"kutyapi player"

TITLE: KUTYAPI PLAYER

MEDIUM: MIXED-MEDIA SIZE: 3’X4’

TRADITION-INSPIRATION: kutyapi is a common musical string instrument in Mindanao and very much part of the various musical instruments used by the Moro people. Although, kutyapi is not part of the kulintangan ensemble, it became a favorite tool in accompanying a “tudtulan”, romantic song, “bayok” and the modern Maguindanaon “dayunday”. Samaong Sulayman, a Maguindanaon, is a “Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan” for kutyapi. This instrument evokes vitality and the joy of life and its music presents longing, sentimentality and utmost melancholy.

My first work using mixed-media and my experimentation in the fusion of 'okir' motif into abstract-figurative art style which took me 8 years to finalized as my own unique style in painting. This work represents the embodiment of soul searching and the ultimate pursuit of greatness as well the test of the limits of our talents. And by experimenting with the dictum of never be contended of what you can do, you will eventually reached the art that reflects truly who you are as an artist.

“The Question of Traditions”

This second work in my entry in the 2004 Sungdu-an National Travelling Exhibition by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Committee on Visual Arts, titled “The Question of Traditions” is inspired from the group pictures of the past where the members of the community after a ‘kalilang’-festivity, posed for the camera against the backdrop of an imposing ‘torogan’-palatial homes, dressed with the best clothes and the most elaborately made malong, this piece is focus on a performing ensemble: ‘dabakan’ and ‘kutyapi’ players, a shy ‘onor’ with her fan, a regal ‘bai’ draped by a blue malong, a melancholic ‘kulintang’ performer with a ‘sipa manguis participant at her back, as the representation of the exuberance and vitality of art forms. With the intent look from their gazes, others are somewhat hesitant and wary of impending threats from all sides: a dead hand from the left (coming from the dead person in the 1^st panel) saddens the ‘dabakan’ player who grieves for a dead relative while another is prepared to leave the festivity to join the struggle; to the right are two worried faces looking to the opposite panel helpless and endangered of a rising fundamentalism that attempts to prune out these ‘bid-a’—innovations, that is to them pollutants to a pristine state of Islam. A noble lady connects to the other side while a ‘Sagayan’ dancer looks down in desperation against the backdrop of fluttering purple parasol and looming bright red ‘pasandalan’. At the upper center is a proud ‘panolong’ with its intricate ‘magoyoda’ design tracing its ancient heritage while looking down on a modern mandala-like disc to the left its varied colors are slowly fading into grayish hues. This implies the desire and struggle of preservation and promotion of the vibrant and colorful culture that is slowly dying each day, as personified by this work, that like the group pictures, painting can also be employed in cultivating and encouraging this rich heritage and become a legacy for generations.

But the Islam in the region for centuries has engaged with other faiths, adapting and adopting the cultural traditions of the diverse peoples who practice them. Islamic expression is overwhelmingly moderate, tolerant and progressive. And most of the Muslim populations in the region have no problem in dealing with the demands of the modern world.

These facts are evident mainly due to the history of the region where the spread of Islam was won not by conquest, but by peaceful trading and eloquent preaching. Also, there is yearning for development, education and reform: both moral and political.

Message to the World

• FIRSTLY, MY ART IS ADDRESS TO MY COMMUNITY WHOM THE MAJORITY ARE DISREGARDING THEIR RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE AND TO LET THEM APPRECIATE ONCE AGAIN THEIR CULTURAL ROOTS AND BE PROUD OF THEM.
• IT IS ALSO ADDRESS TO ALL BACKGROUNDS WHO ARE APPRECIATIVE OF ANYTHING THAT DO WITH ETHNIC OR NATIVE ART. MY ART ALSO IS MY BASE FOR MY HARD AND OFTEN RISKY STRUGGLE IN THE PROMOTION OF TOLERANCE AND MODERATION AGAINST EXTREMISM AND FANATICISM.
• MY ART IS LASTLY ADDRESS, TO ALL FILIPINOS THAT IT IS GREAT TO LIVE IN A COMMUNITY THAT ACCEPTS ALL OF ITS DIVERSITY, FOR THIS IS WHERE WE CAN TAP OUR STRENGTHS AS PEOPLE-A CHALLENGE TO OUR HUMANITY.

• TO CONVEY MEANING TO THE WORLD THAT THERE IS “BEAUTY IN DIVERSITY” AND ONLY THROUGH OUR APPRECIATION FOR EACH OTHER WHERE WE COULD ACHIEVE PEACE AND UNITY

traditions

“Addat Batad”- the passing down of tradition from generation to generation to ensure the thriving of a culture, the essence of a race. But these wonderful traditions are already threatened by extinction and in due time what will be left are only bits of traces in our fragile memories.

Thus, as an artist from Mindanao, i took advantage by pouring out my spirit and come up with a mission in reliving this wonderful culture. Using the canvass as my medium of portraying these rich traditions, it becomes my subjects. Rooting from stylized designs and motifs known as okir art fused with modern techniques, it eventually created a unique style that is a total celebration of Mindanao’s artistic roots and cultural history.

My works portray the very artistic persona of my people, its exuberance, vibrancy, color, intensity and complexity but in time is endangered by the constant conflicts in the area, backwardness and poverty and the recent phenomenon of the rise of fundamentalism and extremism.

Thus, this showcase is the embodiment of the human pursuit of freedom of expression, the artistry of the human spirit and the quest for peace for “AD-DATAN”—it is the artist statement that in this trying times we must continue to believe in the beauty and zest of life for in the arts and culture lies hope of peace and unity in Mindanao.

traditions

“Addat Batad”- the passing down of tradition from generation to generation to ensure the thriving of a culture, the essence of a race. But these wonderful traditions are already threatened by extinction and in due time what will be left are only bits of traces in our fragile memories.

Thus, as an artist from Mindanao, i took advantage by pouring out my spirit and come up with a mission in reliving this wonderful culture. Using the canvass as my medium of portraying these rich traditions, it becomes my subjects. Rooting from stylized designs and motifs known as okir art fused with modern techniques, it eventually created a unique style that is a total celebration of Mindanao’s artistic roots and cultural history.

My works portray the very artistic persona of my people, its exuberance, vibrancy, color, intensity and complexity but in time is endangered by the constant conflicts in the area, backwardness and poverty and the recent phenomenon of the rise of fundamentalism and extremism.

Thus, this showcase is the embodiment of the human pursuit of freedom of expression, the artistry of the human spirit and the quest for peace for “AD-DATAN”—it is the artist statement that in this trying times we must continue to believe in the beauty and zest of life for in the arts and culture lies hope of peace and unity in Mindanao.