How Koneksyon PH’s calendar welcomes 2021 in the eyes of history and art

No human in the history of mankind may have been as excited in looking forward to the coming year than the humans of 2020. And what better way to meet 2021 than to look back in retrospect at the history that shaped the Filipino people!

Enter Koneksyon PH’s 2021 Calendar of Philippine History.

We are definitely not kidding when we say this desk calendar grants upon you hope 2021 won’t be as wasted as your 2020 planner. And 101 percent sure art lovers, history enthusiasts, and creatives would keep this not only for 2021, but also in the years to come.

At One Point in History, Once Every Day

The desk calendar is designed to teach you a bit of the Philippine history every day, Architect Bryan Anacion, founder of Koneksyon PH, says.

Each day takes you back to a time in the past that a notable event happened. Take this day, November 27, for example. Koneksyon PH’s 2021 Calendar provides that in 1623, Spanish King Philip IV gave permission to the Dominicans to establish a college in Manila. The calendar covers events that transpired from the year 1519 to 1947.

You can buy your copy of the calendar here.

“The calendar was created as a convenient learning material to slowly integrate our nation's history to the lives of Filipino,” Architect Bryan said, adding that this is their macro goal in producing the calendar.

He said the project began when he realized some Filipinos are not interested in Philippine history, a question he posted on Koneksyon PH’s Facebook page.

“Surprisingly, we received hundreds of insights about the matter… Some of the most common answers [were] practicality to their lives, lack of media representation, and methods in primary and secondary school,” he said.

He also admitted to then having the idea that history is boring at the thought of it as only “dates and people, instead of understanding its relevance to the present and the future.”

“And so, we wanted to share a different way to explore the past, not from long narrative textbooks or memorization, but in a more accessible manner that is easy to look at every day—in a calendar,” he explains.

Indeed, as the architect explains, from the calendar alone, “you don’t need to memorize everything at once; you only have to learn one thing for each day of the year.”

Apart from a rundown of Spanish and American governor-generals and Philippine presidents, the back page of each month also contains illustrations of notable events in history.

It features artworks from distinguished local artists like Venazir Martinez, also included in Novice’s Kasiyanna magazine, who illustrated the cover art; Architect Bernadette Balaguer, co-advocate of Koneksyon PH; Samantha Dumdumaya (@samdyart); Marx Reinhart Fidel (@marxnotahero); Fatti (@fichhe); and Jomer Haban (@habunnyart).

By its name, Koneksyon PH is an advocacy platform that aims to “connect” Filipinos to the story of the nation. It is currently composed of two advocates, Architect Anacion and Architect Balaguer who describe themselves as architects with passion for Philippine history and heritage.

Anacion, whose personal vision, is "for each Filipino to have at least one learning material on Philippine history," also hopes that more Pinoys will look forward to his and Koneksyon PH’s future advocacy projects.

Check them out on Facebook and on Instagram.

Photos from Koneksyon PH

Banner photo by Allen Esteban