ecowarrior's Channel

Meet the multi-faceted Art Tibaldo
(Lifted from a published article by Jesus Miguel Agreda)

"I'M a citizen of the global village trying to cope with the modern world," quipped multi-media artist and journalist Joel Arthur Tibaldo when asked why he continues to innovate his craft.

Known as Art by many, he shares that his journey as an artist was unplanned.

He was only convinced he was inclined in the arts after taking up Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas and Cinematography and Film making at the UP Film Center.

He narrates "My journey as an artist started as a visual experiment after working in the tri-media for the past 20 years. Now, I wanted to move on to the next level after venturing into the three fields of media, namely, in print, radio and television."

Then after a few years of planning, he envisioned the Baguio Media Museum and Animation Studio (BMMAS) built in his garage as a new attraction in the City of Pines showcasing old cameras, television, radio, records, electronics and communication equipment and the like which he had accumulated in the years that he spent traveling the world as a media practitioner.

Museum Curator

"I first envisioned it as an art gallery because I used to have one way back in 1985 but most of the collections I have were media equipment like cameras. So I decided to come up with a media museum instead," Tibaldo said while sharing a cup of Benguet coffee he offers to his visitors in the museum.

However, working full-time as a media specialist at the Department of Trade and Industry regional office, Art wanted something doable on weekends which is not tasking than his job as a government Information Officer. He wanted something where he could tour visiting students, educators and media enthusiasts.

"The Baguio Media Museum and Animation Studio is the first of its kind in the country that packages a unique view of how communication evolves. It's a new addition to Baguio's attractions aside from the parks and tourist spots in the city. It is an edutainment center that is open every Saturdays for free," Tibaldo added in jest.

The latest addition in the museum is the traditional hand paper press he uses in making paper out of the leaves and fibers of plants and a few recycled papers. He plans to conduct papermaking workshops in the future at BMMAS.

Global Citizen

But Tibaldo was not contented with what he has accomplished so far. He wanted to explore other fields of media where he never ventured into in the past. Now like other global citizens, he maintains his own website, constantly uploads photos in them and shares his video creations at YouTube and Multiply sites.

Unlike other media old timers who see the Internet as a threat, Tibaldo sees it otherwise. He articulates, "I see it as a new challenge especially for us who have been used to the old media technologies."

When asked what direction does the Baguio and foreign media are going, he only has a few lines to share.

"For me the direction of media is evolving just like in photojournalism. It is like a science, which continuously evolves. If you're a photojournalist, it is not enough or sufficient that you shoot the pictures. You also need to know how to write. You should never be a person who's contented to be behind the camera all the time, you should know how to be in front of the camera also," shared Tibaldo who appears regularly at Sky Cable Community Channel 13 through Cordillera News Agency TV.

Tibaldo also said: "In this age of downloading and uploading, one should learn to embrace new media technologies."

He recounted photographers used to go to photo developing centers just to have their films processed then sent to Manila for the national broadsheets to post. But now, all photojournalist have to do is they process it right away directly into their laptop computers and then they feed it to their respective newspapers by uploading the photos to the Internet and sending it to their main offices in Manila.

Innovator

Some media practitioners describe Tibaldo as an innovator.

When asked why he loves to be a pacesetter in the field of local media, he has a few secrets to share "I innovate because I have the love and passion for the arts. I am doing things like what journalist Ramon Dacawi does who is also an innovator where we came up with an idea of the Ecowalk and Alay sa Kalinisan where we want to stress out experiential learning for the children."

"We (referring to him and Dacawi) are not politicians, we just want to share what we know by keeping in pace with the modern times so we won't have problems relating to our audiences. We believe schoolchildren will learn more from what their senses can get from their environs," Tibaldo added.

Aside from his media endeavors, Tibaldo is also an environmentalist by heart. He organized the Eco Warriors Powwow, A Day in the life of Baguio after the Killer Earthquake in 1990 and a few years ago, A Day in the Life in Busol where his concern for the last remaining watershed in the city was shown through the photographs he and other photo enthusiasts in Baguio have taken.

"I love organizing events which would mean well for the community. I even go to schools in the provinces just to reach out. I don't earn from the things that I'm doing but the feeling that you helped someone is what keeps me going. It's not that I want to be known or land my name in papers, I just want to help. It's self-fulfillment that I get from the things that I do," Tibaldo shared with delight.

Every weekend, Tibaldo spends most of his spare time at the Baguio Media Museum and Animation Studio as its curator or artist-in-residence. He sees himself 10 years from now as already semi-retired in active media work.

In the near future, he also wants to write a manual or mini-booklet, which will aid his visitors at the museum in understanding the communication process.

Tibaldo believed his museum will aid teachers explain to students the flow of communication which is hardly taught in the schools today.

Film maker

For now, Tibaldo who is also a respected documentary filmmaker keeps himself busy with another project this coming Baguio Centennial, the Baguio Independent Film Festival. He believed that there would be a revival in the film making industry in the city because it hibernated for a while.

"In my younger years as an independent film maker, I financed my own production, used amateur cameras and still there were films that I made in film and documentary festival," Tibaldo said.

He secured the second place award from the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines for his film "The Camote Miners" in 1984. In 1990, Tibaldo joined the International Super 8 Festival. His life as a filmmaker has its risks and dangers for a person once branded as a leftist and also a government infiltrator during his coverage of government rallies.

Sometime in 1987, while covering the National Democratic Front Congress in Sagada, Mountain Province, he was suspected as a spy when he focused his camera on cadres armed to their teeth.

Undaunted, he stayed in Sagada with the late journalist Peppot Ilagan where they were able to finish a documentary entitled "Sagada the First Peace Zone."

This paved the way for foreign scholarships offered to him by the Japan Information and Cooperation Agency-JICA for Video Production at the Okinawa International Center.