lima to immediately withdraw fabricated complaints against Acosta.
Launched in 2008, the Freedom to Create Prize is a celebration of the courage and creativity of artists, and the positive influence of their work to promote social justice and inspire the human spirit. The Prize is open to all forms of art, in any creative field and to any individual or group of any gender, religion or nationality.
By Pablo A. Tariman
The Philippine Star
November 21, 2011
Former UP Collegian editor Ericson Acosta in the Calbayog sub-provincial jail in Western, Samar is visited by only son Emmanuel last Oct. 29| Zoom
MANILA, Philippines - Filipino political prisoner Ericson Acosta — former editor of the UP Collegian and a detainee for 10 months now at the Calbayog, Samar sub-provincial jail — is one of the three finalists in the prestigious 2011 Imprisoned Artist Prize in the Freedom to Create Award Festival in Cape Town, South Africa. Winners were announced yesterday, Nov. 20, at an awards ceremony and concert at the stunning Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens in South Africa.
The finalists in the Main and Artist in Prison categories were chosen out of more than 2,000 nominees from 145 countries by a select jury that included Hollywood actress and filmmaker Daryl Hannah, novelist Salman Rushdie and ballet icon Mikhail Baryshnikov, among others.
The finalists in the Main and Artist in Prison categories were chosen out of more than 2,000 nominees from 145 countries by a select jury that included Hollywood actress and filmmaker Daryl Hannah, novelist Salman Rushdie and ballet icon Mikhail Baryshnikov, among others.
The other two finalists are musician Win Maw of Burma and filmmaker Dhondup Wanchen of Tibet.
Win Maw was imprisoned for seven years under emergency regulations from 1996 to 2002 for performing as lead guitarist in the rock group Shwe Thansin, one of Burma’s top bands of the 1990s. He wrote songs in support of Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 1997. He was released from Taunggoo prison in November 2002, but his music remained banned and can only be listened to through exiled broadcasters and online soundfile networks.
Detained filmmaker Dhondup Wanchen of Tibet made a film titled Leaving Fear Behind which has been screened in more than 30 countries worldwide and translated into five languages, including Chinese. The worldwide campaign for his release continues.
Cover of CD recordings of the compositions of Ericson The Imprisoned Artist Prize is one of the awards given by Freedom to Create, an international award-giving body launched in 2008 to “celebrate the courage and creativity of artists and the positive influence of their work to promote social justice and inspire the human spirit.”
The prize — according to the Freedom To Create website — is given to artists who are incarcerated “because of their courage and creativity in pursuing their art, and the role of their work in highlighting injustice.”
One winner will be awarded $25,000, which will then be utilized in securing the artist’s release and advocacies and campaigns for his or her freedom.
Acosta is an artist, journalist and cultural worker who was arrested by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Feb. 13, 2011 in Barangay Bay-ang, San Jorge, Samar province in the Eastern Visayan region. He faces trumped-up charges of illegal possession of explosives and is currently detained at the Calbayog City sub-provincial jail.
The UP activist’s counsel has filed a Petition for Review of his case before the Philippine government’s Department of Justice (DOJ) last Sept. 1.Even in jail, Acosta continues to make his art and music heard despite and in spite of the most pressing of circumstances. A raw recording dubbed Prison Sessions featuring Acosta singing his original compositions in jail instantly enjoyed thousands of hits and followers online. He also maintains an online journal, Jailhouse Blog.
Acosta’s supporters — among them National Artists for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera and F. Sionil Jose, Philippine Center of International PEN (Poets & Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists), Concerned Artists of the Philippines, University of the Philippines National Writers Workshop fellows, filmmaker Joel Lamangan and Carlitos Siguion Reyna and actors Nanding Josef and Bibeth Orteza — have called on DOJ Sec. Leila de Lima to immediately withdraw fabricated complaints against Acosta.
Launched in 2008, the Freedom to Create Prize is a celebration of the courage and creativity of artists, and the positive influence of their work to promote social justice and inspire the human spirit. The Prize is open to all forms of art, in any creative field and to any individual or group of any gender, religion or nationality.
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