Monday, September 15, 2008 Lang Dulay, the dreamweaver
THEY just got our tnalak and did not even carry the name of the T'boli," a T'boli said when asked about how their culture has been appreciated through the years.
Somehow, there is truth in that, a voiced out resentment of how the arts and culture of the indigenous people has been taken out of the context of the people who make them.
It is this realization, and the desire to put a face in all that is almost forgotten and ignored that photojournalist Jose Aurelio R. Lozano put up an exhibit on Lang Dulay, a National Living Treasure awardee of South Cotabato, who in her own homeland is almost unknown.
"'Yna yung personal tribute ko sa kanya as an artist kasi matanda na siya pero iilan lang ang nakakakilala sa kanya sa South Cotabato," Lozano said.
Lozano's photo exhibit was held at the Notre Dame Marbel University (NDMU) Graduate School last July 16-23, 2008, during the Tnalak Festival, and showed Lang Dulay and her granddaughters weaving out designs from their dreams, as tnalak weavers do. Lozano donated ten photos to NDMU after the exhibit.
Lang Dulay strives to preserve their art and tradition by teaching young T'boli women the art of dreamweaving. This avocation was recognized by the national government who named her a National Living Artist through Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan Awards (Gamaba Awards).
The Gamaba award was institutionalized in April 1992 through Republic Act No. 7355, which created the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCAA), the highest policy making and coordinating body for culture and the arts.
A Gamaba awardee is at an equal rank as a national artist, a title bequeathed through the Gawad sa Pambansang Alagad ng Sining or the National Artist Award.
Aside from striving to give recognition and popularizing Lang Dulay's efforts, Lozano also wants to focus attention on the virus that is destroying the endemic species of abaca that the T'bolis are using for their tnalak.
"Sinabi ng Provincial Agriculture Office of South Cotabato na in 10-15 years mawawala na ang ganoong species," Lozano said, if no effort is done to stop the virus from spreading.
"Kung nagbibigay ng budget sa ibang bagay, pwede naman ding tingnan ang ganoong problema dahil yun yung binabandera ng turismo nila," he said. "Mawawalan ng saysay ang ginagawa ni Lang Dulay kung ang ginagamit nila na abaca ay mawawala."
Tnalak, an indigenous cloth of the Tboli people woven from abaca fiber is highly regarded by these people, who have managed to carry on the tradition of creating designs that they have dreamed of. Being a creation from dreams, the T'boli people believe that careless handling of the cloth will bring sickness, and thus the Tboli people fold their tnalak cloth properly, with great care.
Lozano, Sun.Star Davao's new photojournalist who joined the team after the retirement of veteran journalist Rene B. Lumawag, is a recipient of a scholarship program on Diploma in Photojournalism under the World Press Photo in Konrad Adenaeur Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University. A graduate of Fine Arts major in Painting at the Philippine Women's College of Davao, he became interested in photography through his father, the late Jose Rizal "Joey" Lozano who is a documentary filmmaker journalist with interests on human rights, environment and the struggle of the indigenous people.
A 2004 Oxfam International Youth Partnerships Action Partner, Toto Lozano has been involved with youth-led activities locally and internationally which focuses on tapping youth potentials in effecting positive social change. Despite his international involvements, Toto Lozano wishes to continue capturing unique stories in Mindanao through his documentary photography. (SAE/With inputs from the exhibit briefs)
