The unconquered Igorot spirit soars like an eagle, with a burning passion for beauty, freedom, justice, and peace!
Although dispersed in the whole wide world, no matter where, and whoever he or she now had become, the Igorot would endeavour to trace back his/her roots to the Cordilleras where his/her navel had been sown. The generation of the Igorot changes with the dynamics of intermarriages and migration. Anyone could be an Igorot: by blood, by birth, by residence, or by heart. It is a personal choice, and it is a PRIVILEGE.
WHY?
Igorots are the designated stewards of the Cordilleras, the backbone of the Philippines. They have that innate responsibility to take care of nature because when the mountain ranges go, everything would go. Their indigenous practices are geared to protect the land. Their heritage and spirituality bind each individual, family, clan, and the whole community and tribe to an unwritten covenant with the spirits of their ancestors, the very soul of nature, and the God Kabunyan Himself, which the generation of Igorots understood as the single word: "INAYAN".
Adherence to the word protects the mountains from total destruction. Hence, Igorots must Re-create. Re-build. Re-plant. Re-structure. Restore. Redeem what was destroyed and what they have lost.
In the Cordilleras, art is life itself. It is organic. It is rooted with the land. The interplay of nature and spirit, the seen and unseen, the dead and the living highlight their harmonious co-existence. This integral relationship with the environment is an endowment made by the God Kabunyan to make the people themselves as the stronghold to keep the mountains from crumbling down to its extinction.
To help heal the land, we need catalysts. INTERNATIONAL IGOROT ART could help effect that change through value transformation. High art reclaims the splendour of the Cordilleras with the AESTHETIC FORM. It keeps the psyche of creativity alive in the community which inspires people to work positively to reconstruct and put together the essentials to nurture life.
In here, we feature works of International Artists who uphold the high art of the Cordilleras of Northern Philippines, where we could draw inspiration and strength to put back some broken pieces and re-create the FORM & SPLENDOUR of the great Cordilleras!
LEPAN
October 04, 2010
Baguio City
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