“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” someone would say. But from one colonizer to another, the Philippines’ rich pre-colonial culture and traditions were considered a threat to their own. Throughout Philippine history, our ancestors grappled with the powerful forces of the West as they set foot on our shores and did what they could to save fragments of our identity.
Today, more Gen Zers are keen to learn about the nation’s pre-colonial identity and Sharrie Villaver is one of the young people who is adamant about preserving it in the hopes of setting the record straight. At only 23 years old and working as an online illustrator, she is working hard to bring forth an overlooked yet beautiful part of Philippine history through her work as an artist and performer.
Villaver’s exposure to the country’s pre-colonial history and culture began in junior high when she was a member of the Cebu Normal University Children and Youth Chorus. Through the chorus, she learned many traditional choral pieces accompanied by indigenous instruments. Her fascination with the pre-colonial period grew as she went on to study theater, focusing on local traditions. Sharrie eventually expanded her knowledge and expertise when she participated in a cultural research inventory, where she was able to get her hands on major books and primary sources about pre-Hispanic traditions.
Villaver’s passion for highlighting our nation’s pre-colonial identity has taken her to great heights. She has won awards such as the grand prize winner for the University of the Philippines’ system-wide competition: Philippine History and Folklore Cultural Costume Competition in 2021. Back when she sang for the Cebu Normal University Children and Youth Chorus, she was also able to participate in an international choral festival called “Konzert: A Voyage of Songs,” in Penang, Malaysia back in 2015.
From music to fashion, Sharrie’s early exposure to our pre-colonial culture culminated in the artist that she is today. She creates various kinds of artwork and sells them while wearing traditional pre-Hispanic ensembles in various events around Cebu. Villaver shared that one way of highlighting our own culture is incorporating modern pop culture into the mix, using a language that the youth can easily understand. Through social media, she is able to share and inspire her followers to do the same — proudly wearing our culture and imparting her knowledge to the world.
She said, “In this way, we can uplift our historical identity among popular figures or characters that the young ones can aspire to become and to whom they can feel represented by.”
One might ask, why go through all this effort to highlight our culture and why is it so important? Sharrie would answer, “To reclaim the strength and knowledge our ancestors once possessed.”
Sharrie Villaver is doing the hard work of uplifting the Philippines’ pre-colonial past, not only to preserve it but also to remind us that the nation’s rich and vibrant history predates colonialism. Piecing together fragments of our past and giving color to what is slowly fading into obscurity is a tenacious and fulfilling task that we should all partake in. S