CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Giant Lantern Festival Foundation, Incorporated (GLFFI) recently held the first free lantern making workshop to boost the livelihood of lantern artisans at the Northville multi-purpose hall here.
The seminar was made possible through the partnership of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the city government and tourism office, and the University of Assumption (UA).
According to GLFFI President Alfrito "Bong" Mah, the project's main objective is to teach basic lantern making to the new generation who will continue the city's tradition in the future.
"We've thought about this because there are no schools that could teach you how to make lanterns, and the teachings are not recorded on books. What we are doing is we pass these teachings from one generation to another. We should continue teaching people about this because we cannot pass the legacy to anyone but them. The culture may die if we do not pass this to other generations and this is what we are afraid of happening, " Mah said.
Mah shared that he is planning to make the seminar an annual endeavour and that they will teach the trainees how to create electronic "play" of the lanterns which are the sequencers.
Master lantern maker Roland Quiambao highlighted that he and his fellow masters will be counting the 16 trainees as "employed."
"We are aiming to teach everything, from conceptualization to the application of theories. We will grade them depending on where they work fast, but I still tend to teach them in every aspect. This is what I am always dreaming of," Quiambao said.
The 16 trainees are high school student volunteers and housewives.
The seminar will become a part of curriculum in UA, whose engineering department is in charge of the seminar's documentation, and sequencer and lantern designing.
The trainees' graduation is set on July 2, Monday.
