Philip Morris Arts Awards in Philippines (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

  Sat, 21 Nov 98

 Philip Morris ASEAN
 Art Awards to open at
 Hanoi Opera House 

 Ballroom dancing in
 ‘Concert at the Park’

 Deedee Siytangco 

 Potters of Pansol
 mount exhibit at
 Ayala Museum 

                Philip Morris ASEAN Art
                Awards to open at Hanoi
                Opera House 

                Hong Kong — This year’s Philip Morris Group of
                Companies ASEAN Art Awards Ceremony and
                Exhibition will open at the Hanoi Opera House on
                Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. This marks the fifth anniversary of
                Southeast Asia’s premiere painting competition.

                Regional art experts, judges and painters have cited
                Philip Morris Group of Companies ASEAN Art Awards for
                inspiring established and emerging artists, build links for
                cooperation between art communities in ASEAN, and
                bringing together art communities in the ASEAN. 

                “We are delighted the Philip Morris Group of Companies
                ASEAN Art Awards has received such a warm reception
                from artists, fine arts community, and public over the
                past five years,” Philip Morris Asia Inc. VP Donald Harris.
                “We think art can bring people together in positive and
                meaningful ways. The Philip Morris Group of Companies
                is pleased to play a role in building bridges between
                ASEAN artists and bringing art to the public in Southeast
                Asia.” 

                During the past five years, more than 125,000 people
                have attended Philip Morris Group of Companies ASEAN
                Art Awards exhibitions, and more than 12,000 artists
                have participated in the competitions. 

                “Ever since, the Philip Morris Group of Companies
                ASEAN Art Awards has demonstrated the vitality and
                diversity of the contemporary art scene in Southeast
                Asia,” according to Prof. Mayching Kao, Art Museum
                Director at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 

                Prof. Kao, an international judge, observed, “The works
                exhibit an ever broadening range, from social criticism to
                Eastern spirituality, from political protest to religious
                fervor and from environmental pollution to lyrical nature.” 

                The Philip Morris Group of Companies sponsorship of the
                ASEAN Art Awards grows out of a 40 year corporate
                commitment to the arts. The ASEAN Art Awards
                program evolved from the Group’s sponsorship of the
                Singapore Art Awards in 1993. 

                During the event, Singapore’s ambassador-at-large Prof.
                Tommy Koh suggested expanding the program to include
                the entire Southeast Asian region, and the Philip Morris
                Group of Companies took his suggestion. “The ASEAN
                Art Awards has become an established cultural event in
                ASEAN. It is the most comprehensive competition of its
                kind in ASEAN,” said Prof. Koh, Singapore’s so-called
                ambassador of the arts. 

                Winning paintings from previous ASEAN Art Awards have
                found a permanent home in the Singapore Art Museum.
                The Philip Morris Group of Companies Collection at the
                Singapore Art Museum was launched in January 1998,
                with a US$100,000 grant to purchase works from the
                competition chosen by the Museum’s curators. 

                “The Philip Morris Group of Companies Collection at the
                Singapore Art Museum has the distinctive quality of
                freshness,” asst. curator Bridget Tracy Tan said. “The
                company’s generosity has assisted greatly in tapping
                into a pool of emerging talents. It adds a qualitative
                historical dimension for the future of art in Singapore and
                at the Museum.” 

                “Acquiring and exhibiting selected works from the
                ASEAN Art Awards at the Singapore Art Museum is a
                natural outgrowth of the program to solidify our
                partnership with the museum,” Mr. Harris of Philip Morris
                Asia added. 

                Following this year’s Awards Ceremony at the Hanoi
                Opera House ceremony, the 39 paintings from all nine
                ASEAN member states will move to Hanoi College of
                Fine Arts for an exhibit open to the public. The Ministry
                of Culture and Information has designated the exhibit as
                one of Vietnam’s special cultural events celebrating the
                sixth ASEAN Summit, to be held in Hanoi in December.
                In January, the exhibition will move to the Fine Arts
                Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. 

                The Philip Morris Group of Companies employs more
                than 150,000 people worldwide. Its products are sold in
                nearly 200 markets include: Kraft cheese; Miller beer;
                Tang powdered drink; Oscar Mayer meats; Jell-O
                desserts; Post and Nabisco cereals; Milka, Sugus and
                Toblerone confectioneries; Maxwell House coffee; and
                Marlboro, Parliament and Virginia Slims cigarettes. 

                The Philip Morris Group of Companies consists of six
                principal operating companies: Philip Morris U.S.A.;
                Philip Morris International Inc.; Kraft Foods, Inc.; Kraft
                Foods International, Inc.; Miller Brewing Company; and
                Philip Morris Capital Corporation. 

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