SEA Games 2019 Recognized as Best Ever, Receives SPIA Asia 2019 Excellence Award

MANILA – No amount of rain was going to stop these honors from being handed out. With Typhoon Tisoy raging outside, SPIA Asia – Asia’s Sports Industry Awards & Conference, held its fifth edition at the Grand Hyatt Manila in Bonifacio Global City Philippines on December 2 and 3, 2019. After two days of panels, case studies, and interviews on the business of sports, the business of football in Asia, sports and new technology, sports and tourism, and integrity and inclusion, the SPIA Asia Awards were also handed out, recognizing and celebrating sporting excellence of the industry,

For hosting the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) was awarded a special Excellence Award by SPIA. PHISGOC Chairman and Philippine House of Representatives Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano received the honor from SPIA Chief Executive Officer Eric Gottschalk.

Football legend Ronaldo Nazario de Lima, more popularly known simply as Ronaldo, was awarded the Sport and Beyond Award, an honor celebrating both his career as a legendary footballer as well as his accomplishments beyond the football pitch. The three-time FIFA Footballer of the Year, two-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, and three-time winner of the FIFA World Cup was a goal-scoring machine for Brazil on the international stage and for club teams like FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid CF, A.C. Milan, and Corinthians. Following his retirement from competition, “El Fenomeno” became the majority owner of Real Valladolid in 2018 and hopes to bring the club to new heights.

The Best Asian Sports Team honor was handed to the Japanese Rugby Team who shocked the world at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where they served as hosts. After winning the Pacific Nations Cup earlier in the year, Japan was grouped with Russia, Ireland, Samoa, and Scotland. The Brave Blossoms’ 28-21 win over Scotland made them the first Asian team to top their group at the Rugby World Cup and the first Asian team to make it to the knockout stage.

Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka was named Best Asian Sportswoman of the Year. After being named WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2016, Osaka famously defeated Serena Williams in the final of the 2018 US Open to become the first Japanese Grand Slam singles champion. She followed that up by defeating Petra Kvitova to win the 2019 Australian Open and became the first Asian player to be ranked first in the world in singles. Only 22-years-old, many believe that the best is yet to come for Osaka.

As if he doesn’t have enough accolades already, the only eight-division boxing champion in history, Sen. Manny Pacquiao, was awarded the Best Asian Sportsman of the Year. Pacquiao started the year by retaining the WBA (Regular) welterweight title via a 12-round unanimous decision over Adrien Broner at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Seven months later at the same venue, “the Pac-Man” won the WBA (Super) welterweight championship via a 12-round split decision over Keith Thurman.

Other notable winners at the SPIA Awards included The Chongqing Major as Best eSports Event of the Year in Asia, Shopee and Cristiano Ronaldo from SportQuake as Best Brand Activation of the Year, Atrium Sports – Kilsyth Basketball Connected Stadium from Atrium Sports with the Best Use of Technology in Sports, the Rugby World Cup in Japan from World Rugby/Rugby World Cup Limited won both Best International Sporting Event of the Year and Best Sports Digital Platform of the Year, while the WTA Finals 2018 from Lagardere Sports of Singapore was named Best Integrated Marketing Campaign of the Year.

The Best Mass Participation Event in the Philippines was given to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority for the National Milo Marathon while Honda Philippines won Best Sponsorship of Sport, Team, Individual, Venue, or Event in the Philippines for the Honda Philippines Nationwide Tour. Meanwhile, the Football 7s Youth Program was awarded Best Youth Sports Development Program in the Philippines.

Football playing brothers Phil and James Younghusband were also recognized during the awards gala as Phil, who recently retired from his international football career, had a statue of himself auctioned off for charity. Another Philippine sports personality that was recognized was gymnast Carlos Yulo who won gold at the SEA Games for the All-Around and Floor Exercise as well as silvers in the Pommel Horse and Still Rings.

Aside from Ronaldo, also present at the two-day conference and awards night was track and field icon Dr. Edwin Moses, chairman of the education committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The American is a sporting legend in the 400m hurdles, having won gold medals at both the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Yet on top of his many accolades, Moses has arguably accomplished even more after his track and field career as he has served as chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy in 2000 which seeks to promote and increase participation in sport at every level, and also to promote the use of sport as a tool for social change around the world. Moses joined Ronaldo onstage for the “Icon 2 Icon” talk as they discussed their lives both during and after their athletic careers ended.

The SPIA Asia conference saw over 600 delegates and over 60 speakers, with over 450 submissions in 25 categories nominated for awards.

For more information about the conference program, visit www.spiaasia.com.

Argentinian Bizman to Promote PH Products in Latin America

Mr. Depindir “Tony” Lamba discusses possible opportunities in Latin America for Philippine exporters during the briefing at the DTI International Building, Makati City on August 13, 2019.

The Department of Trade and Industry - Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) urged Philippine exporters to tap the Latin American market, following the visit of Depindir “Tony” Lamba, an Argentinian businessman, to the Philippines on August 13, 2019 at the DTI International Building, Makati City. 

Lamba is keen on promoting Philippine products to Argentina and other parts of Latin America.  Organized by the DTI-EMB, Lamba’s visit to the Philippines was endorsed by Commercial Counsellor Michael Vyke Roaring of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center - Mexico, which also covers other Latin American countries.

The EMB arranged a briefing for Lamba on business registration procedures, EMB services, export procedures, and trade opportunities. One-on-one meetings with 15 exporters of food, personal care, and coconut products along with a franchising company were also arranged for Lamba during his visit in the country on August 13 - 15, 2019.  

Lamba, who is of Indian descent, has 40 years’ experience in trading in Asia and Latin America.  He is familiar with the country as he was once importing rattan furniture and costume jewelry from the Philippines. 

This time, he plans to establish an export-import firm in the Philippines to take advantage of opportunities both in the Philippines and Latin America.

JR. NBA ASIA PACIFIC BOYS TEAM MAKES HISTORY IN JR. NBA GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP

MANILA, PHILIPPINES, Aug. 13, 2019 – The Jr. NBA Asia Pacific Boys Team became the first international team to beat a U.S. team in the Jr. NBA Global Championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida.  Australian guard Donte Nance scored the game-winning basket against the U.S. South Boys Team for a 61-59 overtime win to finish a successful campaign for Asia Pacific.

Filipino center Henjz Gabriel “Kobe” Demisana tallied 8 points and 7 rebounds, while point guard Lionel Matthew Rubico contributed 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 steals in the victory.  Through five games, Demisana averaged 6.3 points and 6 rebounds while Rubico tallied 4 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. 

In spite of an injury that prevented participation in the single elimination game against Africa, Roy Sebastian Reyes averaged 3.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals in four games. 

In addition, the Asia Pacific Girls Team bowed out to U.S. Midwest Girls Team in their final game, which saw Filipina guard Dianne Camille Nolasco lead the team with 6 assists and 3 steals.  Nolasco finished the tournament with averages of 6.6 points, 4 assists and 1.8 steals in five games.

“It was challenging to have players coming from different countries, especially because of the language barrier,” said Jr. NBA Asia Pacific Girls Team Coach Tony dela Cruz.  “The way these guys came together to play was amazing and to be the first team to beat a U.S. team was really special.”

The U.S. Central Girls Team and the U.S. West Boys Team took home the gold at the end of the six-day tournament.  NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, three-time NBA Champion and Jr. NBA Global Championship Ambassador Dwyane Wade, and New Orleans Pelicans Vice President of Basketball Operations/Team Development and former WNBA All-Star Swin Cash presented the winning teams with trophies in postgame ceremonies.

The global youth basketball tournament took place from August 6-11 and brought together 32 of the top 13 and 14-year old boys and girls teams from around the world.  This is the second consecutive staging of the Jr. NBA Global Championship and the first to feature an Asia Pacific Team.  During the weeklong event, the teams participated in activities designed to reinforce the Jr. NBA’s core values.  The tournament also provided the young athletes with development opportunities and memorable experiences, including health and wellness programs, leadership development, and NBA Cares community service projects.

For more information on the Jr. NBA Global Championship, visit the official website at jrnbagc.nba.com and on Facebookand Instagram.

About the NBA

The NBA is a global sports and media business built around four professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, the NBA G League and the NBA 2K League.  The NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 100,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2018-19 season featured 108 international players from 42 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with 1.6 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.

JUXTA:POSITION

For the first time in the Philippines, an impressive collection of traditional Cordillera pieces will be seen in public alongside artworks by 20th and 21st-­‐century Filipino abstract artists.

Owned by Hong Kong-­‐based AsianArt:Future (AA:F), which is chaired by Swiss Martin Kurer, some of the collection will be on display at 1335Mabini in Karrivin Plaza, Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati, from February 16 to March 2, 2019.

Aptly titled “JUXTA:POSITION”, the exhibition comes as a result of Kurer’s particular interest in the universal and widespread use of the aesthetics of reduction, something present he says in the carved wooden figures or bulul, which are closely associated with the Ifugao peoples of Northern Luzon.

A three-­‐part book, JUXTA:POSITION (The Aesthetics of Reduction), will be made available to the public. In it, Kurer goes into greater detail on the aestheticism of the carvings of the Cordillera peoples, which he says can also be perceived and described utilizing an artistic vocabulary similar to the one of the Abstract Art movement. The second and third parts highlight the bululs, boxes, kinahu, and spoons of the Cordillera peoples, mostly from the 19th century and earlier, and a number of abstract paintings from Filipino artists, as photographed by At Maculangan of Pioneer Studios, Manila.

Similar exhibitions have been done before by the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1988 and accompanied by William Rubin’s catalogue “The Primitivism of Modern Art”, and in 2009 at Fondation Beyeler in Riehen/Basel titled “Visual Encounters, Africa, Oceanic, and Modern Art”, which showed tribal masterpieces alongside works of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Vassily Kandisnky, Rousseau, Constantin Brancusi, Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian, and Mark Rothko.

More recently, the exhibition of Les Collections Barbier-­‐Muller “100 Years of Passion” showed tribal art pieces from Africa and Oceania in the context of contemporary art of Baselitz, Jeff Koons, and others.

“I am not looking at the use of these aesthetic principles from a scholarly point of view,” Kurer says. “Rather, I look at pieces of art from different backgrounds and periods, and attempt to search some aesthetic interaction or connection among them.”

Each bulul, a box or bowl from AsianArt:Future’s collection, most of which were gathered from old collections, assembled in the last century, will be shown with a corresponding artwork from José Joya, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, H.R. Ocampo, Lee Aguinaldo, Cesar Legaspi, Arturo Luz, Fernando Zóbel, Lao Lianben, and Gus Albor, who created a painting specifically for the exhibition.

Kurer invites the audience to look at the partnered pieces and perhaps spark a dialogue on the aesthetic vocabulary of the two genres of artistic creation, which, on the face of it, may not have much in common.

Yet, through the simplicity, directness, discipline, the reduction to the essence, understatement, and the ability to show a hidden reality, it does according to Kurer.

This approach, Kurer adds, is not to subordinate traditional Cordillera art to the viewpoint of “modern” or “fine” art point of view but to allow both sources to be looked at on the same level.

“That also means to avoid looking, in the traditional approach, at the Cordillera pieces shown from the perspective of their anthropological, ceremonial, and functional background and use,” Kurer says. “What the exhibition and juxtaposition focuses on is the artistic implementation of the carver’s dealings with the spiritual world in their natural environment, and the search for the unconscious, and how it co-­‐relates or connects with the same search for aesthetics of their modern artistic counterparts.”

In the January/February 2017 edition of Asian Art Magazine, AsianArt: Future published an article that looks in detail into the art of the Cordilleras people and their counterparts around the globe. The write up points out that pieces they have created match the quality of the pieces of African and Oceanic tribal art. Kurer also published a book titled Simplicity.Ifugao Sculpture.Power (Hong Kong University Press/Columbia University Press).

As a collector, Kurer remains fascinated by the fact that artists from different continents, with very distinct cultural heritages, and from very different epochs, could end up employing—or be perceived to be employing—very similar aesthetic approaches and furthering this dialogue is what he hopes the exhibition will achieve.