GAMABA Artists

The Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan, also known as GAMABA, has its roots in the 1988 National Folk Artists Award organized by the Rotary Club of Makati-Ayala. As a group, these folk and traditional artists reflect the diverse heritage and cultural traditions that transcend their beginnings to become part of our national character. As Filipinos, they bring age-old customs, crafts and ways of living to the attention and appreciation of Filipino life. They provide us with a vision of ourselves and of our nation, a vision we might be able to realize someday, once we are given the opportunity to be true to ourselves as these artists have remained truthful to their art.

 

As envisioned under R.A. 7355, “Manlilikha ng Bayan” shall mean a citizen engaged in any traditional art uniquely Filipino whose distinctive skills have reached such a high level of technical and artistic excellence and have been passed on to and widely practiced by the present generation in his/her community with the same degree of technical and artistic competence.