Almost everything in the world has gone digital, and the Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (EPA) is no exception.
As part of its mandate to make art matter to every Filipino, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) made this known with the launch of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (EPA) Digital Edition.
With CCP Officials, educational partners and media friends present, the CCP unveiled one of its flagship educational projects that finally brought online the most comprehensive and authoritative sourcebook on Philippine art and culture.
“We are proud to launch the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (EPA) Digital Edition website. The CCP EPA Digital Edition Website is the online version of the encyclopedia that can be viewed with the need of an internet connection and subscription. The website comprises up-to-date information about different art forms, as well as additional visuals like videos. The project is an answer to the challenge of contemporary times to access information right away without the constraints of distance and time,” said CCP Vice President and Artistic Director Chris Millado.
It was in 2018 when the second print edition of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art was published so the next logical step was to come up with the CCP EPA Digital Edition.
Now in a digital platform, the CCP EPA Digital hopes to cater to the digitally-inclined young Filipinos specifically students and researchers alike to help in their academic and research needs most especially in these times when the education sector has been forced to migrate online because of the ongoing pandemic.
“The point of identifying the sun with the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art comes from the belief that knowledge is light. Light to discover truths, and light to show the way forward. It is through this light that we want Filipinos to recognize that they not only have a rich art and culture, but also a community that looks after each other,” the project team said in an audio-visual presentation.
The website has a total of nine sections. The section on Peoples of the Philippines contains the master essays on 54 ethnolinguistic groups, arranged alphabetically from Aeta to Yakan. The next eight sections focus on the eight arts, namely: Architecture, Visual Arts, Film, Dance, Music, Theater, Broadcast Arts, and Literature.
Each section is further divided into Historical Essays, Forms and Types, Aspects, Works, and Artists and Organizations.
The EPA Digital also contains hundreds of video excerpts from plays and dance and music performances, all sourced from the vast video archives of the CCP, thus enhancing even more our knowledge and appreciation of Philippine art.
The CCP EPA Digital comes in different formats in ensuring its access to the widest number of digital Filipinos. With the launch of the website and mobile application, soon to be made available are an on-ground interactive installation and an offline version that is seen to benefit far-flung communities.
The site, which contains all of the more than 5,000 articles and more than 5,000 photos of the print edition, can be accessed via epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph.