PRAGUE - 24 JUNE 2011

The Philippines, Turkey and the Czech Republic were adjudged Childrens Choice awardees at the Veletrizni Palace, site of this years Prague Quadrennial of Performance Space and Design.

National curator Rolando de Leon accepted the Rainbow Cormorant award hand-crafted by Czech schoolchildren, who for the last two weeks had been visiting the exhibition on field trips and casting their votes as to which pavilion was their favorite. Over 65 national pavilions and 76 student booths took part in this year's event, considered as the Olympiad of Theater Design.

Students, teachers, and family groups who visited both the Philippine national pavilion and the student booth put together by De La Salle University's Harlequin Theater Guild were unified in praising the quaint craftsmanship of De Leons bamboo house, which highlighted costumes, photographs, and the retrospective publication on Manila Broadcasting Company's Aliwan Fiesta, materials from GMA-7s Kapuso Fiesta, maquettes of various local productions for which he did the set design, Angonos Higantes, Abel Iloko fabric, Darangen dolls from Mindanao, and Bohol's Teatro Abatan.

The DLSU-HTG student booth in turn, was anchored on the mystical balete tree, around which the students and foreign guests wore costumes of elemental spirits from the Dinagyang, Ibon-Ebon, Calacatchara, Sosogon, and Uswag Surallah Lembuhong Festivals. Photos from various nature festivals were also on display, as well as images from various student productions mounted by HTG, foremost of which was Rizal My President - a surefire hit among Czech people who hold the Philippine National Hero in high esteem.

Visitors to the Philippine pavilions were awed by the vibrant colors and textures used by the curatorial team, in stark contrast to the muted, techno-laden installations of the other countries.

The PQ Children's program was initiated this year to expand audiences and encourage more young people to view theatrical architecture as everyday phenomena for which artistic merit can easily be enhanced for staging purposes.

The Philippine delegation was generously supported by Air 21 through Mr Bert Lina and Mr Jerry Jara, ITI Earthsavers -UNESCO Dream Center Philiipines under the office of Dr Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, Mr Enrique Razon of International Container Terminal Services Inc, the European Desk of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the National Commission on Culture and Arts, Office of Senator Edgardo Angara, the Philippine Embassy in Prague under Ambassador Evelyn Austria-Garcia, and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Manila.

A national tour of the components of the Philippine participation in the Prague Quadrennial will follow in July and August under the auspices of De La Salle University in cooperation with the SM SuperMalls and 90.7 Love Radio Davao