May 27, 2024
WEAVING THE BANGSAMORO IDENTITY: MONOM OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
โ๐๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ: ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐โ
In a historic event, the Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (BCPCH-BARMM) proudly presents the Bangsamoro Cultural Heritage Exhibit, taking the center stage at the Open Gallery of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) from May 7 to May 31, 2024.
Featuring the indigenous textiles of the BARMM Regionโs Indigenous People, monom weaving is a traditional craft of the Teduray people, an indigenous group who presently populate the towns of Upi, South Upi, and some parts of Datu Blah Sinsuat in Maguindanao and in Lebak town in Sultan Kudarat province.
The materials used in monom weaving include: Pawa (genus Bambusa), a type of light bamboo, uway (genus Calamus), a local variety of rattan, and nito (Lygodium circinnatum), a climbing fern that grows abundantly in the hinterlands.ย
Function and decoration are inseparable in monom weaving. Like any form of basketry, a variety of monom woven pieces are used both at home and at work.ย
The biton, a box-like storage basket, becomes a senafeng when fitted with a cover. There are also other items like the tefaya, a type of winnow basket; tafisan, a strainer; and laba, a kind of food cover. Also the sayaf, a conical farm hat that bears the same construction seen on hats made by other ethnic groups in Mindanao.
Monom is not just a reflection of utilitarian art but also an expression of the Tedurayโs cultural identity, with motifs inspired by nature and their folk animistic beliefs like dau tโbeli (leaf pattern); bukag timon (cucumber seeds); along tudok (shadow of the mountain); drumata (eyes of the pineapple); and sebanga igor (an interconnected design of an animal biting its tail).
Weaving into the modern times, monom weavers now use colorful synthetic dyes replacing the once two-toned effect achieved from soot mixed with camote sap as fixative.
Everyone is invited to experience the colorful works of the Bangsamoro living cultural masters at the cultural exhibit, which will run from May 7 to May 31, 2024, at the Open Gallery of the National Commissions for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in Intramuros, Manila.