1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

shamanic aura and to draw its energy from ancien t y e t continuing community symbols, rituals, and traditions among the unhispanized ethnolinguistic groups of the Cordilleras. Imelda Cajipe-Endaya uses indigenous m a te ria ls with a keen awareness of the ir significations. The panels of woven bamboo commonly used as sidings for nipa huts is a medium th a t is both natural, being organic m a te ria l, and cultural, derived from the weaving trad ition in Philippine hand icraft a rch itec tu re . They evoke the tropical environment and rural setting , a t the same tim e th a t they re fe r to the cu ltu re of Philippine houses. The sliding windows of capiz shell are also p a rt of this cu lture and symbolize the way one looks a t the world. The croche ted lace curtains often collaged on her work convey woman's presence, a t the same tim e th a t they function as a screen half-concealing her from view and removing from her a d irec t perception of rea lity defined as it is by the pa triarcha l order. One aspec t in the trend in indigenous m a teria ls is the fascination with cloth and weaves, na tu ra l fibers and handwoven tex tiles. This has led to the development of tapes try a r t and wall hangings, fiber a rt, cloth assemblages, and decorative techniques like embroidery and trapunto . For the many a rtis ts participating in this trend , it has become c lear th a t significant a r t can be done in indigenous m a teria ls. Yet, if this is not to be a passing fad por fashionable rubric th a t a rtis ts pay lip service to, it is im portan t to be aware of hazards th a t lie beneath the surface. From the a r t making-aspect, the use of indigenous m a teria ls could fall into a pure preoccupation with "exotic" media involving m ere technical skill in manipulating these resources. Necessarily, likewise, the use of these m a teria ls culled from nature, as in insta llation works, implies a d is tinc t conservationist a ttitud e to the environment. Not all installations, especially in the outdoors, grow out of this sp irit of re sp ec t for na tu re . Unfortunately a t times, tre e s pand plants seem to be tre a ted as re ified ob jects th a t are sub jec t to manipulation, deformation, even destruction , where man is m a ste r over na ture and where the objects of na ture are sacrificed to his a rt. From a political point of view, the use of indigenous materials may cu ltiva te a naive and na tiv istic politics when it proceeds from the millenarian world view of cults which apotheosize 19th century historica l figures and tu rn -o f-the century rebels whose m illenarist outlook of "waiting for signs from the prophets" has rendered them qu ie tistic and vulnerable to conservative stra teg ies . There is no doubt th a t these groups re ta in an anti-colonial aspec t but it is, more often than not, a rom an tic and emb lem atic anti-colonialism th a t cannot hold its own in the arena of rea l struggles. One can also problematize the shamanistic claims of this kind of a rt, for serious con trad ictions could easily arise between the urban middle class a r tis t and his forays into indigenous ethnic cu ltures. The urban a rtis t is both p a rt of it— since indigenous a rt is pa rt, although a d istinc t area of the national cu ltu re ,— and not p a rt of it because of the very distinctness of the indigenous cultures with the ir in ternal histories and struggles th a t have an exclusiveness th a t denies the a r tis t full accessibility and the conferment of triba l au then ticity . Is it a performance for urban middle class a rtis ts and audiences seeking to recupera te in vain a precolonial e thos? In this perspective, encouragement by F irst World funding groups of "shamanistic" a rt could well be