OKIR MAKING ACTIVITY

OKIR MAKING ACTIVITY

OBJECTIVES

1. Draw OKIR designs of scrolls and geometric designs
2. Recognize the importance of these designs to indigenous Muslim Art forms
3. Apply the knowledge of the elements and principles of art in making the designs

MATERIALS

Pictures or Real samples of some Maranao art, sarimanok, naga, okir ornaments, malong, oslo paper or bond paper, coloring materials (crayon or watercolor)

Procedure

1. Look at the visuals of okir carefully. observe the elements of art - lines, forms, textures, and colors featured in these designs.

2. Choose one and draw: Okir a datu or Okir a bay

3. If you choose okir a datu practice drawing scrolls, leaves, or flower motifs. Observe balance, rhythm, and other principles of art.

4. If you choose okir a bay, practice drawing geometric designs like those found in the malong.

5. Finalize your work on a sheet of Oslo paper or bond paper

6. Copy and answer the rubric of okir a datu and okir a bay on a separate sheet of paper

Rubric for Drawing of 

OKIR A DATU OR OKIR A BAY

Name ________________________________________
Put a Check on the column that indicates your answer

CRITERIA               ALWAYS  OFTEN  SOMETIMES  SELDOM SCORE   TEACHER'S SCORE
                                           4 PTS       3                 2                   1

 Meeting the general 
    expressions

     1. Artwork is of
         appropriate size
     2. Work is neat, clear
         and complete
         handed on time
     3. Directions are
         followed

  Used the Art elements 

     4. Line
     5. Color
     6. Shape
     7. Form

  Principles of designs

     8. Balance
     9. Rhythm
    10. Contrast
    11. Movement

  Shows Creativity
   
    12. Shows originality
    13. Pleasing to
           look at
    14. Shows definite
         characteristics of
         okir a datu
    15.  Shows definite
         characteris of
         okir a bay

The highest possible score is 60 points

Rating of artworks

Always : 46-60 = 90%
Often    : 31-45 = 85%
Sometimes: 16-30 = 80%
Seldom     : 1-15 = 75 

Questions for discussion

1. Which okir design is easier to draw? Why?
2. How did the activity help you appreciate Maranao's art style?
3. What values did you learn from the okir design-making activity?


   

The Torogan

The Torogan is the ancestral house of the upper-class Maranao in the Lanao Region of Mindanao. It is the dwelling place of the datu along with his wives and children. There could not be any house larger than torogan of the datu within the sultanate, for this signifies rank, prestige, and wealth.




 The Torogan is the traditional residence of the reigning Sultan of the Maranaw people and his family. It is where the community 

Torogan Architecture

The Maranaos have three types of house: lawig the small houses, mala-a-walai the large houses and the torogan. The existing torogans were built by the community and the slaves for the datu in 1800s. This house of the datu has no partitions and it is a multifamily dwelling where all the wives and the children of the datu lived. The windows of torogan are slits and richly framed in wood panels with okir designs located in front of the house. The communal kitchen is half a meter lower than the main house is both used for cooking and eating. The distinct high gable roof of the torogan, thin at the apex and gracefully flaring out to the eaves, sits on a huge structures enclosed by slabs of timber and lifted more than two meters above the ground by a huge trunk of a tree that was set on a rock. The end floor beams lengthen as panolongs the seemed to lift up the whole house. The torogan is suffused with decorations. There were diongal at the apex of the roof, also an intricately carved tinai a walai, okir designs in the floor, on windows and on panolongs. There were also brightly colored weaves ormalongs hanging from the rafters, it was hung up using ropes around a particular territory for privacy. The house was built to sway during earthquakes. Twenty-five post of huge tree trunks were not buried but are freestanding. Sometimes, if needed, wooden pegs were used to secure the wood members. These were all used to prevent the house from collapsing.

Function

Aside from being used as a dwelling place of the datu, The torogan is also used for a variety of socio-religious gatherings such as weddings, funeral wakes, conferences and even for court proceedings. It is also used as a guest house.

http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php/Torogan

The malong

The malong is a traditional "tube skirt" made of handwoven or machine-made multi-colored cotton cloth, bearing a variety of geometric or okir designs. The malong is akin to the sarong worn by peoples in Malaysia, Brunei andIndonesia. The malong is traditionally used as a garment by numerous tribes in the Southern Philippines and the Sulu Archipelago.



Handwoven malongs are made by Maranao, Maguindanao, and T'boli weavers on a backstrap loom. The pattern or style of the malong may indicate the weaver's tribal origin, such as the Maranao malong landap. Very rare malong designs and styles can indicate the village in which the malong was made, for example, the extremely intricate malong rawatan made only by a handful of Maranao weavers in Lanao del Sur, Mindanao. Handwoven malongs, which are costly, are likely to be used only at social functions, to display the social and economic status of the wearer. While modern malongs are made of cotton andLurex threads, some contemporary handwoven malongs are made of inexpensive rayon thread, to reduce the manufacturing cost to the weaver and ultimate cost to the consumer. There are many grades of cotton thread, and the cost of a malong can also be reduced by using the lesser grades of cotton thread, or by creating a loose or coarse weave.

Machine-made printed cotton malongs are made in Indonesia specifically for export to the Philippines, and are commonly referred to as "batik" because the item is imported; those inexpensive machine-made malongs are used for everyday purposes. The designs of traditional handwoven designs are used in imported cotton from Thailand, allowing the purchaser to have a cotton machine-printed malong which, from a distance, convincingly mimics the look of a much more expensive handwoven malong.

The malong can function as a skirt for both men and women, a turban, a dress, a blanket, a sunshade, a bedsheet, a "dressing room", a hammock, a prayer mat, and other purposes. A newborn is wrapped in a malong, and as he grows this piece of cloth becomes a part of his daily life. When he dies, he is once again wrapped in a malong. Among traditional tribal peoples, the malong is used in everyday life. Even in areas where people wear Western-style clothing during the day, the malong is commonly used as sleepwear.The malong is also used in very big festivals, they wear this to show respect.

Reference: From the Rainbow's Varied Hue: Textiles of the Southern Philippines. Edited by Roy W. Hamilton. 1998. Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California at Los Angeles.




They only wore bahag (for men), some wore malong and putong over their head. They were also bare-footed



Royal Malong!!! This kind of malong is worn by Maranaw men and women of royal status.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malong

Okir

Okir or okkil is the term for geometric and flowing designs (often based on an elaborate leaf and vine pattern) and folk motifs that can be usually found in Maranao and Muslim-influenced artwork, especially in the southern Philippines, and in some parts of Southeast Asia. Okir a dato refers to the ornamental design for men and okir a bay to that for women.

In the Philippines, an ancient proof of okir's style of flowering symbols is the torogan, the ancestral home of the highest titleholder in a Maranao village. It is a symbol of power and prestige usually adorned during festivities. Its prominent part is the panolong, a carved beam that protrudes in the front of the house and styled with okir motif. The okir design is found woven or printed in textiles, carved into wooden cemetery markers and wooden boxes, and it can also be found etched into knife or sword blades and handles, and cast or etched into various brass and silver objects.

Other variations of the okir involves the use of nāga or serpent motif. Maranao instruments usually are styled with okir. A more prominent variation is the sarimanok, a chicken-like figure that carries a fish in its beak.

Okir is said to be firstly made in Tugaya Lanao del Sur, As we all know that Tugaya is the home for maranao artisans and the Industrial capital of lanao del sur. It has been long known as the home of arts and crafts of maranao tribe since time immemorial.

Reference: Wikipedia

The Sarimanok

   

The Sarimanok is a legendary bird of the Maranao people who originate from Mindanao, a major island in the Philippines. It comes from the words "sari" and "manok." "Sari" means cloth or garment, which is generally of assorted colors. Manòk means "bird".

Description

It is the legendary bird that has become a ubiquitous symbol of Maranao art. It is depicted as a fowl with colorful wings and a feathered tail, holding a fish on its beak or talons. The head is profusely decorated with scroll, leaf, and spiral motifs. It is said to be a symbol of good fortune.

Origin

Far Eastern University Logo.

The Sarimanok is derived from a totem bird of the Maranao people, called Itotoro. According to the Maranao people, the Itotoro is a medium to the spirit world via its unseen twin spirit bird called Inikadowa.

The Sarimanok is also believed to have originated from the Garuda of Hindu epic Ramayana adopted into Maharadia Lawana of Maranao people, which in turn was later adopted to an Islamic legend after Southern Philippines converted to Islam.

According to the later Islamic legend, Muhammad found a rooster in the first of the seven heavens. The bird was so large its crest touched the second heaven. Its crow roused every living creature except man. Judgment day would come once this celestial rooster ceased to crow.

A Maranao legend also says of a Sultan's daughter being swept by a colorful rooster that became a handsome young man and they were never seen ever again. The Sultan then created replicas of the bird to remember his daughter by.

Cultural Significance

According to the tradition, the sarimanok is never displayed by itself. It must be displayed with the set of flags, standards, and vexilloids. At present, this is not totally true; sarimanok may be placed on the top of the umbrella of a Sultan or dignitary, and also, the Mindanao State University has adopted it for the graduation exercises following a non-traditional use.

The Far Eastern University seal bears the FEU Coat of Arms and the sarimanok motif. The FEU Coat of arms consists of an eight-pointed golden star that represents the first eight main disciplines of FEU. The sarimanok is a legendary bird in full color that projects the nationalistic spirit upon which the university is founded. The university wanted to have a Filipino touch in everything because they were one of the first universities in the Philippines to be founded by a pure-blooded Filipino, Dr. Nicanor Reyes, Sr..





images are not mine
reference: Wikipedia

Mangyan arts and crafts

source: http://mangyan.org/

For the Mangyans, craft has always been a product of their way of life and an extension of their customs and traditions. Today, this distinct expression of artistry and skill not only keeps the Mangyan culture and heritage alive, but also helps raise supplementary income for their education and health care.

The handicrafts sourced by the MHC are handmade by Mangyan people in the mountainous regions of Mindoro:

• the woven textiles by Hanunuo-Mangyan mothers of Mansalay and Bulalacao
• the rattan baskets by the Alangan Mangyans of Naujan
• the nito baskets by the Iraya Mangyans of Puerto Galera and San Teodoro
• the beaded items by the Alangan and Hanunuo Mangyans.

Items that meet the MHC's quality standards are sold at a price set by the Mangyan producers, ensuring they are fairly paid for their work. Any profits go towards theMHC's cultural program, including scholarships for Mangyan students.

Hanunuo-Mangyan women hand-stitch and hand-embroider their traditional square-necked blouse (lambong). It takes over a week to embroider the intricate pakudos design. Embroidery was traditionally the shortest part of the process as the Hanunuo Mangyans used to plant, harvest, separate, dry, spin, and then weave the cotton fibers. Today, however, the fabric is purchased in the market and then embroidered.

The embroidered pakudos is always of two colors. On a white blouse, it is predominantly red and is highlighted by a fine black or dark blue outline. On a blue blouse, it is also predominantly red but the outline stitchery is white. The design is started from the center with only hand measurements and the warp and weft threads as guide.

Hanunuo-Mangyan women hand-stitch and hand-embroider the traditional men's open-fronted shirt (balukas). It takes over a week to embroider the intricate pakudos design. Embroidery was traditionally the shortest part of the process as the Hanunuo Mangyans used to plant, harvest, separate, dry, spin, and then weave the cotton fibers. Today, however, the fabric is purchased in the market and then embroidered.

The embroidered pakudos is always of two colors. On a white blouse, it is predominantly red and is highlighted by a fine black or dark blue outline. On a blue blouse, it is also predominantly red but the outline stitchery is white. The design is started from the center with only hand measurements and the warp and weft threads as guide.

The ramit is a textile made by the Buhid and Hanunuo Mangyans. It is woven on a backstrap loom called harablon and features intricate geometric patterns. In the past, it was made from homespun cotton which was then indigo-dyed. Today, the thread used for making the ramit is purchased from local stores. It takes one week to weave a 23-inch x 108-inch ramit.

Traditionally worn as a skirt or used as a blanket for carrying children, it now finds other uses as a table runner, wall hanging, bag or placemat.

The Mangyans weave intricate baskets of various sizes and designs.
Due to the Mangyans' conscious management of their natural resources, production of handicrafts made from forest materials like nito and rattan is of modest volume

• the beaded items by the Alangan and Hanunuo Mangyans.

Get paid to share your links!

Get paid to share your links!

MIndoro Mangyan Hanunuo writing script

The island of Mindoro in the Philipine archipelago is home to the Mangyans, an umbrella term of a number of indigenous tribes loosely related by language, culture, and religion. Unlike other native people in the Philipines that have abandoned their native scripts for the Roman alphabet after Spanish colonization, the Mangyan tribes such as the Buhid and Hanunóo have maintained their ancient script.

The Mangyan script is a distant descendent of the Brahmi script through the Kawi of Indonesia. As such, every letter is in fact a syllabic sign carrying the default vowel of /a/. To represent another vowel other than /a/, diacritical marks called kulit are used. The kulit to denote the vowel /i/ is usually a horizontal line above the letter, and the kulit for /u/ is often a line under or to the lower right of the letter, although sometimes the mark joins the letter itself and changes the overall look of the combination.

One interesting trait of Mangyan is the difference between writing and reading. While it is written from left to right, during reading the text is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise so that it is read from bottom to top.

The following table is the Mangyan syllabic alphabet, as used for writing (as opposed to reading). There is no documented order of letters for Mangyan (like the order of the English alphabet), so I have arranged the letters in the traditional Indian order.

While it is possible to have consonants at the end of a syllable in Mangyan languages, the Mangyan script does not represent them at all. These syllable-ending consonants are simply left unwritten. Similarly, the semivowels forming part of a diphthong are also omitted from writing. There is also no separation or marker between words, making the text appears like one continuous block of letters. These factors cause occasional ambiguity in the reading of words, and the reader must rely on context to clarify what is written.

The Mangyan script is primarily used for recreation and personal correspondences, especially in the form of poetry and love songs. Literacy is actually quite high even among the youth, thus there is no danger of the Mangyan script dying out in the immediate future.

http://www.ancientscripts.com/mangyan.html

http://www.ancientscripts.com/mangyan.html

MIndoro Mangyan Hanunuo writing script

The island of Mindoro in the Philipine archipelago is home to the Mangyans, an umbrella term of a number of indigenous tribes loosely related by language, culture, and religion. Unlike other native people in the Philipines that have abandoned their native scripts for the Roman alphabet after Spanish colonization, the Mangyan tribes such as the Buhid and Hanunóo have maintained their ancient script.

The Mangyan script is a distant descendent of the Brahmi script through the Kawi of Indonesia. As such, every letter is in fact a syllabic sign carrying the default vowel of /a/. To represent another vowel other than /a/, diacritical marks called kulit are used. The kulit to denote the vowel /i/ is usually a horizontal line above the letter, and the kulit for /u/ is often a line under or to the lower right of the letter, although sometimes the mark joins the letter itself and changes the overall look of the combination.

One interesting trait of Mangyan is the difference between writing and reading. While it is written from left to right, during reading the text is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise so that it is read from bottom to top.

The following table is the Mangyan syllabic alphabet, as used for writing (as opposed to reading). There is no documented order of letters for Mangyan (like the order of the English alphabet), so I have arranged the letters in the traditional Indian order.

While it is possible to have consonants at the end of a syllable in Mangyan languages, the Mangyan script does not represent them at all. These syllable-ending consonants are simply left unwritten. Similarly, the semivowels forming part of a diphthong are also omitted from writing. There is also no separation or marker between words, making the text appears like one continuous block of letters. These factors cause occasional ambiguity in the reading of words, and the reader must rely on context to clarify what is written.

The Mangyan script is primarily used for recreation and personal correspondences, especially in the form of poetry and love songs. Literacy is actually quite high even among the youth, thus there is no danger of the Mangyan script dying out in the immediate future.

http://www.ancientscripts.com/mangyan.html

Mindoro - arts and crafts

The island of Mindoro in the Philipine archipelago is home to the Mangyans, an umbrella term of a number of indigenous tribes loosely related by language, culture, and religion. Unlike other native people in the Philipines that have abandoned their native scripts for the Roman alphabet after Spanish colonization, the Mangyan tribes such as the Buhid and Hanunóo have maintained their ancient script.

The Mangyan script is a distant descendent of the Brahmi script through the Kawi of Indonesia. As such, every letter is in fact a syllabic sign carrying the default vowel of /a/. To represent another vowel other than /a/, diacritical marks called kulit are used. The kulit to denote the vowel /i/ is usually a horizontal line above the letter, and the kulit for /u/ is often a line under or to the lower right of the letter, although sometimes the mark joins the letter itself and changes the overall look of the combination.

One interesting trait of Mangyan is the difference between writing and reading. While it is written from left to right, during reading the text is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise so that it is read from bottom to top.

The following table is the Mangyan syllabic alphabet, as used for writing (as opposed to reading). There is no documented order of letters for Mangyan (like the order of the English alphabet), so I have arranged the letters in the traditional Indian order.

"THE MANUNGGUL JAR AS A VESSEL OF HISTORY"

Manunggul Jar

This elaborate burial jar is topped with two figures. The front figure is the deceased man. The rear figure is holding a steering paddle directing the boat and soul of the man to the afterlife.
Year	890-710 B.C.
Type	Burial jar
Dimensions	66.5 cm (26.2 in); 51 cm diameter (20 in)[1]
Location	Museum of the Filipino People,The National Museum, Manila

The Manunggul Jar is a secondary burial jar excavated from a Neolithic burial site in Manunggul cave of Tabon Caves at Lipuun Point at Palawan dating from 890–710 B.C. The two prominent figures at the top handle of its cover represent the journey of the soul to the after life.

The Manunggul Jar is widely acknowledged to be one of the finest Philippine pre-colonial artworks ever produced and is a considered a masterpiece. It is denoted a national treasure and it is designated as item 64-MO-74 by the National Museum of the Philippines. It is now housed at the Museum of the Filipino People and is one of the most popular exhibits there. It is made from clay with some sand soil.

Discovery of the jar

It was found by Dr. Robert B. Foxel and Miguel Antonio in 1962. It was found alongside the discovery of the remains of Tabon Man. The faces of the figures and on the prow of the boat have eyes and mouth rendered in the same style as other artifacts of Southeast Asia of that period. Note the depiction of sea-waves on the lid. This style of decoration places this jar in the Sa-huýnh-Kalanay pottery tradition of Southern Vietnam. The steersman's oar is missing its paddle, as is the mast in the center of the boat, against which the steersman would have braced his feet. This symbolizes that they are traveling to the next life. In secondary burial, only bones were placed in the jar, and the jar itself is not buried.

The Manunggul jar was one of the numerous jars found in a cave believed to be a burial site (Manunggul, was part of the archaeologically significant Tabon Cave Complex in Lipuun Point, Quezon, Palawan) that was discovered on March 1964 by Victor Decalan, Hans Kasten and other volunteer workers from the United States Peace Corps. The Manunggul burial jar was unique in all respects. Dating back to the late Neolithic Period (around 710 B.C.),  Robert Fox described the jar in his landmark work on the Tabon Caves:

The burial jar with a cover featuring a ship-of-the-dead is perhaps unrivalled in Southeast Asia; the work of an artist and master potter. This vessel provides a clear example of a cultural link between the archaeological past and the ethnographic present. The boatman is steering rather than padding the "ship." The mast of the boat was not recovered. Both figures appear to be wearing a band tied over the crown of the head and under the jaw; a pattern still encountered in burial practices among the indigenous peoples in Southern Philippines. The manner in which the hands of the front figure are folded across the chest is also a widespread practice in the Islands when arranging the corpse.

The carved prow and eye motif of the spirit boat is still found on the traditional watercraft of the Sulu Archipelago, Borneo and Malaysia. Similarities in the execution of the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth of the figures may be seen today in the woodcarving of Taiwan, the Philippines, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.



My familiarity with the Manunggul jar was spurred by the image in the PHP1,000 bill, circulated in 1995. Viewing the artifact up close fascinated me tremendously. I saw the artistry of the early Filipinos reflected in those fine lines and intricate designs. We were definitely not as dumb as the Spaniards told us we were!

After a few years, when I took a cultural history subject during my undergraduate course in UP Diliman under Dr. Bernadette Lorenzo-Abrera, the Manunggul jar was given a whole new meaning. When an archaeological find was explained anthropologically, it was imbibed with far-reaching implications in re-writing its history.

The Manunggul jar served as a proof of our common heritage with our Austronesian-speaking ancestors despite the diversity of cultures of the Philippine peoples. Traces of their culture and beliefs were seen in different parts of the country and from different Philippine ethno-linguistic groups.

It was also a testament of the importance of the waters to our ancestors. The seas and the rivers were their conduit of trade, information and communication. According to Peter Bellwood, the Southeast Asians first developed a sophisticated maritime culture which made possible the spread of the Austronesian-speaking peoples to the Pacific Islands as far Madagascar in Africa and Easter Island near South America. Our ships—the balanghay, the paraw, the caracoa, and the like—were considered marvelous technological advances by our neighbors that they respected us and made us partners in trade.  These neighbors later then, grew to include the imperial Chinese.



Many epics around the Philippines would tell us of how souls go to the next life aboard boats, passing through the rivers and seas. The belief was very much connected with the Austronesia belief in the anito. Our ancestors believed that man is composed of the body, the life force called the ginhawa, and the kaluluwa (soul). The kaluluwa, after death, can return to earth to exist in nature and guide their descendants. This explained why the cover of the Manunggul jar featured three faces: the soul, the boat driver, and of the boat itself. For them, even things from nature have souls and lives of their own. That’s why our ancestors respected nature more than those who thought that it can be used for the ends of man.

Seeing the Manunggul jar once more, I was also reminded of the inventiveness of the early Filipinos as well as the concepts and values they hold most-- their concept of the soul, for example, are believed to exist only on  good-natured and merciful people. The belief was that the soul gave life, mind, and will to a person and if this was what our ancestors valued and exemplified, then our nation was not only great, but lived by compassionate people.

However, the colonial masters in the past labeled our ancestors no good and even tried to erase our legacies and values, and despite the media today showing how shameful, miserable and poor our country is, from time to time there would be people who echo the same values that our ancestors lived by.

In the 1890s, the Katipunan movement of Andres Bonifacio, which spearheaded the Philippine Revolution, tried to revive the values of magandang kalooban. During the People Power Uprising in1986, we showed the world the values of pananampalataya, pakikipagkapwa, pakikiramay, pagiging masiyahin, bayanihan, pagiging mapayapa, and pagiging malikhain --values that were deeply rooted in the Filipino culture. It was the  country's national hero, José Rizal, who once wrote, in his essay, Filipinas Dentro de Cien Años, (The Philippines Within a Century) that:

With the new men that will spring from her bosom and the remembrance of the past, she will perhaps enter openly the wide road of progress and all will work jointly to strengthen the mother country at home as well as abroad with the same enthusiasm with which a young man returns to cultivate his father’s farmland so long devastated and abandons due to the negligence of those who had alienated it. And free once more, like the bird that leaves his cage, like the flower that returns to the open air, they will discover their good old qualities which they are losing little by little and again become lovers of peace, gay, lively, smiling, hospitable, and fearless.



The Manunggul jar was a symbol of the National Museum’s important role in spearheading the preservation the cultural heritage—pamana—using multi-disciplinary techniques. It was a testament of how art can be a vessel of history and culture with the help of scholars. In this light, a simple jar became the embodiment of the history, experiences, and aspirations of the people and how the values of maka-Diyos, makatao at makabansa became part the value system of the Filipinos.

I have visited the manunggul jar numerous times since that April of 1995 at the Kaban ng Lahi room of the National Museum II—The Museum of the Filipino People (former Department of Finance Building). Everytime, I look at it I am reminded of how great and compassionate the Filipinos are and how I could never be ashamed of being a Filipino. Everytime I look at the Manunggul jar, I see a vision that a new generation of Filipinos will once more take the ancient balanghay as a people and be horizon seekers once more.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.artesdelasfilipinas.com/archives/50/the-manunggul-jar-as-a-vessel-of-history

Moriones Festival - Marinduque

The Moriones is an annual festival held on Holy Week on the island of Marinduque, Philippines. The "Moriones" are men and women in costumes and masks replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers as interpreted by local folks. The Moriones or Moryonan tradition has inspired the creation of other festivals in the Philippines where cultural practices or folk history is turned into street festivals.

Colorful festivals celebrated on the island of Marinduque and the Philippines. Morion means "mask" or "visor," a part of the medieval Roman armor which covers the face. Moriones, on the other hand, refers to the masked and costumed penitents who march around the town for seven days searching for Longinus. Morions roam the streets in town from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday scaring the kids, or engaging in antics or surprises to draw attention.

 This is a folk-religious festival that re-enacts the story of Saint Longinus, a Roman centurion who was blind in one eye. The festival is characterized by colorful Roman costumes, painted masks and helmets, and brightly colored tunics. The towns of Boac, Gasan, Santa Cruz, Buenavista and Mogpog in the island of Marinduque become one gigantic stage. The observances form part of the Lenten celebrations of Marinduque.

 The various towns also hold the unique tradition of the pabasa or the recitation of Christ's passion in verse.Then at three o'clock on Good Friday afternoon, 

the Santo Sepulcro is observed, whereby old women exchange verses based on the Bible as they stand in wake of the dead Christ. 

One of the highlights of this festival is the Via Crucis. A re-enactment of the suffering of Christ on his way to the calvary. Men inflict suffering upon themselves by whipping their backs, carrying a wooden cross and sometimes even crucifixion. They see this act as their form of atonement for their sins. This weeklong celebration starts on Holy Monday and ends on Easter Sunday.



http://philtimes.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/moriones-34.jpg

in the Philippines, Holy Week is observed with a fervor that mixes serious reverence leaning toward traditional Catholic practices on one hand and folk-beliefs bordering on the mystical, on the other hand. It is also a time for somber, self-imposed retreats; for leisurely out-of-town drives; planned family vacations; or cherished visits to the individual's home province (Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are national holidays; a four-day weekend).

And it is on this season that Marinduque becomes the focus of attention that spans the whole week.

For it is the time of the moriones.Once again, in a tradition that have been annually practiced for more than a hundred years now, men called morions (some are women, if you can discern the difference) appear on the six towns of Marinduque. These colorful characters, a parody of Roman soldiers during the time of Christ, are costumed in articles fashioned from clothes to shells, weaves of nito-vines and other indigenous materials limited only by the creativity of its maker. Fierce-looking, often bearded masks of handcarved wood or paper-mache topped by a helmet adorned with multi-hued paper flowers complete the typical morion garb. Painted wooden swords, spears, and shields are considered basic paraphernalia. For a whole week, these pesky figures populate the town's streets: engaging in mock swordfights, playing pranks on children, marching or dancing in groups, doing antics or springing surprises for everyone while safely hiding their identity behind their mask.

Beneath the exterior glee, the man behind the seemingly vexing morion is actually fulfilling a vow of penance or thanksgiving or is performing a numinous act of self-cleansing. Those unending walks under the sweltering heat of the summer sun, burdened by the leaden headgear, stifling behind the thick, suffocating mask, with a restricted vision limited to only tiny two holes, sweating inside their hot and cumbersome costumes, the hunger and thirst, and after a long, humid day - joining the early evening religious procession during Holy Wednesday and Good Friday still in their burdensome gears; these are all silently endured as a form of spiritual sacrifice.

Traditionally, the morion's real identity is kept secret, even to his immediate family. The mask and his costume is prepared painstakingly and discreetly months or even years before he actually wears it.

The practice, as research points out, originated in the town of Mogpog circa 1880s. Father Dionisio Santiago, the local parish priest during that time, is credited to have started it as a means of focusing the attention of his parishioners to Lenten religious activities.

The reverend took a byline from the Bible and developed this into a side-story that artfully interweaves itself into the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. The storyline centers on Longino, the Roman centurion who speared the side of the Crucified Christ. "...and at once blood and water poured out" (John, Chapter 19, Verse 34) of the Wound, a drop of which fell on the blind eye of the centurion, miraculously restoring his partial vision and partially, his faith. Longino, on orders of the Roman High Council, was ordered to command the soldiers assigned to guard the tomb of Christ. And he became fully converted when he witnessed the Resurrection of Christ. On that first Easter dawn, he ran around the town narrating what he saw, proclaiming that Christ is indeed the Son of God!

This is where the real fun starts, perfectly timed in Marinduque for its brand of Easter Sunday celebration.

On orders of "Pontious Pilate," all of the town's morions look for Longino to capture and behead him, putting to a stop his spreading the news of the Resurrection. The Roman centurion learns about the plot against him and begins eluding his fellow morions playing captors not to escape punishment but to gain a little more time in spreading the truth and his newly-found faith.

The Habulan or mad chase for Longino begins. Playing antics while running in chaotic circles around the town to elude his captors; in the market, hiding inside houses, fording rivers, climbing trees, losing himself in the crowds or even using the watching crowds as a shield between himself and his perplexed morion pursuers delight the spectators no end. Oftentimes, the onlooker unwittingly becomes a participant of this comedy-drama as he tries to help hide the hapless Longino that by now has become the 'darling of the crowd.

Longino is captured twice but is able to escape with the crowd's resounding roar of approval. On third time, realizing that he has made the world know that "Christ, the son of God, has risen," he bravely accepts his fate in the final act called Pugutan or mock beheading usually timed right before high noon. After asking his newly found Savior's forgiveness, he voluntarily lowers his head into the chopping block and his head is decapitated by another morion called the berdugo (executioner). His "lifeless" body is paraded around the town for his "funeral" that leads to the church where all morions rededicated this year's Lenten vow to God.

http://www.marinduque.gov.ph/moriones.html

Types of Printmaking

Printmaking is an art of transfering printed images on a surface. A print is a hand produced printer that has been transferred from a printing surface to a paper. It does not simply mean photographic reproductions but rather it encompasses reproduction or multiples made directly from the same block


Printmaking is a sometimes misunderstood aspect of visual art. The distinction between fine art prints and "limited edition prints" which are actually commercially reproduced prints (posters which have been signed) is not always easy to make.

Relief Printing

this is printing from a raised surface. A simple example of relief printing is a rubber stamp pressed into a stamp pad and pressed onto a piece of paper. Relief printing plates are made from flat sheets of material such as wood, linoleum, metal, styrofoam etc. After drawing a picture on the surface, the artist uses tools to cut away the areas that will not print. A roller - called a brayer - is used to spread ink on the plate. A sheet of paper is placed on top of the plate and the image is transferred by rubbing with the hand or a block of wood, or by being run through a printing press. The completed print is a mirror image of the original plate.

Woodcut - Historical uses: Textiles and other decorative purposes, playing cards, calendars and book illustrations.

Woodcut - Artists worth studying: Holbein the Younger, Fred Hagen, Vincent Van Gogh, James Whistler, any Japanese printmaker

Intaglio

This describes prints that are made by cutting the picture into the surface of the printing plate. Using a sharp V-shaped tool - called a burin - the printmaker gouges the lines of an image into the surface of a smooth polished sheet of metal or in some cases a piece of plexiglass. To make a print, ink is pushed into the lines of the design. The surface is then wiped clean so that the only areas with ink are the lines. A sheet of paper which has been soaked in water is then placed on the plate which is run through a printing press. The paper is literally forced into the small lines that have been cut into the plate. A variation of this technique is known as etching. With etching, acids are used to eat into the metal plate.

Artists worth studying: Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso, Thomas Gainsborough, Rembrandt van Ryn, Albrecht Durer

Planography (Lithography)

 relief prints are created from a raised surface, and intaglio prints are created from a cut surface. Planography however, is the printing of a flat surface. Lithography is the art of printing from a flat stone (limestone) or metal plate by a method based on the simple fact that grease attracts grease as it repels water. A design or image is drawn on the surface with a greasy material - grease crayon, pencil or ink - and then water and printing ink are applied. The greasy parts absorb the ink and the wet parts do not. Acids are often used with this type of printmaking to etch the stone and prevent grease from traveling where it should not. For example, if a finger is placed on the surface, enough grease is transferred and as such, the fingerprint will attract the ink. Unfortunately, lithography is a printing process which requires the use of proper facilities and materials. However, showing your students examples of lithography will help them to appreciate the fine art of printmaking even more.
History and uses: Lithography was invented in 1798. Its main advantage is the great number of prints that can be pulled.
Artists worth studying: Eugene Delacroix, Edouard Manet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edvard Munch

Row 1, cell 1	Row 1, cell 2	Row 1, hey
Row 2, cell 1	Row 2, cell 2	Row 2, cell 3
Row 3, cell 1	Row 3, cell 2	Row 3, cell 3
Row 4, cell 1	Row 4, cell 2	Row 4, cell 3