In this month’s cover story, a conversation between National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts and inaugural Rolling Stone Philippines Hall of Fame inductee, Kidlat Tahimik, and filmmaker, writer, and art curator Erwin T. Romulo, Tahimik mentions an old conversation with his late wife, the author, artist, and scholar Katrin de Guia, and how she not only impacted his career but opened and challenged him to new ways of understanding the culture around him. “I told her, ‘All my new insights into the strength of the Filipino as kapwa culture, I have to attribute it to you because if we didn’t meet, I would never be aware of it… You have pointed it out to me. And now everything I do, it’s a mirror to you.’”
An artist’s main goal is to help us understand and communicate the culture around us. But an artist can’t do it alone. The people around them, especially those closest to them, are not just their muse but their mirror. An independent body, but essential in the work of understanding the other.
That is what this whole issue is about and what the Rolling Stone Philippines Hall of Fame is for. We are here not only to celebrate but to learn and to see the culture around us through the perspective of those who’ve helped shape it. All our inductees offer new ways of understanding, not just the industries they’ve helped shape, but our society as well. Beyond his films, Tahimik has expanded the boundaries of what we know to be Philippine art. He has advocated not only the art and craft of Indigenous Peoples but also an inner philosophy that Katrin devoted her life to learning and documenting: that of our pre-colonial culture and spirit of kapwa.
For acclaimed journalist and George Foster Peabody awardee Jessica Soho, her work gives voice to the stories that demand to be told. Throughout her four-decade-long career, she has shed light on the biggest issues facing our country with discernment and empathy, bringing out the humanity from even the worst of times.
The country’s most famous and accomplished bowler, Paeng Nepomuceno, shares the same unique spirit of excellence that has propelled him, as well as the country, into the rich annals of sports history. Beyond the international acclaim and world titles, the drive of athletes like Nepomuceno became a precursor to the accolades the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Hidilyn Diaz, and Carlos Yulo would later achieve.
And that legacy, which so many have built for themselves, is transcendent. The work and passion of those who’ve passed can still be felt today. The patriotism and makabayan spirit that Francis M. manifested in his lyrics still echo from artists such as Gloc-9, Morobeats, to even beyond hip-hop. The love for our own ingredients and in championing the local food industry that Margarita Forés made her life’s work is never more evident than in today’s culinary scene, as over 108 Philippine restaurants can now take pride in being part of the lauded Michelin Guide. And through her work in Philippine cinema, National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Nora Aunor remains the standard that so many in the industry aspire to.
Alongside fellow inductees Charo Santos-Concio, Vic del Rosario Jr., and Juan Dela Cruz Band, the roads that Tahimik, Soho, and Nepomuceno have paved have led us to a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Filipino that goes beyond oneself and shifts our paradigms in order for us to become who we’ve always been meant to be.
Read all the profiles in the Hall of Fame issue of Rolling Stone Philippines. Pre-order a copy on Sari-Sari Shopping, or read the e-magazine now here.
