A young, Filipino artist was among the finalists at the Paralym Art World Cup 2019, an international competition for disability arts, held at the Azabu Regional City Office in Tokyo, Japan, on October 16.
The 27-year-old painter Vico Cham, who has an autism spectrum disorder, made it into the top 5 of the competition. He was also awarded with the Sponsor’s Award by the Persol Holdings Co., becoming the first Filipino to win honors in the global contest.
The theme for this year’s competition was “Dance.” For his entry, Cham depicted Kadal Tahaw, or a tribal dance performed by the T’boli tribe in Lake Sebu in South Cotabato.
The dance mimics the hopping and flying of a Tahaw bird, and is performed by the T’boli to celebrate good harvest. T’boli women performs the Kadal Tahaw while wearing makeup, accessories, and an intricately woven T’boli dress called t’nalak.
The details and festivities of the routine were intricately rendered by Cham, with three T’boli women holding their arms up and swaying their hips on sunlit green pastures. Cham’s top-5-placing entry was among the 12 artworks from the Philippines that were shortlisted out of 774 submitted from 40 countries around the world.
The Paralym Art World Cup is a series of annual art events that will culminate with the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020. The competition seeks to empower differently-abled individuals around the world and provide a platform to showcase their artistic talent.