GAWAD SA MANLILIKHANG BAYAN

Pre- colonial indigenous arts, are also contemporary. They are living traditiorGAns
and are produced up to the present, in modified ways. In this module, you will learn
about our National Living Treasures, more formally known as the awardees of the
Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) from the National Commission for Culture
and the Arts or NCCA. The awardees produce art forms that are woven into everyday
life. These demonstrate how pre-colonial traditions persist through to the present.
In a time when contemporary artworks are gaining its own stylistic
characteristics and when artists are influenced by a myriad of cultural and historical
references, it becomes even more important to acknowledge traditional artworks from
the regions and promote them. In the previous module, we learned about the Order of
National Artists of the Philippines. In this lesson, we are going to discuss another award
granted to promote traditional artists from the regions.
Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) or also known as National Living
Treasure Award is the search for the finest traditional artists of the land. As envisioned
under R.A. 7355, “Manlilikha ng Bayan” shall mean a citizen engaged in any traditional
art uniquely Filipino whose distinctive skills have reached such a high level of technical
and artistic excellence and have been passed on to and widely practiced by the present
generation in his/her community with the same degree of technical and artistic
competence.
In April 1992, the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or the National Living
Treasures Award was institutionalized through Republic Act No. 7355. Tasked with the
administration and implementation of the Award is the National Commission for Culture
and the Arts (NCCA), the highest policy-making and coordinating body for culture and
the arts of the State. The NCCA, through the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Committee
and an Ad Hoc Panel of Experts, conducts the search for the finest traditional artists of
the land, adopts a program that will ensure the transfer of their skills to others and
undertakes measures to promote a genuine appreciation of and instill pride among our
people about the genius of the Manlilikha ng Bayan.Twelve individuals have received
this distinction from the time of the establishment of the award in 1992 through Republic
Act No. 7355 until 2012. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)
bestows the highest awards for culture and the arts, including the National Artist Award.
The said award and the GAMABA recognize the outstanding work of artists in the
Philippines.
Traditional art is based on indigenous peoples’ cultures that are largely honed
by oral tradition. A distinct feature of the GAMABA is its emphasis on the intangible and
communal aspects of art production which are closely aligned with the process-based
and collaborative inclination of some contemporary art practices. Traditional art finds
deep affinities with nature, place, society, ritual and spirituality, and everyday life. In
traditional integrative art, forms and expressions do not normally end up as objects
distanced from everyday living. The site of dissemination and knowledge transfer is
neither in the formal spaces of a museum nor a theater. The process of creation is
usually shared among members of the community, and appeals to broader aspects of
life. Things produced such as textiles, hats, baskets, or utensils are commonplace,
usually found and used in people’s homes. Songs and dances are performed as a
group as part of ritual and as a way of affirming one’s cultural identity or sense of
belonging.
Criteria in choosing GAMABA Awardee
1. Should be a Filipino citizen or a group of citizens belonging to an indigenous /
traditional cultural community anywhere in the Philippines, engaged in Filipino traditional
art in the following categories: folk architecture, maritime transport, weaving, carving,
performing arts, literature, graphic and plastic arts, ornament, textile or fiber art, pottery
and other artistic expressions of traditional culture.
2. Should have been engaged in the tradition and craft for a significant period of time
with at least 50 years of existence and documentation.
3. Should have produced and performed of artistic, distinctive, and superior quality.
4. Should possess mastery of the tools and materials that are needed for the art and
must have a reputation for being an art master and craft maker in the community where
he / she belong.
5. Should have passed on and/ or will pass on the traditional crafts and skills to other
members of the community by virtue of teaching.
6. In case when a Manlilikha ng Bayan candidate is incapable of teaching further his/
her craft and skill due to age or infirmity;
A. He / she should have created a significant body of work and has contributed
to the development of the tradition and craft.
B. He / she should have played a role in the preservation and revitalization of the
artistic tradition in the community.
C. He/ she has been recognized as a master of his / her craft and admired for his
character and integrity in his / her community.
GAMABA Awardees
1. Lang Dulay
Lang Dulay is considered as Tinalak
master weaver because she knows a
hundred designs, including the bulinglangit
(clouds), the bankiring (hair bangs), and
the kabangi (butterfly), each one special
for the stories it tells. Using red and black
dyes, she spins her stories with grace. Her
textiles reflect the wisdom and the visions
of her people. She was only 12 when she
first learned how to weave. Through the
years, she has dreamed that, someday
she could pass on her talent and skills to the young in her community. Four of her
grandchildren have themselves picked up the shuttle and are learning to weave. She
was in her late 70s when she got the award. In 1998, Lang Dulay received the National
Living Treasure (Manlilikha ng Bayan) award from the National Commission for the
Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for her contribution in the preservation of their culture and
for her fine craftsmanship of the delicate abaca fibers. As demand grew for new
designs, she persisted and kept working with traditional patterns, even though they
were harder to complete. She valued purity, so much so that she never washed her
t’nalak with soap. She passed away in 2015.
Tinalak (T'nalak) is a weaving tradition of
the T'boli people of South Cotabato. Cloth are
woven from abacá fibers. The traditional female
weavers are known as dream weavers, because
the pattern of the t'nalak cloth are inspired by their
dreams. T'nalak is handwoven made of alpaca
fibers which traditionally has three primary colors,
red, black and the original color of the alpaca
leaves. The colorant of the materials is natural
dyed boiled in with bark, roots and leaves of
plants. It is a heritage and believed that the
intricate and creative patterns of the Tinalak were
seen in their dreams and made it on to work.
2. Salinta Monon
She was a Filipino textile weaver who was
one of two recipients of the National Living
Treasures Award in 1998. She was known for
her Bagobo-Tagabawa textiles and was known as
the "last Bagobo weaver". She asked her mother
how to use the loom at age 12 and learned how to
weave within a few months. She weaves a design
for three to four months. In a month she can
weave fabric which can be used for a single abaca
tube skirt. Her favorite design is the binuwaya or
crocodile which is said to be among the most difficult to weave. She continued weaving
until her death in 2009. For her, not only was it a source of income, it was a source of
pride as well. She and her younger sister were the only Bagobo weavers left in their
community, and she dreamt of having a structure built for teaching new would-be
weavers. She was awarded in 1998.
Inabal is a traditional textile made from
abaca with a special weave, either in patterns
of kinatkat or ine, the cloth with a central panel,
worn only by women. These textiles woven in
the ikat-style and colored by vegetable and
natural dyes were customarily used as the
garment for ancestral royalty.
3. Darhata Sawabi
Darhata Sawabi is a weaver of pis syabit
- the traditional cloth tapestry worn as a head
covering by the Tausug of Jolo, from Barangay
Parang, in the island of Jolo, Sulu province.
Darhata Sawabi’s mission was to lead young
women towards making a living out of her craft.
The Parang, Sulu-based textile weaver’s
primary creation was the headpiece pis siyabit
— pis stands for the pattern, which is said to be
derived from India’s mandala, depicting
spirituality through geometric forms, and siyabit
refers to the hook and technique. She gained
recognition for the precision of her work and her
passion for preserving traditional designs, as well as teaching the youth and was
awarded in 2004. She passed away in 2005.
Pis syabit weaving is a difficult art. Preparing the warp alone already takes three
days. It is a very mechanical task, consisting of stringing black and red threads across a
banana and bamboo frame to form the base of the tapestry. At 48, and burdened by
years of hard work, Sawabi no longer has the strength or the stamina for this. Instead,
she hires one of the neighboring children or apprentice weavers to do it at the cost of
P300. It is a substantial amount, considering the fact that she still has to spend for
thread. Sawabi’s typical creations feature several colors, including the basic black and
red that form the warp, and a particular color can require up to eight cones, depending
on the role it plays in the design. All in all, it
comes up to considerable capital which she
can only recover after much time and effort.
It is the prized handwoven cloth of the
Tausugs of Sulu. Usually used as head
covering, it is made from cotton or silk,
square in shape and provided with
geometric patterns. It can also be worn on
the shoulder, knotted around the hilt of the
sword, or tied around the head among the
Tausug men. Pis Siyabit is usually seen being worn during weddings and other Tausug
occasions as a symbol of colorful history and rank.
4. Haja Amina Appi
Haja Amina Appi of Ungos Matata, Tandubas, Tawi-Tawi created intricate mats
that boast beautiful geometric designs, vibrant colors, and fine symmetry. She was
awarded National Living Treasure in 2004. She experimented with her work and
developed her own tints to create the hues she had in mind. Appi passed away in 2013,
but her art lives on through her children and other young women in her community. Her
colorful mats with their complex
geometric patterns exhibit her precise
sense of design, proportion and
symmetry and sensitivity to color. Her
unique multi-colored mats are protected
by a plain white outer mat that serves
as the mat’s backing. Her functional
and artistic creations take up to three
months to make. Haja Amina is
respected throughout her community
for her unique designs, the straightness
of her edging (tabig) and the fineness of her sasa and kima-kima. Her hands are thick
and callused from years of harvesting, stained by dye. But her hands are still steady,
and her eye for color still unerring. She feels pride in the fact that people often borrow
her mats to learn from her and copy her designs.
Weaving pandan mats is a long and difficult process that is handed down from
woman to woman across generations:
Pandan leaves are harvested and made
into narrow, long strips, sun-dried,
pressed, and dyed before finally
becoming suitable for weaving. The
resulting mats are used for sleeping and
saying prayers, or given as gifts to
newlyweds. The art of mat weaving is
handed down the matrilateral line, as
men in the Sama culture do not take up
the craft. The whole process, from
harvesting and stripping down the pandan leaves to the actual execution of the design,
is exclusive to women. It is a long and tedious process, and requires much patience and
stamina. It also requires an eye for detail, an unerring color instinct, and a genius for
applied mathematics.
5. Magdalena Gamayo
Based in Pinili, Ilocos Norte,
Magdalena Gamayo took up weaving
when she was 16, guided by her aunt’s
patterns. She received her first loom
from her father three years later, which
she would end up using for 30 years.
She taught herself traditional patterns,
such as kusikus (whirlwind), marurup
(Milky Way), and sinan paddak ti pusa
(cat’s pawprint), building on the more
common inuritan (geometric design) and
sinan-sabong (flowers). Gamayo’s skill
and instinct are none more apparent
than they are in her ability to replicate
designs she’s only seen once. Her binakol, or woven cloth, continues to draw praise
and awe for its above-average thread count and uniform weave. To keep Ilocos’ abel
weaving tradition alive, she teaches her practice to her cousin’s daughter-in-law and
sister-in-law. She was awarded in 2012.
The inabel is one of the many
prides of the Ilocos region in the
Philippines. “Abel” is the Ilocano word for
weave, and “inabel” can be interpreted to
mean any kind of woven fabric. In the
world of weaving however, inabel is
particularly used to refer to textile that is
distinctly Ilocano in origin. We are proud
to offer these inabel wovens from Laoag
weavers in Ilocos. Inabel fabric is made
of cotton and may be plain or patterned. The abel cloth is well known and much loved
for its softness, beautiful designs, and strength.
6. Ginaw Bilog
Ginaw Bilog, Hanunoo Mangyan
from Mansalay, Mindoro, grew up in such a
cultural environment. Already steeped in
the wisdom that the ambahan is a key to
the understanding of the Mangyan soul,
Ginaw took it upon himself to continually
keep scores of ambahan poetry recorded,
not only on bamboo tubes but on old, dog-
eared notebooks passed on to him by
friends. Most treasured of his collection are
those inherited from his father and
grandfather, sources of inspiration and guidance for his creative endeavors. To this day,
Ginaw shares old and new ambahans with his fellow Mangyans and promotes this
poetic form in every occasion.
The Mangyan script is one of the four
remaining syllabic scripts in the country, and
Ginaw Bilog’s work has been crucial to its
preservation. Based in Mansalay, Oriental
Mindoro, the poet was known for writing
ambahan (a metaphoric poem comprising
seven-syllable lines), first in a notebook, then
on traditionally used bamboo tubes. The
poems, often recited with music at social
gatherings and used to convey messages
among the Hanunuo Mangyan, had topics
like advising the young, bidding a friend
goodbye, and asking for a place to stay.
Bilog, who was awarded in 1993, passed away in 2003.
The ambahan is the traditional poetry of the Hanunuo Mangyans of Oriental
Mindoro. It is usually written on bamboo in the Surat Mangyan, a centuries-old pre-
Spanish script. The syllabic script and the ambahan poetry have complemented each
other, contributing to their continued existence today. The ambahan is a literary product
and poetic expression of the Southern Mangyans of Mindoro, Philippines. Although
there are about seven different ethnic groups living in Mindoro, collectively called the
Mangyans, these groups are quite distinct from each other as to language, customs,
and way of living. Only the ethnic group living in the south of Mindoro, roughly
comprising the areas within the municipalities of Bulalacao (San Pedro), Mansalay,
Oriental Mindoro and San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, claims the name Mangyan as the
descriptive title of their tribe.
7. Masino Intaray
A member of the Pala’wan tribe,
musician and epic chanter Masino Intaray
was a master of the basal, a gong music
ensemble played during rice cooking
(tambilaw) and sharing (tinapay) rituals,
which gather the community as they serve
offerings to Pala’wan rice god Ampo’t Paray.
Intaray also performed the kulilal, a lyrical
poem expressing love, accompanied by two-
stringed lute and bamboo zither, and the
bagit, an instrumental piece about nature. His memory and determination guided him in
chanting through many successive nights, reciting epics, stories, myths of origin, and
the teachings of ancestors. Intaray, who was
awarded in 1993, passed away in 2013.
8. Samaon Sulaiman
Musician Samaon Sulaiman was a
master of the kutyapi, a two-stringed lute that
requires highly technical skill to play. The
Maganoy, Maguindanao native learned from
his uncle, Pinagunay, at age 13, developing
and learning different forms and styles of
playing the instrument. The sound is melodic
and rhythmic, its effect meditative and captivating. He was also proficient in playing
instruments such as the kulintang, agong (a
suspended gong with a wide rim), gandingan
(a gong with a narrow rim), and tambul.
Sulaiman’s fascination for his craft led him to
become an influential teacher. He was
awarded in 1993, and passed away in 2011.
The kutyapi is a favorite solo
instrument among both Muslim and non-
Muslim Filipinos, and is also played in
combination with other instruments. It exists in a great variety of designs, shapes and
sizes and known by such names as kotapi (Subanon), fegereng (Tiruray), faglong
(B’laan), hegelong (T’boli) and kuglong or kudlong (Manobo). The Magindanao kutyapi
is one of the most technically demanding and difficult to master among Filipino
traditional instruments, which is one reason why the younger generation is not too keen
to learn it. Of its two strings, one provides the rhythmic drone, while the other has
movable frets that allow melodies to be played in two sets of pentatonic scales, one
containing semitones, the other containing
none.
9. Alonzo Saclag
It was through observation, time, and
experience — rather than education or
training or any kind — that Alonzo Saclag of
Lubuagan, Kalinga mastered local musical
instruments, along with dance patterns
associated with rituals. Some of these are
rarely performed, but done so with special
purposes, whether it’s preparing for
retaliation, a victorious vindication for the
community, or forging successful peace pacts. Saclag understands the importance of
his practice and is a strong advocate of passing on his knowledge and continuing the
use of traditional dress and adornments. His efforts have included formal education,
reaching radio stations, and the formation of the Kalinga Budong Dance Troupe. He
was awarded in 2000.
10. Federico Caballero
Epic chanter Federico Caballero of
Calinog, Iloilo was best known for his
expertise in the Sugidanon, a Central Panay
epic traditionally chanted while lying on a
hammock, and his work in the preservation
of oral literature, documenting 10 Panay-
Bukidnon epics in an extinct language with
close ties to Kinaray-a. His love of folklore
began when he was young, hearing tales of
grand adventures as bedtime stories, and his
mother taught him to recite epics in lieu of doing household chores. In his spare time, he
also works with the Department of Education’s Bureau of Non-Formal Education,
teaching elders to read and write. He was awarded in 2000.
He is considered bantugan, a person who has attained distinction. Dr. Alicia
Magos a respected folklorist from the University of the Philippines in the Visayas who
has worked with him on the documentation project, says Nong Pedring has the heart of
a scholar. He understood her vision for the culture of the Panay-Bukidnon. Perhaps
even to say that he shares her vision is not an overstatement.
11. Uwang Ahadas
Yakan musical instruments aren’t the
easiest or most affordable to maintain, but
Uwang Ahadas of Lamitan, Basilan made it
his life’s work to master them. From an early
age, he and his siblings were encouraged to
play these instruments, and he developed a
passion for them, training himself by
observing older members of the community.
At age 20, he broke tradition by
reaching excellence in playing the
kwintangan, an instrument typically played by a woman. The instrument, made up of
logs arranged beneath a tree near a rice field, is used to call for abundant grains and
rice growth. He is also dedicated to sharing his knowledge to younger folk; his teaching
style is hands-on and supportive, giving his students his full attention. He was awarded
in 2000.
12. Eduardo Mutuc
Having finished up to elementary
school, Eduardo Mutuc, a farmer at the
time, became an apprentice to furniture
carvers to earn additional income. He had
no prior knowledge of the work he was
getting into, but this didn’t stop him from
expanding his experience and becoming
one of the most respected creators of
religious and secular art today. He uses
wood, silver, and bronze to create exquisitely detailed and lifelike pieces of varying
sizes: altars, mirrors, retablos, and even carosas. Mutuc is based in Apalit, Pampanga.
He was awarded in 2004.
13. Teofilo Garcia
In San Quintin, Abra, Teofilo Garcia
would often walk around town wearing his
gourd casques. Through word of mouth and
his participation in the annual local harvest
festival, Garcia was able to introduce the
tabungaw plant as a good and sturdy
material for functional, elegant, and
protective hats. He produces everything he
needs — planting and harvesting the gourds, splitting and refining rattan for the lining,
and weaving nito and bamboo for accents himself — and usually takes seven days to
finish a hat. Awarded in 2012, he continues to experiment and work on new designs.
 DIFFERENT CONTEMPORARY ARTWORKS 
 Mediums or materials are not just tangible objects which artists use to make  art; they
are also bearers of ideas and knowledge from people and places that can be 
translated in ways that are meaningful and understandable to audiences encountering 
the work.  
 In this module, examples will be drawn from performance art, a category  from the
visual arts, which, like the performing arts of music, dance, literature and  theater, also
integrates various mediums in a way that stresses location, space, and  process.
Performance art may also involve only one artist or a full production very  similar to
theater and may include one or more sites. Contemporary artists are 
experimental in the materials they use. With the help of technology and expanded
knowledge from other countries, contemporary artists are not limited anymore in using
traditional materials. Some artists retrieve materials that they can still use to make
creative forms. They can combine materials like wood and metal that can interact with
the wind to make music. There are some who use everyday items like plastic cover for
food, paper for sculpture, mirror or yarn. Some may use their personal things like
clothes or accessories. 
 Often, artists will most likely use materials available to them; this means that  the

resources their locality have is important  

for their art. The “local” can refer to  
material that is easily available, like bamboo.  
The local can also refer to wherever the  
artist finds himself or herself. For Diokno  
Pasilan, a neo-ethnic musician 
visual/performance artist and one time art  
director from Negros the “local” involves  
various places: Baguio, Bicol, Palawan  
(where he resided for a long period), and  
most recently Victoria, Western Australia,  
where he resettled. This process entails  
interacting and immersing with host communities.  
 For example, in a performance for the Third Bagasbas Beach  International
Environmental Art Festival in the Bicol region, Pasilan communicates  the need to be
more aware of our natural environment by painting his body green, the  color of the

environmental movement. Like a  

bungee jumping human anchor, he thrust  
himself toward gongs tied together unto a  
bamboo structure - bamboo being material  
that is still easily available around  
Bagasbas’s fisher folk communities. These  
communities provided information and  
support for Pasilan and other participating  
artists to create their performance and site 
specific work on the Bagasbas public  
beachfront.
  
 Another work which used bamboo as basic material is Digital Tagalog, a 

collaboration between Lani Maestro and  

Poklong Anading, artists who are known for  
 creating multi-sensory environments that  
come out of their research about the  
contexts of spaces and communities. Shown  
in Mo Gallery in 2012, Digital Tagalog used  
bamboo to construct physical nodes and  
create sounds. They also used found and  
crafted sounds, some of which were inspired  
and sourced out of the digitized audio files of  
National Artist for Music Jose Maceda  
(housed in the UP College of Music Center  
for Ethnomusicology). This collaborative and  
combined use of the visual and musical  
made the work particularly interactive. The  
artists encouraged viewers to be active creators themselves. Within a small room, 
visitors could make up playlists which not only could be streamed through personal 
listening devices, but also could be amplified within the larger gallery space. This larger 
site was where bamboo-made music they themselves produced could overlay the 
digitized sound selected by the impromptu musician-deejays working with sound in the 
smaller room. 
  
by reinventing not just tangible objects like  bamboo, but other art forms sourced

from  
the performing arts of ritual, music and  
dance. Davao-based choreographer Agnes  
Locsin used the techniques of modern  
dance to reinterpret a component of the  
Moriones Holy Week festival of  
Marinduque. The Moriones narrates the  
story of Roman centurion Longino’s  
conversion to Christianity upon the healing  
 of his blindness by the dying Jesus whom  
the soldier had been ordered to guard.  
Performed in France (as Ballet Philippines’  
entry to the Recontres Festival Du Danse)  
by male dancers moving to “Serra Pelada” of  
the avant-garde composer Philip Glass, the dance reinterprets the story through 
costumes (centurions are shown without full masks, hefty breastplates, nor swords or 
spears) and movements not associated with classical ballet and folk dances. Bodies of 
the dancers are sharply angled, with unpointed toes, contorted anatomical positions, 
and staccato military gestures to dramatize the soldiers’ search for the centurion turned 
fugitive. The dancers’ bodies are made to leap and address each other in flawless 

precision as a unit at one moment  

and break up into individual cadence  
at another. With minimalist lighting  
and stage design, the dance  
combines the familiar and unfamiliar:  
audiences are still able to recognize  
the story, such as the chase scene,  
but at the same time, they are also  
viewing the story through another lens  
and from another perspective. 
 Artists’ initiatives such as  
Project Space and DiscLab also present us alternative support systems that provide 
the environment for facilitating production and the circulation or distribution of art. 
Rather than becoming fully dependent on the state and private businesses, these 
initiatives are largely independent. They band together and reach out to communities  
from which they draw their knowledge, ideas and materials. The stereotype of the artist 
working alone in his studio is no longer applicable in such collaborations. Artists are 
reaching out to their audiences, who have become—especially in interactive works—

very much a part of the creative  

process. 
 We have also seen how  
artists are able to collaborate by  
benefiting from technology, which has  
become not only a tool for research,  
but also as platform for disseminating  
their art and building and sustaining  
networks with their communities and  
beyond—from face-to-face  
encounters on to virtual networks and  
spaces. We also note that in the  
aforementioned performances, the  
shift from one space to another figure in the way art may be received. Note the  
transformation, from the communal and private spaces of Boac, Marinduque to the 
proscenium stage in France and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. We see this too 
in how encountering art shifts from personal listening device to a shared platform in the 
case of Digital Tagalog, and from the streets of the Lucban to cyberspace in the case
of  Pahiyas-timed Lucban Assembly/Systems of Irrigation project. Such relocations
lead  us to ask questions about the experience of witnessing the dance and the
installations. 

 This fusion is evident in another example, where the “local” can also refer to  language,
staging and techniques, and the ways by which they can be used in adapting  and
translating foreign material. The playwright Rody Vera adapted from a play for  children
by the Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore entitled The Post Office by retitling
it Ang Post Office. First staged at the

PETA  
(Philippine Educational Theater Association)  
Center, this adaptation of a tragic 1910 tale  
of a dying Indian boy coming to know of the  
world through the people he encounters in  
the course of a day was restaged at TXS,  
Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro. Finding  
parallels in Philippine contemporary society,  
the local staging made references to local  
culture: characters playing taho (a semi 
liquid soya variant) and sampaguita vendors.  
Music from the Kilyawan Children’s Choir rendering a fusion of Bengali and indigenous 
Filipino sound pegs, Ellen Ramos’s digital animation, and a spartan bamboo set,
among  others, were also introduced as new elements in this production. 
 In other adaptations and  

reinventions, local materials could also  

refer to folk stories. Take the case of the  
staging of Fugtong: The Black Dog by  
the community theatre group, Aanak di  
 Kabiligan (Children of the Mountains) 
which was organized through the efforts  
of the Cordillera Green Network. The  
production revolves around a folk story  
about a family ostracized for keeping a  
black dog commonly perceived as  
bringing bad omens. On one level, we  
can interpret the narrative as being all  
about how the different is seen as  
dangerous or threatening.  
 On another level, while the story was introduced by a brief English  annotation of the
plot, the narrative itself unfolded in multiple languages as the  performers from Ifugao,
Mt. Province,  
Kalinga, and Benguet spoke in  
Kalinga, Kankaney, Ilocano, and  
Ibaloi. It was a deliberate means to  
keep the atmospheric feel of the story  
taking place in the Cordilleras.  
Fugtong was directed by theater artist,  
Rey Angelo Aurelio who is also  
behind another community theatre  
production featuring Smokey  
Mountain-based youths rapping,  
dancing, and acting in Bakata: Battle  
of the Street Poets, which was also  
staged at the Tiu Theater in May 2015. The young people Aurelio works with come
from 
informal settler communities struggling to deal with problems such as unsustained 
education opportunities, unemployed or underemployed parents, and lack of secure 
housing, among others. Working with these youths is one way by which artists may 
creatively respond to these conditions through immersion and sharing their know-how 
about performance, movement, projection, etc. Teaching these children how to
express  themselves may not bring big solutions to their complex problems, but at the
very least,  they could build a stronger sense of identity as they learn to process and
express their  emotions and thoughts.  
  
 Let us not forget that what we have been discussing so far are works  performed live
before a group of  
people. In that case, the experience  
of encountering artists’ bodies  
physically moving through a space  
shared by audiences brings an  
altogether different dimension to the  
reception of the work. The experience  
of light, sound, motion would not only  
be felt up close but would be subject  
to much more immediate feedback  
like applause, silence, transfixed  
gazes, perked up ears, and so on. 
 To further play up how  
the bodily senses figure in how we  
receive and make sense of art, we take another work, this time something Lani
Maestro  produced as a commissioned project called Limen (2014) in France. Here,
she carefully  considered where the work was to be placed, how people might relate
with it, and what  sort of past or backstory the site had. The space is known as the Bata
compound and  was primarily an industrial site. Much like in most mechanized factories,
workers  performed rigidly defined and repetitive, mind-numbing tasks. In response to
the above  considerations, Maestro decided to build a see-through bridge that poetically
took  people out to a liminal point, as the title suggests—the verge or edge of a garden. 
  
 Limen marked off a place the artist construed as “anti- thesis to industrial  space,”
something that alluded to a “landscape of everyday life” as the artist writes in  her Artist
Notes for her 2014 public commission in Bataville, France. Limen was also   meant to
metaphorically allow the visitor’s body to fuse or extend toward the outlying  green
space visible through the tunnel structure that did not have walls nor clear  beginning or
end points. The bridge was also suspended from a low height so that  whoever came
might sit on it and not be fearful of falling off. Given this potential of a  bodily
experience, and even if unaware of the backstory of the bridge to a garden  providing a
rest place for workers, beholders of the work then could still take away a  physical
memory. With many installations such as this, the viewer-beholder’s decision to 
engage is precisely what enables art to take on more layers of meaning, and thus  
makes him/her a participant in making the art experience richer and performative.

FOCK EAT