My being an artist is a rediscovery of my own cultural resource.  Art as only one facet of culture, opened my eyes to see a bigger landscape of cultural awareness.  From a micro-community,  I found my sense of place with a renewed perspective.  Mindanao [...]]]>

Rediscovering a sense of place.  A complete cultural workshop

Camiguin architecture design

My being an artist is a rediscovery of my own cultural resource.  Art as only one facet of culture, opened my eyes to see a bigger landscape of cultural awareness.  From a micro-community,  I found my sense of place with a renewed perspective.  Mindanao gave me a taste of culture and a new sense of personal adventure in rediscovering my purpose, and my relationship with my community.  T.S. Eliot provides a guiding rule in rediscovering one’s neighborhood:

“we shall not cease from exploration,

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.”

The sense of community came as a  personal process of finding my own cultural roots as the basis of a lost identity redefined.  Art as a powerful cultural distinction in every society seen in the living spaces, architectural styles, traditions and costumes, and the many textures of the Filipino ingenuity rekindled my cultural pride.

In the Kapwa book foreword, David quoted Pyotr Chaadaev, “our memories reach back no further than yesterday; we are, as it were, strangers to ourselves..  that is but a natural consequence of a culture that consists entirely of imports and imitations…  We absorb all our ideas ready-made, and therefore the indelible trace left in the mind by a progressive movement of ideas, which gives it strength, does not shape our intellect..  We are like the children who have no been taught to think for themselves;  when they become adults, they have nothing of their own—all their knowledge is on the surface of their being, their soul is not within them.””. (David  2005).

Growing up in a colonized country, what is left of us is a culture of pure imitation.  But  later, this notion I realized is just an icing of the cake.  I realize my cultural roots is as powerful as any other ancient  civilization with  a very high level of sense of dignity and nobility. It is owning it that became a process for my own self-definition.

A living breed of culture-bearers as living narratives in the Kapwa book (De Guia 2005) were discussed revolving around the Filipino humanity, spirituality, morality, and wisdom.  In the lives of these culture-bearers I found strength as a Filipino which has transformed its multiple roles as cultural worker and community artist educator.  Later I call this journey a complete workshop.  Being born in this country is a multi-dimensional experience of people and multiversity in culture which naturally loosens up interpersonal relationship.  In this book K’sulhay, one of the culture bearer said: “The family memories are the past.  We dream of the future.  But we encounter the beauty in the moment to moment.  A new day is coming.  We are sill here….”

In this gathering of the minds, here and now, weaving our visions together is the greatest power of man.  As we discuss about culture, we retrace “Culture as the heritage of the quality of the world (Voices of Silence. Malreaux, 1956).  I realized that I share the same virtues and values with many other cultural workers in my country.  “Cultural homogeneity amid diversity, a unique “national character” (Aguilar 2009).

In her book for cultural workers (Sta. Maria 2001) she teaches how to value the everyday and reminds us that there is great potential in the human spirit to excel and therefore people can improve the future.  I believe in people, but first I must believe in myself.

I am active participant in cultural development education in my community, with particular concern on preservation of natural and cultural heritage.

“Cultural development has the power to mold attitudes for collective action.  Without an appreciation for culture, people constrain their potential for self-achievement and self-fulfillment.” (Sta. Maria 2001) In her essays in The first Cultural Worker’s Manual, Sta. Maria explained the cultural responsibilities of Leadership as such needs recognizing cultural characteristics.  Looking at the culture as the root for capability for excellence, and heritage of the nobility of our people.  Responsibility in leadership stresses maximizing on the local resource of people, talents, skills, artisanship, knowledge to create excellent cultural products.  Linking the past and the present with a sense of history is culture’s strength that prevents the cultural losses such as brain drain and exodus of skilled workers.  Leadership espouses also multi-cultural tolerance.  The author stressed that Cultural Education is important and leaders should protect culture.  This book inspired me as it contained  a treasure of cultural values for reawakening our love for our own people.  The writer’s brilliance watered the cultural thirst in the struggle to find a sense of connectedness in our multi-culture society.

I may be a drop, but can somehow creates a ripple.

Arts and Culture as an Active Player in Society

Let the people talk about the “Carabao” in the classroom.  Only when people are able to voice their opinions, then we can attempt consensus building  which maybe a model for collective action which has worked for centuries. But after we gather cultural experiences, then we can recreate  a community where we understand each others’ interpretation of what is culture, art, and even community.

We have to nurture each other, build a strong circle of cultural educators among our local communities through experience and participation.

According to Sta. Maria (2001) cultural workers can use art to:  (1) strengthen community identity; (2) sublimity and directly habitualize discipline and the need for goals of equality; and most importantly (3) encourage the imagination and the creativity needed to make a community innovative and daring enough to see potentials product development and upgrade surrounding based in community needs and available materials.

I think this is a very sensitive observation of our society as we have accorded ourselves with so much imported ideologies and influences and we forgot our own “culture of excellence”.  We need to nurture this sense of well being with culture as a human right to be accorded due respect and to be allowed to flourished.  Nurturing Filipino national culture as independent, equitable, dynamic, humanistic, evolved and developed by peoples themselves as stipulated in the Republic Act 7356.

In my community, I organized through the local college with my students public exhibitions and forums, cultural road mapping, cultural research, culture and arts festivals which links our people to their sense of identity and cultural roots.  I discovered the missing links for I witnessed our own local office destroying our ancestral houses without giving value to its cultural and historical significance to give way to tax collectible businesses in our town.

The houses as living cultural heritage that I thought can give us a sense of story of the place stand silent, insignificant and forgotten.  The spectacular embellishes are not seen nor recognized.  Until I met a scholar and fellow-cultural worker who helped me “retraced the lights through our windows with “okkil” art when I looked at the houses again in a different eye.”  An example of my contention in the preservation and reconnecting with the past is part of this excerpt below.

Cultural Barrage in Public Spaces

Our South East Asian roots. Rediscovered in our houses with okkir, okkil, ukiran or ukit are geometrical symmetrical woodcut patterns used as ventiliating light screens above windows or doors or serve as wall panels in ancestral Asian houses such as in the Philippines which are also prolific in Camiguin Island where I live. Artisans are the culture bearers of this high art and cultural treasures.  Unfortunately such houses are often times forgotten or insignificant in the present times. The widespread use of this wood art traces our roots back to the establishments of sultanates and the connection of the Asian trade routes of seafarers who discovered these Islands first (way ahead of Magellan, the Portuguese conquestador) from the Moloccas to the oldest trading port in Mindanao considered to be Butuan where the golden age of the Philippines has flourished as the center of trade routes.  This is as far as we can trace our connection with the Europeans navigating through these Asian archipelago where the cultural exchanges has reinvented civilizations.  So claiming what is original is something still very distinct as the spoken languages, architectural styles and artifacts.

The Okkil art houses in this Island as an extension of Bohol and Mindanao… it’s telling us something about our history, our cultural heritage, so maybe we STOP destroying our cultural heritage and historical treasures. While in some countries such as Melaka, Malaysia, they become the world heritage sites because of their old buildings, we might need to think deeply of our own roots and pride as a people. These cultural heritage houses are national monuments and considered priceless. Then let’s ask ourselves why we can afford to demolish such beautiful gifts of our ancestors in the name of business. While in other cities in the world government spend so much funds for restoration and preservation of these treasures, we destroy them. What is the future of cultural tourism and ecotourism tourism in this island if the government cannot protect our own cultural heritage. The last remaining street of these beautiful houses are now vanished forever. The state has the responsibility to protect cultural legacies and not destroy them.

Another interesting project  done in one of our cultural heritage site built 15^th century structure was the fencing of volcanic ruins of an old church to keep away stray animals.  The iron fences did not only destroy its overall landscape but also another example of  misconception of the concept of development.

We need to create a cultural barrage before its too late so we  won’t need to loose so much in this country. As an ecotourism destination island this is what tourists are looking for, something different. What is left of a place and people, when you stripped off its cultural heritage?

“Architecture not only helps mark the importance of historical events.  It can help a community maintain its charm.”  Patriotism begins with having a sense of place, a pride of one’s roots.  We might have more pride, if our history could be visualized convincingly, so we could feel a familiarity with our roots.”

Kabilin (a visayan word) which means cultural heritage echoes a past forgotten.  The quest for the real identity of Camiguin and cultural roots led us to search for the intangible treasures in the community including the cultural treasures.  When we saw ancestral houses being destroyed in our community, the alarm rang a thousand voices.  It was telling us something important.  Whether we understood the calling, we feel something has to be done before we totally degenerate as a culture and erase our past and history.  The decisions we make now is very crucial, for it can destroy a culture built and practiced for hundred years of generations if we do not fully understand and appreciate our roots.

We celebrate the ordinary with the works of everyday lives…  We give honor to our artisans who make our houses… We sleep on their beds… We kn ock on their doors… We open their windows…  We sit on their chairs… We eat on their tables…  But they remain nameless, sometimes forgotten….

They are the visual historians of our tangible heritage…  They make our story visible for hundreds of years… They are our living cultural treasures… Finding our roots, is knowing who these people are… Our arstists…  Artisans… Mat weavers… Wood carvers… Bamboo craftsman/woman… Boat makers… Carpenters… They all have a story to tell.   Cultural heritage is about people and the things they produce to continue our existence.  This day we celebrate  their stories and work of art…

The Southeast Asian Roots

In my travel to Melaka, Malaysia, I discovered a striking similarity of the ukiran and the functions of this architectural design in the Malayan houses.  A co-travel researcher Evelyn Lim brought me to the Little Malaysia where a museum of the life size replication of traditional Malay houses for all the different states were exhibited.  A book in their museum showcased the ukiran artisan and wood craftsman  Zulkifli bin Abas from Kampung Sungai Buluh, alor Gajah, Melaka.  My friend Evelyn continued the research to personally interview the ukiran artist.

Mr. Abas started a small enterprise  in making furnitures (begining 1976). He started making ukiran seriously in  1982. He got his training from the Kraftangan Malaysia (Malaysian Craft) in Termeloh, Pahang. The training duration was a year and a half.  In making ukiran designs, Mr. Abas gets inspiration from his heart and experiences.

Mr. Abas is well sought by Kraftangan Malaysia and the Muzium Istana Kesultanan Melaka (Melaka Sultanate Muzeum) in terms of sharing his knowledge and skill on ukiran. He is also sometimes called in as a trainer on ukiran.

With the help of Evelyn Lim as my co-researcher, this is a simplified attempt to describe the two types of ukiran in Malaysia.

a.    Ukiran Melayu Asli (direct translation means Original Melayu Ukiran)

• Originates from Malacca, during the Malacca Sultanate era (15th  century). This is the basis and mother of all ukiran in Malaya and Southeast Asia.
• The original ukiran Melayu is the kerawang (See picture attached).

Kerawang means something that is continous. Hence, ukiran kerawang takes a lot of its subject from creeping plants such as kangkung (from the morning glory family) and others.

• From Malacca, ukiran Melayu Asli spread out throughout Malaya and Southeast Asia. So far, no written documents can be found to support the statement. However, based on word of mouth from generation to generations and research on old films, the conclusion that ukiran Melayu Asli originated from Malacca during the Malacca Sultane era was derived.
• However, many do not know this fact and the trade and skills are fading away in Malacca. Hence, many locals perceive that ukiran originates from the eastcoast state in Peninsular Malaysia as explained in point (b) below.

b.    Ukiran Pantai Timur (direct translation means East Coast Ukiran)

• It derives its basic ukiran from Ukiran Melayu Asli. However, it is called Ukiran Pantai Timur as it began from the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and spread throughout.
• It has more details on it and is considered a modern ukiran as it was said to began sometime in 1950 or 1960s.
• Many of its ukiran subject are plants such as hibiscus, sunflower and many more. Hence, this ukiran does not neccessarily be continuous like the kerawang but can be just one-off, just like in the attached picture.

How is ukiran different in different states has its origins in kerawang (Malacca Sultanate era). When the kerawang ukiran were taken to other location, it was adapted and designed were improvised according to the need / wants / likes / culture of the local.

The ventilating light screen in the local language is called ‘lubang angin’ (air-well) with functions described as; ventilation of air (movement of cold and hot air); enable light to come into the house; and aesthetic value (for example, instead of having just a normal hole for ventilation, ukiran is done to add on the aesthetic value).

The meaning of ukiran on houses in the olden days  potrays the status  of the owner as well as wealth of the person. However in modern days, it potrays more of the wealth of a person, particularly if they own a typical traditional house as the cost of owning a traditional house is two times more expensive than a modern house.

Bohol Artisans

Abound a motorcycle on scorching day with my friend Michael driving the motorcycle, we navigated across the karst unpaved roads zigzagging open fields and seaside breathtaking landscapes to have a glimpse of the windows with flamboyant okil ornamentation in the most touristic island destination Bohol, on September 26, 2008.

In a short research trip I met very interesting residents of Dauis, Bohol who were either direct descendants or have family affiliations with local artisans of the okil art.  The interview was conducted in a casual conservation with sets of guide questions to have a basic demographic of the artisans in this particular community known to be the birthplace of Boholano exemplary artisans.

I met Juana Dolorican the daughter or Mauro Dolorican (deceased father) who died at 64 years in

Tinago, Dauis, Bohol who made okil for his own house.  Inocencio “Inciong”  Hongayo talked about his furniture maker father Anatalio Hongayo who died at 70 from Upper Songkolan, Dauis, Bohol.

Inciong explained the process of doing wood cut-outs manually as “air vent” or light screen using hand tools with the following steps;  first the artisan has to measure length of the pat where okil is to be placed;  then divide center (makes two parts) of the total length;  sub-divide the two parts, and find center, and so on;  make sure the holes in the middle fit each other when panels are installed next to each other.

According to Inciong, their place Songkolan, Dauis, Bohol is the home of many local artisans.  It became a common preoccupation for most people who were not able to afford a college education.  It became a natural skill transfer among family members from father to son and relatives.  It became an in-demand job for those who favor manual labor with specialized skills.  The carpenters before the war worked all-one-job in building houses who serves as the architect and engineer at the same time.

Among the names with hands for an artisans were the following families: Bolataolo, Loquias, Hongayo, Humol, Nisnea, and dela Pena.  Names of artisans surfaced such as Puring Loquias, Nitoy Loquias ad Fausto dela Pena.

The original tools used in making the okil wood cut-outs were called the following: sepilla, barina, granel, laras / gabas/ de lansi  (for cut out holes), tigib, and lasyo (for glass edges).

At one corner of the street, I found a workshop for reproduction where I had the chance to interview the owner, Pableo Loquias who called okil “borda”.  His father Jacinto Loquias has inherited the workshop from his grandfather Crisanto Loquias who was a merchant of the sea (biyahidor).  They made okil locally and sold reproductions in other neighboring island such as in Mindanao.

Marawi culture of excellence

The research team  found golden age with fine architecture right before our eyes in Tugaya, Lanao del Sur on October 1, 2008.  It was a sight to behold, a high civilization deteriorating amidst bananas and bamboos left to rot.  Some house were unfortunately abandoned.  The people who lived in the houses have to pay a humongous amount for maintenance is very expensive which costs the royal houses to slowly fade away.

A brief interaction with the artisan was the highlight of the visit as one of the research sites of the project.  I met a drum maker, Sam Acop.  Sam uses very simple tools for wood carving with one leaf like template.  The abstractions and fern like intricate designs are obtained by using the template as base design then variations are added to compliment an intricate abstracted foliage covering the entire wooden “dabuan” the ceremonial 12-foot Maranao drums with a animal hide  as drumhead.

Tools used by artisans in wood carving drums (tambor or dubakan) are piako (template), tataku (big pointed blade), and panasan (tigib).  It does not take very sophisticated tools to make such intricate designs.  The artisans seems to have mastered the measurements and geometry that they have made houses as masterpieces works of art.  Everything they touch turns into gold aesthetically.

A very popular in-demand artisan is  Baguindali “Benjie” Taha from Sumbagarogong, Tugaya, Lanao del Sur, a member of the Tugaya Craft Village Baor Producershas has traveled many places to carve houses for very rich people in their private “palaces”.  The master-craftsman at work showed ease and confidence and sense of dignity with his art.

A brass Craftsman, Sultan Asis from Brgy. Ambuk and Brgy. Bobong where among the brilliant living culture treasures of this ethnic community so significant of the place.    Magdara Tokalo has a very unique talent of making miniature replicas such as the galleon replica.  It is unbelievably perfectly handmade which can almost sail with a gust of wind.

The name of Sultan Datu Macaantal was  mentioned relating it to one of the torogan panulong with the declaration of ownership.  There are a few more housed of excemplary architectures foun in Brgy. Bobong Madanding, Kawayan, and Marantao in  Lanao del Sur.

Tugaya skirting the shores of the largest lake in Mindanao, Lake Lanao, a hilly stretch of about 40.28 square kilometers  is the site of the golden age of architecture in this archipelago.  The sultanates of these ethnic group with strong Islam influence vivid in their architecture are the true blood Maranao, found nowhere else but only in this part of the world.  The jaw dropping Tugaya experience is a living monument of the glorious people with great artisanship.  It is a trademark which has esteemed the Moro people with their intricate non-representational patterns in everyday things from clothes to house windows.  The colors and the patterns inspired from nature has evolved to endless geometric patterns and exploration of floral designs in architectural functions.  The aesthetics of such nobility has endured centuries which anyone can experience in the ordinary frontyards of the Tugaya residents.  The ukiran is a living culture where almost everyman learns to sculpt for survival or influenced to sculpt by their families.  The everyday masterpieces are unsurpassed craftsmanship in this country if not in Asia.  It maybe similar to other South East Asian roots, but the work is as original and captivating as other ancient artifacts only seen in museums.  This is a living testimony, that once a great civilization ruled this country.   Architecture is a living proof of the story of a community.  A true story, plank by plank, stone by stone, pillar to pillar.

In the length of time, naturally wood decay that in some parts of Mindanao, these once habitual living spaces are now a present day nightmare, when in  the heart of this once land of the nobles where Torogans with magnificent panulongs that are the symbol power, wealth and nobility are now in decay and nearing its death.  It is a striking contract of wealth and poverty.  The illustrious kingdom has struggled to preserve its legacy but only a few of these survive with constant reverence and affluence.  The rest of the architecture stood its ground slowly

A living cultural dialogue…

Tugaya politically subdivided into 23 barangays has an oral history written on their wood carvings embedded with mother of pearls which almost became an iconic trademark of Mindanao.

Tugaya with a unique bloodline of natural craftsmen and artisans of different techniques made our short visit a walk of history and a taste of high culture of traditional Maranao culture of tapestry weaving, handmade textile, foundry casting of various forms of bronze and brass vessels, handmade textile manufacture, decorative items and .instruments.  Of all these rich cultural practice, the most intrinsic characteristics of this ethic group is there sense of architecture and details in wood carving which utilized the traditional Maranao from the original decorative motif which is better known as okir.  Those houses have okil patterns in their houses not as ventilating light screens but rather decorative in nature.  The royal houses  is marked by the magnificent torogans, a reflection of high culture and a touch of excellence by the artisans.

Camiguin Light and Shadows…

The quiet inquisition with breeze on our hair motor back riding became a trigger happy experience of the houses of Camiguin Island.  An initial ocular and visual documentation of okil embellished houses in Camiguin Island  got published as a news paper article written by Virginia “Maria” Yap-Morales.  That was the first attempt, that moved some eyebrows and sparked curiosity of its presence in such a small island.  For several more attempts, the romance with the light and shadows of okil developed into a full blown research with a tea of architects, photographers, writers and researchers.

It was through the eyes of Maria, that I was able to see through more vividly and experience the light and shadows inside and outside the ancestral homes by the road side which proliferates around the poblacions.   Camiguin with five towns has 58 barangays, experienced some economic boom in the early 19^th century which reflects the kinds of houses built during that time.  .  There were at least 49 houses identified with ventilating light screens both in the interior and exterior with motifs very similar to that of Bohol  where most of the artisans came from.

We heard from stories of the locals that during those times the first okil inspired ancestral house was built around 1840.   Later the okil patterns gained popularity and some artisans prefabricated okil patterns and later brought to other nearby islands by sea merchants from Bohol.  An evidence of this exchange is the use of ornamentation in houses which does not necessary blend with other items next to each other.  It may suggest that the other wood cuts were bought earlier than the rest.  So the houses with decorative okil has evolved with accumulations of more okil patterns.

As an inspiration with okil art,  my students made a modern okil art project.  With the help of the local artisans, I reproduced all the Camiguin okil motif and put them up as  an exhibition during the first art and culture day as the main showcase of “Kabilin” exhibit.  Now it serves a  permanent exhibit at the façade of the Enigmata Treehouse.  I also explored the okil furniture making, and other designs which has now interesting ideas put together as functional art.

Okil has its natural magic that plays along with the movement of the sunlight that imprints moving shadows on the walls.   This is the magic of the okil that visually connects your personal space to the sky above and the land below.  While the air travels through its crevasses allowing the wind to circulate and ridding off hot air, the room creates an ambient tropical sensation breathing with space.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

Peace Voyagers at Enigmata Treehouse