Module 6: Soul-Making, Cultural Appropriation, and Soul and Space PDF

# MODULE 6 ## LESSON 1: SOUL-MAKING - Soul-making (artmaking) is an alternative venue for knowing ourselves and looking into the depths and real meaning of what we are doing for our everyday life. - It is a form of crafting stories or transforming brief moments into images or symbols. - It is conn...

# MODULE 6 ## LESSON 1: SOUL-MAKING - Soul-making (artmaking) is an alternative venue for knowing ourselves and looking into the depths and real meaning of what we are doing for our everyday life. - It is a form of crafting stories or transforming brief moments into images or symbols. - It is connecting with people, understanding culture, and embodying tolerance and peace. ## LESSON 2: CULTURAL APPROPRIATION - Cultural appropriation is the utilization of goods or elements from a non-dominant culture in a way that perpetuates stereotypes or contributes to oppression, without respecting their original meaning or crediting their source. - It also involves the unlawful use of aspects of their culture. ## LESSON 3: SOUL AND SPACE - Soul, according to Webster Dictionary, is the "immaterial essence or animating principle of an individual life; a person’s total self; or even “a person’s cultural consciousness and pride.” - Space, on the other hand, can refer to "an area; a distance from other people or things that a person needs in order to remain comfortable; an opportunity for privacy or time to oneself." - The architectural heritage of the Philippines, as well as the residences of its many peoples, churches and mosques, and buildings that have developed in response to the demands of progress and the aspirations of the people, reflect the country’s history and culture. ## Elements of Cultural Appropriation - **Culture** - Anything linked with a group of people based on their ethnicity, religion, geography, or social environment is referred to as culture. - Beliefs, traditions, language, things, ideas, behaviors, conventions, values, or institutions are examples of this. - It is not rare for culture to be associated with specific ethnic groups. - **Appropriation** - Taking something that does not belong to you or your culture is referred to as appropriation. - Cultural appropriation is an exchange that occurs when a dominating group takes or "borrows" something from a historically exploited or oppressed minority group. - In this view, appropriation entails a failure to comprehend or appreciate the historical context that determines what is taken. - One example is using a religious object from a historically marginalized culture as part of a Halloween costume. - **Cultural Denigration** - Cultural denigration occurs when someone adopts a cultural feature for the sole intention of degrading or putting down members of that culture. - The most visible example is blackface, which began as a means to demean and dehumanize Black people by reinforcing negative stereotypes. - **Cultural Appreciation & Respect** - Cultural appreciation, on the other hand, refers to the polite borrowing of elements from another culture with the goal of sharing ideas and diversifying oneself. - Learning martial arts from an instructor who understands the technique from a cultural standpoint, or eating Indian food at an authentic Indian restaurant, are two examples. - When done effectively, cultural appreciation can lead to greater cross-cultural understanding and respect, as well as creative hybrids that merge cultures. ## Examples of Cultural Appropriation When looking at cases of cultural appropriation, it's useful to evaluate the types of goods that can be used as a target. They are as follows: - Intellectual property - Artifacts - Dance - Clothing and fashion - Language - Music - Food - Religious symbols - Decorations - Medicine - Makeup - Hairstyle - Tattoos - Wellness practices ### Soul and Space - The architectural landscape of the Philippines contrasts between small traditional huts built of wood, bamboo, nipa, grass, and other native materials; massive Spanish colonial churches, convents, and fortifications with heavy "earthquake baroque" style; American mission style architecture as well as commercial buildings with modern 20th century styles; and today's contemporary, albeit "modern mundane" concrete structures of the cities. - Rural native hut construction has altered little throughout the years. - The design varies depending on locale, but common elements include a steep roof over a one- or two-room living area erected on posts or stilts one to two meters above the ground or over shallow water. - Some of the huts have balconies. - Split bamboo floors may be used to allow dirt and food scraps to fall through to pigs and poultry. - The space beneath the hut can be utilized for storage or as a workshop; it also allows air to circulate and provides protection from flooding, snakes, and mosquitoes. - As households become more prosperous, they commonly replace thatch roofs with galvanized iron, which lasts longer but makes the house hotter and less attractive. #### Types of Houses - **Bahay-kubo (nipa hut):** is a typical traditional house found in the Philippines' lowlands. - The nipa hut, which began as a one-room construction, evolved as family needs changed. - Modern urban residences, on the other hand, are often two-story structures with a concrete ground floor, brick, concrete blocks, or wooden slats on the sides, and an iron roof. - Wealthy Filipinos built some excellent buildings throughout the 19th century, usually with solid stone foundations or brick bottom walls, and an overhanging, wooden top story with balustrades and kapis shell siding windows, as well as a tiled roof. - **Upland Houses:** In the upland regions of the Cordillera Mountains, the houses, though still using native materials, is a bit more secured. - Where the low-land bahay kubo is ventilated on all sides, the mountain huts, Bontoc, fayu; Ifugao, bale; Kalinga, binayon; Kankanay, binangiyan, and others typify a more insulated dwelling. - **Torogan:** The torogan was the traditional house of Maranao royalty. - The sultan, along with his wives, children & servants lived on it. - It was more than just a residence, it was also a communal house where affairs of the community were held. - **Rakuh:** Being an isolated and wind-frequented area, the Batanes Islands, exhibit the most different of all traditional architecture in the Philippines. - The rakuh of the Ivatan is built solidly on all sides, with a meter of rubble masonry and thick thatch covering to withstand the frequent gales in the area. - **Bahay na Bato:** The classic Filipino noble mansion, or Bahay na Bato, was the primary source of commercial structures that emerged only later in the Spanish period. - The Bahay na Bato is a variation on the conventional Bahay Kubo, utilizing stronger materials as the primary construction method. - Using the same spatial configurations as the Bahay kubo, the Bahay na Bato carried on the Bahay kubo's tradition of open ventilation and raised apartments. - The only difference is that in most cases, the Bahay na Bato, which translates to Stone House, is made of stone rather than the more usual bamboo.