By PNA
The Philippines broke the world record for the largest art lesson conducted in one day yesterday, surpassing India which gathered 14,135 persons in 2014.
Riza Niño Meneses, main coordinator of the PINASayang Sining Festival in Quezon City, said PricewaterhouseCoopers Philippines recorded 16,692 Filipino participants in a 45-minute art lesson at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Diliman, Quezon City.
PwC Philippines is an audit company approved by the Guinness World Record to conduct the count.
Meneses said the materials and figures will be submitted to the Guinness World Record for verification, and after two to three weeks, the results are expected to be released.
The attempt to break the record was prepared in less than four months after Guinness approved Expressions Stationery Shop’s application in November 2017.
Expressions funded and organized the attempt, in collaboration with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the city government of Quezon City, and the Department of Education.
Most of the participants were students from at least 32 schools in the National Capital Region.
Jason Lim, general manager of Expressions, said the attempt was made to coincide with National Arts Month and their company’s 30th anniversary.
“This (event) is to prove our commitment to positive self-expression by raising awareness for arts,” Lim said.
“Standing on the stage seeing the people, you really can see that Filipinos can make great things by working together. We just have to wait for Guinness to validate the attempt, then we can prove to the world that we can make a difference,” he added.
Ferdinand Isleta, head of NCCA Policy Formulation and Programming Division’s Subcommission on the Arts, said the PINASayang Sining was the country’s first Guinness attempt on arts that involved their office.
“We appreciate that Expressions considered including NCCA as partner of this world attempt. May there be more collaboration to promote the future of culture and arts,” Isleta said.
