Our History

How we began

FOUNDED in January, 1974 after a seminar workshop conducted by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) with Frank Rivera as the Founding and Artistic Director. The late Edgarito ‘Garitoy’ Riconalla took over as Executive and Artistic Director in 1981 and established the Kambayoka Center for Culture and Development Management where the ensemble became its resident theater company. The company set up the following projects: Accelerated Cultural Transformation (ACT); Community Theater Network (CTN); Activating the Community Towards Inter-Cultural Orchestration Now (ACTION); and Kulturang Atin (KA) Project. It also launched the Mindanao Suroyan Project that brought theater and the arts as well as the colorful Maranaw Culture to various cities, towns and barrios of Mindanao and Visayas with the support of the Asia Foundation. It also established linkages to various local institutions notably the Mindanao Community Theater Network (MCTN). After the death of Mr. Riconalla in 1986, Prof. Sunnie Clemen Noel, an associate professor in Agriculture and a 1995 Palanca Awardee, became its Executive and Artistic Director with Eustess Guia and Paul Ilustre as the Technical and Training Directors, respectively. In 1995, the Sining Kambayoka Ensemble, Incorporated was organized. The company is at present under the Cultural Aff airs Offi ce of the Mindanao State University.