Now on its 6th year, the award is given in honor of St. Hildegarde von Bingen of Germany, the controversial medieval Benedictine abbess who, in the 11th century, was a counsellor to popes and princes. Hildegarde was also a mystic, scholar, musician, poet, painter, philosopher, herbalist and visionary. Considered as a prototype feminist in the patriarchal milieu of medieval Europe, Hildegarde was an outspoken advocate of ethical virtue who encouraged her congregation of religious women to articulate their own voices.
The Hildegarde Awards are given to women in media and communication who echo Hildegarde’s fearless spirit and vision in today’s information age. This year’s Hildegarde Lifetime Achievement Awards were given to writer-publisher Gilda Cordero Fernando and Isis International, a non-government organization advocating women’s rights through media.
Fernando’s celebrated career in literature, journalism and theatre spans more than five decades. A multi-awarded fictionist and publisher of pioneering books on Philippine culture, Fernando is also a theatre and stage producer and a painter whose works in aquarelle have been sold out in recent solo exhibitions. Her column ‘Forever 81’ published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer is popular among readers of all ages.
Isis International was founded in Rome, Italy in 1974. Based in Manila since 1971, it is an international NGO that has been advocating women’s rights through the media for the past 38 years. Working strategically with women’s groups and networks that engage media and communications for women’s empowerment, Isis organizes capacity-building workshops for women and media practitioners. Its headquarters, Bahay ni Isis, located along Marunong Street in Quezon City also serves a training facility, resource center, and hostel.
Fernando and Isis International received trophies designed by feminist artist Mary Elizabeth Alejo-Aytin. The unique trophy entitled ‘Oyayi sa Kandungan ni Inang Karunungan’ is actually a painting of a mother and child draped in a malong and rendered on an ostrich egg. Alejo-Aytin, already popular among collectors for her quail egg miniature paintings, expands her canvass in this project and draws inspiration from Hildegarde’s visions of eco-feminism and cosmic birthing.
In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Awards, Special Citations for Outstanding Achievements in the fields of broadcast journalism, development communication, print journalism and advertising were also given.
For broadcast journalism, special citations were given to GMA’s ‘The Good News with Vicky Morales’ and ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’ and ABS-CBN’s ‘Storyline’.
The PJR Reports, Elena Masilungan of Newsbreak and Jessilyn de la Cruz of the Philippine Daily Inquirer will receive special citations in the print journalism category.
In the field of development communication, the ‘We can be anything’ initiative, a joint project of the Apld.de.Ap Foundation and the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation,shared special citation honors with the World Wildlife Fund and GMA’s ‘Think before you click’ campaign.
Publicist Jimenez’s ‘Surrogates’ for Magnolia Chicken and ‘Baptism of Fire’ for Lucky Me received special citations for advertising along with Aspac Global Service’s ‘Bayanihan’ campaign for Gawad Kalinga.
The 6th Hildegarde Awards was held on March 10, Saturday, at the St. Cecilia’s Hall of St. Scholastica’s College, Manila.
For inquiries, contact Camille Mendez at 0915.639.3117 or Soleil Manara at 0906.369.2714.
Press release from St. Scholastica’s College, Manila
source: gmanetwork.com
