Profile:
Performance poetry—popularly known to most people as “spoken word”—advocate Kooky Tuason has been actively promoting the art for years both onstage and through other mediums.
Her credentials speak in volumes.
Having studied performance art under the wings of the British Council, Tuason has imparted her knowledge of the craft to local students by conducting performance poetry workshops aside from tirelessly performing in schools, universities, bars, embassies, and other venues hungry to hear the beauty of poetry and rhythm.
Three studio albums—Romancing Venus Vol. 1 (2005), Romancing Venus Vol. 2 (2006), and Bigkas Pilipinas (2007)—introduced Tuason and spoken word to a larger audience while simultaneously elevating the cult art to mainstream status.
The Romancing Venus records developed an interesting life of its own after a group of women artists, writers, and musicians converged to form a sisterhood advocating creative expression as a tool for healing.
Tuason widened her reach to the masses even more with the launching of her radio show in 2007. Dubbed “Bigkas Pilipinas” and heard every Saturday evening on Jam 88.3, the unconventional program paved the way for spoken word to reach every curious listener across the nation.
Aside from playing poetry non-stop, “Bigkas Pilipinas” gave both poets (recognized and published) and non-poets (ordinary folks from various fields) the chance to express themselves live on air.
The show, which “made everyone a poet,” as observed by one journalist, was nominated at the KBP Golden Dove Awards and Catholic Mass Media Awards for Best Culture and Arts Program. “Bigkas Pilipinas” trail blazed local airwaves for 2½ years although its influence continues to resonate even today.
Excerpts of Tuason’s poetry can also be found on her own line of merchandise shirts via scriptshirt.multiply.com.
Her latest music video, curiously titled “Holdap,” is also currently generating buzz—disarming fans and arresting the attention of casual viewers. The Sonny Lim Jr. directed video interestingly merged Tuason’s striking prose with random elements that subtly define city living.
