Arts Council solicits support for local artists

The CNMI Arts Council is launching a series of fund-raising activities in order to generate enough money that would finance the travel expenses of at least 80 artists from the Northern Marianas who will participate in the region’s biggest arts festival.

Arts Council Coordinator Cindy Macaranas said they need to raise at least $130,000 to pay for the round-trip air tickets of the CNMI delegates to the Festival of Pacific Arts which will be held in New Caledonia from Oct. 23 to Nov. 3, 2000.

The Arts Council will hold a golf tournament spearheaded by the Refaluwasch Golf Association. Proceeds of which will be allocated for the exclusive use of the CNMI delegation to the arts festival.
Ms. Macaranas said the CNMI delegation will consist of five performing groups, two visual artists, traditional crafts makers, mwar-mwar weavers, and traditional medicine extractors representing the rich Chamorro and Carolinian cultures.

The Council is also looking at the possibility of holding raffle draws to generate the needed amount for the local artists’ travel to represent the Northern Marianas in New Caledonia.

At the same time, Ms. Macaranas disclosed that donation boxes will be stationed in several grocery and mom and pop stores throughout the Northern Marianas, while assistance of corporate sponsors will also be tapped.

“We also would like to appeal to the CNMI legislators to support the fund-raising activities of the Arts Council for us to be able to represent the Northern Marianas well in the festival,” she added.

Tight revenues have prompted the CNMI government to trim down the number of delegates to the 8th Festival of Pacific Arts which will is being held only once every four years.

Ms. Macaranas said the Festival of Pacific Arts, an assembly of the region’s rich and diverse cultures and tradition, has never failed to draw huge participation from among countries in the Pacific. The next festival will be hosted by the government of the Republic of Palau.

Festival organizers are anticipating participation from the Northern Marianas, Guam, Fiji, Australia, Cook Islands, Palau, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Marshalls, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, New Zealand among others.

This year’s theme — “Pacific Cultures on the move together — is expected to allow Pacific communities to show their roots and understand the feelings of the younger people amid cultural and artistic diversity.

The 8th Festival of Pacific Arts is hoping to address issues surrounding preservation of the region’s history and heritage by instilling in the minds of the younger people the value of traditions and cultures.