IN his desire to spread the message of a powerful book, one that spoke of an individual’s ability to change the world, Gigo Alampay changed his own.
Alampay first encountered The Man Who Planted Trees in the 1980s. Written by French author Jean Giono in 1953, the book tells the allegorical tale of a man who singe-handedly cultivated a wasteland devoid of life and hope into a thriving town that resembled the Garden of Eden. Such was the impact of the story to Alampay that he wanted to publish an adaptation for the Philippines.
On June 13, 2005, Alampay published Elias and His Trees through a nonprofit organization he founded, the Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development, or Canvas. It was the achievement of a goal, the fulfillment of a mission—a culmination. It was where most stories typically end.
In Alampay’s case, however, realizing the dream only paved the way to another.
“The success of that first book led us to other books, which later led to more books, new programs, and even bigger dreams,” he said.
Today, Canvas works with the creative community to promote children’s literacy, explore national identity, and deepen public appreciation for Philippine art, culture, and the environment.
The organization manages two programs. First is “Looking for Juan,” wherein social issues are explored through art. Under the program is the Outdoor Banner Exhibit, an annual art showcase at the Academic Oval of the University of the Philippines that features works from emerging talents to National Artists like BenCab.
The other program is focused on literacy. Canvas collaborates with Filipino artists and writers to publish original books to be given to kids in disadvantaged communities throughout the country.
The titles, ranging from storybooks to activity books, are either commissioned or chosen from of a story-writing competition of Canvas, called the Romeo Forbes Children’s Story Writing Competition.
The mechanics is simple. Canvas asks a local artist to produce one artwork that will be used as basis for the story-writing contest. Then, contestants must create a story around the piece. Finally, the artist will produce more artworks for the winning story.
Among the star-studded list of talents Canvas has worked with for the competition are Romeo Forbes, Elmer Borlongan and Rodel Tapaya. Joy Mallari has participated as well, along with Don Salubayba, Liv Romualdez Vinluan, Daniel de la Cruz and Dex Fernandez, among others.
The contest is open to all Filipinos. There are winning titles written by Palanca awardees, such Ang Aklatang Pusa by Eugene Evasco and Ipapasyal Namin si Lolo Genaro by Gojo Cruz. First-time writers have found success as well, including Francesca Nicole Chan Torres, whose story Nadia and the Blue Stars has been used for psychosocial therapy to help children displaced by man-made conflict or by natural calamities to deal with the trauma.
“Writers will go in all different directions and there is no way to predict what kind of stories emerge,” Alampay said.
The project has also brought Canvas to Palawan to develop a book for the indigenous Tagbanua tribe. The organization sent a team to interview the elder tribesmen about their legends, culture and traditions. The project bore Three Tales of the Tagbanua, published in 2017.
Canvas has produced 30 titles to date, and have distributed 250,000 books in partnership with about a hundred volunteers and partner organizations to communities from Ifugao to Basilan.
Some Canvas books are found in Fully Booked, while others are available at www.canvas.ph and www.lookingforjuan.com, the organization’s recently launched web site.