GAMABA Award: Filipino Living Traditions

• The lesson aims to explain how traditional art becomes contemporary and vice versa through the practices of GAMABA awardees
• Students are expected to write a critical paper on GAMABA and similar awards
• One task is to imagine the ideal Manlilikha ng Bayan through a performance, literary piece, or visual form

What is GAMABA?

• GAMABA aims to preserve living traditions by awarding the finest Filipino traditional artists
• These artists possess skill and folk knowledge as bearers of intangible cultural heritage
• The award highlights and brings awareness to these art forms, ensuring their survival
• It enhances contemporary artists' understanding of the identity and values of Filipino art

Significance of the Award

• Garcia has been named Manlilikha ng Bayan or National Living Treasure ("one who creates for the country")
• From 1992, twelve individuals had received the GAMABA award
• The National Commission of Culture and the Arts (NCAA) bestows the highest awards for culture and the arts, including the National Artist Award
• The GAMABA award acknowledges the outstanding work of artists in the Philippines
• The award is handed out in the form of a medal
• The lives and work of the Filipinos who are awarded, exhibit a dedication to craftsmanship and excellence
• Many cultural practices of indigenous communities have been preserved because GAMABA awardees pass down their heritage to the youth with their passion, abilities, and tenacity

Cultural Concepts

• Intangible is defined by UNESCO as practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, and skills recognized by communities/groups as part of their cultural heritage and unique identity
• Communal refers to objects or concepts shared among members of a community or group

Distinct Features of GAMABA

• A distinct feature of the GAMABA is its emphasis on the intangible and communal aspects of production
• It is closely aligned with process-based and collaborative inclination in contemporary art practices
• Traditional art possesses deep affinities with nature, place, society, ritual, spirituality, and everyday life
• The process of creation is usually shared among community members, appealing to broader aspects of life
• Things produced like textiles, hats, baskets, or utensils are commonplace in people's homes
• Songs and dances are performed as a group, as ritual, and as a way to affirm cultural identity and belonging

GAMABA Awardees

• Uwang Ahadas: Musician from Lamitan, Basilan who initially observed older community members and taught himself how to play instruments
• He broke tradition by playing the kwintangan, an instrument usually played by a woman
• He used to call for abundant grains and rice growth
• He shares his knowledge to younger folk with hands-on teaching, giving his students his full attention.
• He was awarded in 2000
• Magdalena Gamayo: Textile weaver from Pinili, Ilocos Norte
• She taught herself traditional patterns, building upon more common designs
• Her binakol, or woven cloth, continues to draw praise and awe for its above-average thread count and uniform weave
• She teaches her cousins to keep Ilocos' abel weaving tradition alive.
• She was awarded in 2012
• Eduardo Mutuc: Metalsmith and artist from Apalit, Pampanga who was also a farmer who became an apprentice to furniture carvers to earn additional income
• He uses wood, silver, and bronze to create exquisitely detailed and lifelike pieces of varying sizes
• He was awarded in 2004
• Lang Dulay: Textile weaver (Traditional T'boli design)
• She was a recipient of the National Living Treasures Award
• She is credited with preserving her people's tradition of weaving T'nalak, a dyed fabric made from refined abaca fibre
• Samaon Sulaiman: Filipino musician
• He was a recipient of the National Living Treasure award, known for his mastery of the indigenous kutyapi instrument
• Sulaiman first learned playing kutyapi at around 13 years old from his uncle
• Haja Amina Appi: Pandan mat weaver
• Weaving pandan mats is a long and difficult process handed down from woman to woman across generations
• pandan leaves are harvested, made into narrow strips, sun-dried, pressed and dyed to become suitable for weaving
• 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
• Federico Caballero: Chanter and educator
• He was best known for his expertise in the Sugidanon, a Central Panay epic traditionally chanted while lying on a hammock
• He documented 10 Panay-Bukidnon epics in an extinct language
• He works with the Department of Education to teach elders to read and write
• He was awarded in 2000
• Ginaw Bilog: Poet
• 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
• He 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
• He was awareded in 1993 and passed away in 2003
• Salinta Monon: Textile weaver
• Salinta Monon was 12 when she began learning to weave the inabal, a traditional Bagobo textile
• Her favorite pattern was the binuwaya (crocodile)
• She continued weaving until her death and was awarded in 1998
• Masino Intaray: Chanter and musician
• A member of the Pala'wan tribe and master of the basal, a gong music ensemble played during rice cooking rituals
• He served offerings to the Pala'wan rice god Ampo't Paray
• He was awarded in 1993, and passed away in 2013
• Darhata Sawabi: Textile weaver whose 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 with pis standing for the pattern depicting spirituality through geometric forms, and siyabit refers to the hook and technique
• She gained recognition for her 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
• Teofilo Garcia: Gourd hatmaker
• Garcia introduced the tabungaw plant for functional, elegant, and protective hats
• He produces everything himself - and it usually takes seven days to finish a hat
• Awarded in 2012, he continues to experiment and work on new designs
• Alonzo Saclag: Traditional dancer and musician
• Alonzo Saclag of Lubuagan, Kalinga mastered local musical instruments, along with dance patterns associated with rituals
• 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

Qualifications

• To become a National Living Treasure, the candidate must: Be an inhabitant of an indigenous/traditional cultural community anywhere in the Philippines that has preserved indigenous customs, beliefs, rituals and traditions and/or has syncretized whatever external elements that have influenced it
• Must have engaged in a folk art tradition that has been in existence and documented for at least 50 years
• Must have consistently performed or produced over a significant period, works of superior and distinctive quality
• Must possess a mastery of tools and materials needed by the art, and must have an established reputation in the art as master and maker of works of extraordinary technical quality
• Must have passed on and/or will pass on to other members of the community their skills in the folk art

Factors Affecting Traditional Artists

• Tourism, lands areas, mining, militarization, and christianization affect the traditional artist's production process
• Tourism causes ecological damage, making works susceptible to damage and causing art forms to diminish in quality
• Mining and infrastructure projects evict people and severely damage the environment and deprived indigenous people of the bounty of the land
• Militarization arrests the ability to create art
• Christianization causes people to forsake indigenous rituals and traditions

GAMABA Impact

• The system might create a division within the communities because artists are entrenched in their localities
• The entry of outsiders may create a disruption that may also change the social and economic relationships but also the people's attitudes, concepts, and definitions of the art forms and the processes

Documentaries

• Dreamweaver (1999), directed by Fruto Corre
• Katutubo: Memory of Dances (2001), directed by Antonio Jose Perez
• Ifugao: Bulubunduking Buhay (1998), directed by Fruto Corre and Nancy Rodriguez

Reaction Paper

• Forms of traditional art that can be identified
• The narratives of the traditional arts
• Ways the artists are portrayed
• Specific factors that cause changes in art production