Gamaba

THE CONTEMPORARY IN TRADITIONAL ART: GAWAD MANLILIKHA NG BAYAN (GAMABA)

LEARNING OBJECTIVE To get to know the National Living Treasures awardees of the Philippines and how their exemplary works contributed to the development and preservation of indigenous art forms in the country

How does tradition become contemporary, and the contemporary traditional? • Philippine traditional art, though based on long-standing, established practices, has always been contemporary in a sense that it is art that is being made now, and that it persists as part of a continuing performance of tradition.

What is the GAMABA? Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan. Award given to people who produce art forms that are woven into everyday life. This is bestowed by The National Commission for culture and the Arts (NCCA). GAMABA recognize the outstanding work of artists in the Philippines.

WHAT IS THE NATIONAL TREASURES AWARD?

LIVING

Known as the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan in the vernacular, this award recognizes Filipino artists that have shown excellence in their mastery of medium and technique, craftsmanship and promotion of indigenous beliefs in their practice of traditional and ethnic art forms in the Philippines such as pottery, weaving, carving, etc.

The Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or the National Living Treasures Award gives recognition to Filipino traditional craftsmen or artisans whose skills have reached a high level of technical and artistic excellence and who are tasked to pass on to the present generation

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.

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

Who are the GAMABA Awardees?

GAMABA Awardees 1.Ginaw Bilog 2.Masino Intaray 3. Samaon Sulaiman 4. Lang Dulay 5. Salinta Monon 6. Alonzo Saclag 7. Federico Caballero 8. Uwang Ahadas

9. Darhata Sawabi 10. Eduardo Mutuc 11.Haja Amina Appi 12. Teofilo Garcia 13. Magdalena Gamayo 14. Ambalang Ausalin 15. Estelita Bantilan 16. Yabing Masalon Dulo

WEAVING

Lang Dulay

• Year of Conferment: 1998 • Ethnicity/Location: T’boli/Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, Mindanao, Southern Philippines • Expertise: Tinalak weaving

• The T'bolis are known for their use of abaca fibers in textile weaving. Lang Dulay continued this tradition and preserved the culture of their community through patterns of crocodiles, butterflies, flowers, mountains, and streams and of Lake Sebu in her works. • Died in 2015

Salinta

• Year of Conferment: 1998 • Ethnicity/Location: Tagabawa/Bagobo, Bansalan, Davao del Sur, southeastern Mindanao island, southern Philippines • Expertise: Inabal weaving

• Salinta Monon started learning weaving traditional Bagobo textiles from her mother at the age of 12. Her family is among the remaining Bagobo weavers in the community. • Died in 2009

• Year of Conferment: 2004 • Ethnicity/Location: Tausug/Parang, Sulu, southern Philippines • Expertise: Pis siyabit weaving Darhata Sawabi (d. 2005)

• Darhata Sawabi is one of the master weavers in the island of Jolo. Like most women in their tribe, she has learned the art of weaving the pis syabit, the traditional cloth tapestry worn as head cover by the Tausug of Jolo, from her mother. • Died in 2005

• Year of Conferment: 2004 • Ethnicity/Location: Sama/Tandubas, TawiTawi, southern Philippines • Expertise: Mat weaving Haja Amina Appi (d. 2013)

• Haja Amina Appi is recognized as the master mat weaver among the Sama indigenous community of Ungos Matata. Her mats are known for their complex geometric patters, proportion, and unique combination of colors. • Died in 2013

Magdalena

• Year of Conferment: 2012 • Ethnicity/Location: Ilocano/Pinili, Ilocos Norte, northern Luzon island, northern Philippines • Expertise: Inabel weaving

• In her profile, it was reported that Magdalena has taught herself the traditional patterns of binakol, inuritan (geometric design), kusikos (spiral forms similar to oranges), and sinan-sabong (flowers). She has learned the art of weaving from her aunt and started harnessing her innate skills at the age of 16. She may be in her late 80s but she still manages to arrange threads on the loom, which is the hardest task in textile weaving.

• Year of Conferment: 2016 • Ethnicity/Location: Yakan/Lamitan, Basilan island, southern Philippines • Expertise: Tapestry weaving (Yakan Tennun)

Ambalang Ausalin

 The Yakan of Basilan are known to be among the finest weavers in the Southern Philippines.  They create eye-catching and colorful textiles with tiny motifs, and possess techniques wielded only by seasoned weavers accomplishing designs restricted for utilization within a certain weaving category only.

 She possesses the complex knowledge of the entire weaving process, aware at the same time of the cultural significance of each textile design or category.  Ambalang, like other Yakan weavers, uses the back strap tension loom, which can be small or large depending on the type of cloth or design to be woven. This loom can be rolled, carried about, and set up easily.

 Apuh Ambalang, as she is called by her community of weavers, is highly esteemed in all of Lamitan.  Her skill is deemed incomparable: she is able to bring forth all designs and actualize all textile categories typical to the Yakan.  She can execute the suwah bekkat (cross-stitch-like embellishment) and suwah pendan (embroidery-like embellishment) techniques of the bunga sama category.

 The word ‘tennun’ in Yakan generally means woven cloth, and used in making the Yakan dress. Yakan textiles are often mistakenly described as ‘embroidered’ by people not familiar with the production process.  There are different categories of a Yakan cloth. Ambalang has mastered all these, although her artistry and craftsmanship are best expressed in the bunga sama, sinalu’an, and seputangan.

 The bunga sama is a design or category of weaving with floral and bold designs. The cloth is usually fashioned into upper wear and pants, though only for the dress of a high status Yakan, specially the suwah bekkat and the suwah pendan.  Today, however, the bunga sama is commonly produced and pressed to service as table runners, placemats, wall decor, or doilies.  Ambalang can easily identify the variety of motifs in this category.

Her best work for this form of weaving is always reflected in the bunga sama teed :  peneh pitumpuh (cloth with seventy designs)  peneh kenna–kenna (fish-like design)  peneh sawe–sawe (snake-like design)  peneh dawen–dawen (folial design)  peneh kule–kule (turtle-like design).

 She is also renowned for weaving the sinalu’an. This is a design or category of weave with stripes of the diamond twill technique.  The finished cloth is traditionally sewn as trousers as well as upper wear.  Under this category, Ambalang is best identified with the sinalu’an teed, the most complicated of all Yakan woven textiles.

Seputangan  This cloth is a meter square in size with geometric designs, and is the most expensive part of the Yakan female ensemble because of its detailed design.  This piece of cloth is folded and tied over the olos inalaman or olos pinalantupan to tighten the hold of the skirt around the waist. It may also be worn as a head covering.

Seputangan To this day, it is placed on the shoulders of brides and grooms during weddings.  pussuk labung(sawtooth)  sipit–sipit or subid–subid (twill-like)  dawen–dawen (leaf-like)  harren–harren (staircases)  kabban–buddi (diamonds/triangles)  dinglu or mata(diamond/eye)  buwani–buwani (honeycomb-like

• Year of Conferment: 2016 • Ethnicity/Location: B’laan/Malapatan, Sarangani Province Philippines • Expertise: Mat weaving (B’laan Igem)

Estelita Bantilan

 Estelita Bantilan, 85 years old, is one of the Philippine’s treasured national artists.  She is a B’laan master banig (mat) weaver from Upper Lasang, Sapo Masla, Malapatan, Sarangani Province.

 recognized for her commitment to the safeguarding and the promotion of of the Blaan Igem (mat weaving) tradition

Nanay Estelita uses indigenous materials found around the area where she lives in making banig. Buli, the main material used for weaving, is harvested from the many buli plants scattered around her house. The dyes used for coloring are from plant and rock pigments, which are harvested by her husband from the nearby forest.

 She has been making banig since she was 10 years old.  She learned how to weave banigs from her mother, who also learned the skill from her own mother.  In her old age, Estelita began to be called by a new nickname, Princess. The term of endearment is spoken with the lightness of heart; also with genuine respect, especially from the other mat weavers of Upper Lasang.

• Year of Conferment: 2016 • Ethnicity/Location: B’laan/Mount Matutum, Polomolok, South Cotabato, Philippines Expertise: Ikat weaving (B’laan mabal tabih)

Yabing Masalon

Fu Yabing Dulo is one of the two master designers left of the Blaan mabal tabih – the art of ikat weaving. Fu is a term of endearment for an old woman – lola to the Tagalogs, babu to the Magindanaoan.

 Unlike other traditional spinners, Blaans weavers do not even have a spinning wheel. The strands of the abaca fiber are joined together by hand – patiently, with the same patience it takes to weave a tabih.  Tabihs are work of arts. A single piece of the cloth will take months to finish – from cutting the abaca plant, stripping and drying its fiber, dyeing, looming and weaving then pressing and softening the finished fabric.

 Mabal is the Blaan term for the abaca weaving process.  Tabih is the term for the finished hand woven cloth and it also refers to the traditional Blaan tubular skirt. Natural dyes from endemic plant species in the community are the source of colors for different designs of this indigenous textile.

- Blaan Tabih: reserve dyeing (warp – ikat); Weaving (plain); Accessorizing (applique, embroidery, added objects and braiding/twining). - The Blaan Tabih is a reserve-dyed plain woven abaca." Marian Pastor Roces, Sinaunang HABI Philippine Ancestral Weave

Literature and Performing Arts

Ginaw Bilog

• Year of Conferment: 1993 • Ethnicity/Location: Hanunoo Mangyan/ Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, central Philippines • Expertise: Surat mangyan and ambahan poetry

• Ginaw Bilog helped preserved the Mangyan literary tradition by documenting the pieces of ambahan recorded not only on bamboo tubes but also on notebooks passed on to him. • Ambahan is a poetic literary form composed of seven-syllable lines used to convey messages through metaphors and images. • The ambahan is sung and its messages range from courtship, giving advice to the young, asking for a place to stay, saying goodbye to a dear friend and so on.

• Year of Conferment: 1993 • Ethnicity/Location: Brookes Point Palawan island , central Philippines • Expertise: Lyrical poems(kulilal, basal, and bagit) and playing their accompanying instruments; epic chanting and storytelling

Masino

• Masino Intaray has mastered the traditions of his people—the Palawan, Batak, and Tagbanwa in the highlands of southern Palawan. • He has the creative memory, endurance, clarity of intellect and spiritual purpose that enable him to chant all through the night, for successive nights, countless tultul (epics), sudsungit (narratives), and tuturan (myths of origin and teachings of ancestors). • Died in 2013

• Basal - gong music ensemble • Kulilal - lyrical poem expressing passionate love song with the accompaniment of the kudyapi • Bagit - instrumental music depicting nature

Samaon Sulaiman

• Year of Conferment: 1993 • Ethnicity/Location: Maguindanao/Mama sa Pano, western Mindanao island, southern Philippines • Expertise: Playing the kudyapi

• Samaon Sulaiman achieved the highest level of excellence in the art of kutyapi playing. His extensive repertoire of dinaladay, linapu, minuna, binalig, and other forms and styles interpreted with refinement and sensitivity fully demonstrate and creative and expressive possibilities of his instrument. • Samaon is also proficient in kulintang, agong (suspended bossed gong with wide rim), gandingan (bossed gong with narrow rim), palendag (lip-valley flute), and tambul.

Alonzo

• Year of Conferment: 2000 • Ethnicity/Location: Kalinga/Lubuagan, Kalinga northern Luzon island, northern Philippines • Expertise: Playing Kalinga musical instruments, dance patterns and movements associated with rituals

• Alonzo Saclag has worked for the preservation of Kalinga culture. He lobbied that the abandoned Capitol Building be turned into a museum, that schools implement the practice of donning the Kalinga costume for important events, and that traditional Kalinga music should be broadcasted alongside contemporary music in the local radio station. •

He also formed the Kalinga Budong Dance Troupe to guarantee that his knowledge in the performing arts is passed on to others.

• Year of Conferment: 2000 • Ethnicity/Location: Sulod Bukidnon/ Calinog Ilolo, Panay Island, central Philippines Expertise: Chanting the sugidanon epic of the Panay Bukidnon Federico

• Federico Caballero, a Panay-Bukidnon from the mountains of Central Panay, has worked hard to document the oral literature of his people. • Who is also called Nong Pedring learned about epics from his mother and his grandmother, • He has preserved the epics that use a language that has long been dead by working together with scholars, artists, and advocates of culture.

Uwang

• Year of Conferment: 2000 • Ethnicity/Location: Yakan/Lamitan, Basilan island, southern Philippines • Expertise: Playing Yakan musical instruments

• Uwang Ahadas has made it his life's work to preserve and promote Yakan culture through the traditional music and instruments of his tribe. He has mastered the gabbang, the agung, the kwintangan kayu, and others.

Plastic Arts

• Year of Conferment: 2004 • Ethnicity/Location: Kapampangan/Apalit Pampanga, central Luzon island, northern Philippines Expertise: Silver plating of religious and secular art

Eduardo

• Eduardo Mutuc dedicated his life in sculpting retablos, mirrors, altars, and carosas from silver, bronze, and wood. • Some of his works can exceed 40 feet while the others feature smaller size and delicate craftmanship. • According to him, craftsmanship begins with respect for one’s tools and the medium.

• The first thing he teaches his students is how to hold the chisel and hammer properly to promote ease of use and prevent fatigue and mistakes because of improper handling. • He also cautions against working with an eye towards easy money. The only way to improve one’s skills, he says, is to immerse oneself, learn the technique, and to practice.

• Year of Conferment: 2012 • Ethnicity/Location: Ilocano/ San Quintin, Abra, northern Luzon island, northern Philippines • Expertise: Gourd casque making Teofilo Garcia

TEOFILO GARCIA • National Living Treasure Awardee, 2012 (Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan) • Farmer in the town of San Quintin, a municipality in Abra Province • Better known for tending a plot of land filed with enlarge upo or gourd • The tabungaw hat maker of San Quintin

• Teofilo learned how to make gourd casques and weave baskets from his grandfather at the age of 16. Since he learned the craft, he never stopped experimenting with other designs. • He previously used nito (vine trimmings) to decorate the headgear and then used with other materials such as bamboo after his supplier from Cagayan passed away.

TEOFILO GARCIA • His artistic rendering of a functional object, dedication to craft, and commitment to the community make him bearer of culture. • He initiated training for students at San Quintin National High School to pass the knowledge of tabungaw hat making, inspiring the youth to value the tradition and ensure it upskeep.

The Art of Tabungaw Hat Making • The hat called a Kattukong is weatherproof and made from Upo (tagalog) or Tabungaw (Ilocano), also known as Bottle Gourd or White Pumpkin. • Each December the seeds are planted and three to four months later in March the crop is harvested and brought down to his workshop to be cured and dried. The gourds are cut open using a hand saw and the two halves placed on the ground by his house.

The Art of Tabungaw Hat Making • They are left there for about a month while nature takes over. Ants are attracted to the rotting pulp and help to clean the insides leaving the case empty.  • It is then finished by hand and left to dry completely. • Only the upper half is used to make the Tabungaw. The bottom half can be used around

The Art of Tabungaw Hat Making • After drying, the Tabungaw is then coloured and varnished. Any blemishes in the gourd are left in place and not hidden, adding to its attractive look. The most time consuming and skillful part comes next. That is the weaving of the bamboo inner casing and lining.The woven interior is made of anahaw,  nipa,  bamboo,

The Art of Tabungaw Hat Making • After drying, the Tabungaw is then coloured and varnished. Any blemishes in the gourd are left in place and not hidden, adding to its attractive look. The most time consuming and skillful part comes next. That is the weaving of the bamboo inner casing and lining.The woven interior is made of anahaw,  nipa,  bamboo,

Tabungaw Hat

• The process of making the tabungaw hats involves the interface of local scientific knowledge and art. • Prior to crafting the hat, the growth of enlarged tabungaw is made possible through techniques that manage the interplay of seed, earth, and forces within a particular duration.

The Production Process and The Changing Environment

• The traditional artist’s mode of production continues to be affected with the dynamics of Change. • Environmental degradation ushered in by calamities, modernization, and capitalistic endeavors displace the indigenous peoples from their ancestral land. • As their home base, it is considered of paramount importance-that is where resources are gathered and shared, and where culture is performed.

THE FOLLOWING FACTORS AFFECT THE TRADITIONAL ARTIST’S PRODUCTION PROCESS •Tourism •Mining and Infrastructure projects •Militarization •Christianization

TOURISM • Land areas are converted into sites for tourist consumption. • Ecological domains become more susceptible to damage with the combined forces of natural disasters and tourist mobility. • Dances and rituals are staged for an external audience rather than for the community’s observance of tradition.

TOURISM • Art forms native to the community tend to diminish in quality. • Removed from their original context, the works are transformed into mass produced souvenirs in order to meet the demands of the tourist trade. • Neon colors and designs woven from synthetic fibers have been made available in recent years to create appropriations of traditional textile designs for commercial purposes.

MINING AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS • The construction of dams and the establishment of oil and mining companies evict people from their dwellings and severely damage the environment. • Deprived of the bounty of land, indigenous groups are prompted to seek short-term employment from these industries in order to make ends meet in a money economy.

MILITARIZATION • The insecurity and tensions brought about by militarized zones arrest the people’s ability to create art. • It prevents people from having communal gatherings, where exchanges and passing knowledge can take place.

CHRISTIANIZATION • The influence of Christianity and the conversion of the natives to a foreign religion have caused members of the community to forsake their indigenous rituals and traditions. • At worse, people are led to believe that the latter are primitive and therefore their practice has no place in contemporary culture.

CHRISTIANIZATION • In some cases however, the community finds a way to syncretize their indigenous ways with traditions of Christianity. • The Manobo community of Mt. Apo for example, initiated a “culture regeneration movement” • As Christian converts, they sought revival of their traditions by holding clan reunions, employing native wedding rites, and recalling narratives of their culture through painting.

Difficulties in the Selection Process • The archipelagic orientation of the Philippines makes some locations challenging to reach by land, air, or sea. • Places that pose security risks, particularly militarized zones prevent the sustained entry of researchers and possibly diminish reception outside of the locality. • This is partly why the awarding does not follow a regular pattern, as the column of Year of Conferment on the table of GAMABA awardees shows(page 58-60)

ffect of the GAMABA in the communitie • Since the artist are very much entrenched in their localities, the award system might create a division within the communities when one person is elevated to the status of the national awardee. • The attention and the entry of outsiders may create a disruption that may also change, not just the social and economic relationships, but also the people’s attitudes, concepts, and definitions of the art forms and the processes.

• The GAMABA recognizes exceptional artist who are engaged in the traditional arts. • With the latter, we refer to forms which are produced or performed within the context of the community. • The traditional arts are strongly grounded in culture, spirituality and religion, and also the environment.

• Thus, forms produced by the GAMABA, while having a high aesthetic value, are also functional and accessible in everyday settings. • The role of the GAMABA is to pass on their artistic knowledge to the community, to inspire them, and to ensure that aspects of their cultural identity continue to thrive.