Ang Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas ay nagbibigay-pugay kay Manlilikha ng Bayan Lang Dulay at sa kaniyang ambag sa pagpapanatili at pagsusulong ng pamanang pangkalinangan ng mga Tboli sa Timog Cotabato. Sa kabila ng pagbabago ng pamamaraan at mga kagamitan sa paghahabi dulot ng komersalisasyon ng t’nalak, hindi tumigil si MB Lang Dulay sa paghabi ng tradisyonal na disenyong mas mahirap gawin. 

Bilang Manlilikha ng Bayan, kumakatawan si Lang Dulay sa iilang mga bihasang manghahabi sa Lawa ng Sebu, kung saan siya isinilang. Naging bihasa siya sa humigit-kumulang na isang daang mga disenyo hango sa kapaligiran, katulad ng bulinglangit (ulap), bangkiring (buhok na tumatabing sa noo), kabangi (paru-paro), mga buwaya, at mga bulaklak na matatagpuan sa kabundukan at batis. Ang kanyang t’nalak ay naglalarawan ng kahusayan na makikita sa pagkapino at pagkakapantay-pantay ng mga hibla, masinsin na pagkakahabi, ang katiyakan ng mga anyo at dibuho, kromatikong integridad ng mga kulay, at pagpapanatali ng kabuuang anyo ng kanyang t’nalak.

Bago ang taong 1960, ang t’nalak ay tradisyonal na ginagamit bilang kumo (seremonyal na kumot), teduyung (saya) at k’gal saro at sawal taho (damit ng mga kalalakihan), at bahagi ng bride wealth sa tradisyonal na kasunduan sa pag-aasawa.

Ilan sa mga nilikha niya bago siya pumanaw noong 2015 ay nasa pangangalaga ng Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas. Kasalukuyan itong makikita sa Bulwagan ng Manlilikha ng Bayan sa Pambansang Museo ng Antropolohiya sa Maynila at sa “Lumad Textiles: Artistry and Identity” sa NMP Eastern Northern Mindanao Regional Museum sa Lungsod ng Butuan.

#ManlilikhaNgBayan
#GAMABA

#LangDulay

#BuwanNgWika

Teksto at poster mula sa NMP Sangay ng Etnolohiya

© 2022 Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas

If you could express your feelings by breaking out in a song, what genre would that song take?

For the Negritos, music is such an inherent part of their life that songs are usually sung, even as they engage in their daily routine, to express feelings of joy, love, and sorrow. As we cap off the celebration of the #LinggoNgMusikangPilipino, the #NationalMuseumPH brings you the different types of music among the Negritos.

The music of the Negritos is usually characterized by singing either in a repetitive tone or an improvised one, with impromptu lyrics being thought of based on the feelings evoked in the song. The amba, a song that conveys happiness, has a sweet-sounding melody that is repeated from memory but can be enriched by singing in varying intonations for select parts. Usually sung at weddings, it is set to the rhythm of clapping hands or flat gongs.

On the other hand, sorrow and grief are expressed through the undas. As the community sings the undas, they come towards the bereaved and lay offerings on the bow and arrow beside him. Even just a few grains of rice can be given, signifying the simple and communal life of the Negritos.  

Love is expressed through the uso or the aliri. Uso is a courtship song characterized by a four-count beat and sung alternately by a man and woman. Four dancers clap to the first and third beat during the song’s duration while two players beat the gongs. Likewise, the love song aliri is sung alternately by the two genders. However, in reality, its practice is not bound to this form. Single or married, anyone can sing the parts for the man or woman, even while doing daily activities such as walking, working, or idling. 

Aside from the gong, other musical instruments played by the Negrito are the bangsi (long reed mouth flute), kulibao / barimbo (Jew’s harp), tabung-tabung / kabong-bong / kabubung (bamboo zither), tibawa / pattanggo (clapper), and guitar. Visit the 360 virtual tour of the “Biyay: Tradition, Ecology and Knowledge among the Philippine Negrito Communities” Gallery and learn more about the material culture of the Negritos: http://pamana.ph/ncr/manila/NMA360.html

#NegritoCommunities

#PhilippineTraditionalMusic 

#MuseumFromHome 

Text and poster by the NMP Ethnology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

The #NationalMuseumPH celebrates the 132nd birth anniversary of National Artist for Sculpture Guillermo Tolentino, born #OnThisDay in 1890 by featuring his sculpture Diwata from the National Fine Arts Collection (NFAC).

The Diwata is the winged fairy that welcomes the visitors upon entering the Spoliarium Hall. Made from reinforced concrete as a mortuary ornament for the Reyes Family Mausoleum in Malolos, Bulacan, this sculpture was a recast of the winged female figure that rise above the pylon of the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City, which Tolentino completed in 1933. The Diwata is a Gift to the National Museum by the heirs of Hermogenes S. Reyes and Teodora Tantoco Reyes.

Tolentino was known as a master in classical sculpture and was widely known for his classical representation of images and his mastery of various media in sculpture such as concrete, plaster, wood, marble, and bronze, among others. Besides being an exceptional artist, he is a musician and a writer. He is known to sign and put titles on his sculptures in baybayin, the oldest writing system of the Filipino people. He was honored as National Artist for Sculpture in 1973.

The National Artist died on July 12, 1976.

Visit the Security Bank Hall (Gallery XII) of the National Museum of Fine Arts to view more of his works. It features the Eskultor ng Lahing Filipino exhibition, honoring the life and works of Guillermo Tolentino.

You may also enjoy the link our 360 degree virtual tour of galleries at the National Museum of Fine Arts at http://pamana.ph/ncr/manila/NMFA360.html while you #StayAtHome.

#GuillermoTolentino
#Diwata
#MuseumFromHome

Text and photo by NMP FAD
© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

In celebration of Nutrition Month, we feature the diet of Philippine populations in the past as revealed by isotope analysis. What can we learn from these isotopes?

Food plays a major role in understanding how humans utilize environmental resources. The plant and meat resources in people’s diet tell about accessibility, subsistence strategies and techniques, seasonality of food sources, and also paint a picture of the past environment wherein these were available.

Though substantive in providing baseline information on the paleo diet, analysis of faunal and botanical remains from the archaeological context may be limited by preservation conditions. A study using stable isotopes (ẟ) was applied to select human remains recovered in Philippine archaeological sites to obtain direct information from the consumer and determine food resources in the past.

The protein component of the diet and the ecosystem from which their food belonged are reflected in the δ¹³C (Carbon 13 isotope) value, while the δ¹⁵N (Nitrogen 15 isotope) value is an indicator for trophic level (or the number of steps in the food chain relative to the plant/producer) at which food is positioned in the ecosystem.

The δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N analyses on 81 human skeletal remains from 6 burial sites revealed a largely terrestrial plant-based diet. Both terrestrial and aquatic proteins from either marine or riverine sources were consumed. Results from Batanes Site showed a diet more reliant on terrestrial meat and C₃ plants (like potato, purple yam, garlic, yellow ginger, and beans) than marine resources. The protein resources in Lal-lo Site in Cagayan were more from a terrestrial-based ecosystem, while values from Santa Ana Site in Manila showed a heavy reliance on marine-based sources. Considering the topography of the Kabayan Site in Benguet, animals from the rivers and streams were the possible sources of protein and C₃ plants. In the Romblon Site, results reflect a diet dependence on both terrestrial resources and marine ecosystems. On the other hand, values in Cebu Site show a significant difference with a heavy reliance on marine resources diets, probably due to accessibility.

Text by Ame Garong, and posters by Timothy James Vitales | NMP Archaeology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

For this week’s #ArtStrollSunday featuring the National Fine Arts Collection, we present “Hulat Sweldo” (1994), a painting by Negrense social realist painter Nunelucio Alvarado.

“Hulat Sweldo”, a Hiligaynon phrase for delayed wages, is Alvarado’s two-panel oil on canvas painting made in 1994 to represent the plight and struggle of the sakadas or migrant farmworkers. Coming from a region that thrives on the sugar industry, this work reflects his life of living with the sakadas who are depicted with stocky and muscular bodies, their pallid face in stark contrast to their weather-beaten skin, and their curiously big eyes give a powerful and moving gaze that tells their stories of hardship.

Alvarado is one of the social realists who took the lead in protest art in the 1970s, presenting sociopolitical themes in their works of various styles and media to campaign for issues such as workers’ rights, women’s rights, land reform, and the struggle of cultural communities, among others.

This painting is exhibited at the National Museum of Fine Arts at the Northeast Hallway Gallery on the third floor.  It is part of the “Social and Political Commentary After The 1970’s” exhibition. It features works by social realist painters such as Nunelucio Alvarado (b. 1950), Papo de Asis (1949-2005), Orlando Castillo (b. 1947), Antipas Delotavo (b. 1954), Imelda Cajipe-Endaya (b. 1949), Edgar Talusan Fernandez (b. 1955), Gene de Loyola (1956-2018), Red Mansueto (b. 1944), Pablo Baens Santos (b. 1943), and Roy Veneracion (b. 1947).

Alvarado was born in 1950 and currently lives in Sagay City, Negros Occidental, where he has helped establish several artist collectives. These include the Black Artists in Asia, Pamilya Pintura, Pintor Kulapol, and Concerned Artists of Negros. He also runs a café and art space called Kape Albarako and acts as art director of Syano Artlink. Alvarado has participated in exhibitions locally and internationally, such as in Singapore (1996 and 2004), Japan (1997), and the U.S.A. (1998). He also represented the country in the first Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art held in Australia in 1992.

Alvarado was awarded the Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artist Award in 1992 for his art which serves as a platform for voicing the struggles of the marginalized sectors and his active participation in supporting the creative community in Negros region.

Visit us at the National Museum of Fine Arts or view the 360 degrees virtual tour of selected NMFA galleries on the link https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nmfa360/HTML5/NMFA360.html. See you at your National Museum!

#NunelucioAlvarado
#BeatCOVID19

Text by NMP-FAD

Photo by Bengy Toda

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines