Philippine Expressions Bookshop celebrates its 30th Anniversary and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with the presentation of-
TUKLAS: DISCOVER THE INDIGENOUS CULTURE OF FILIPINOS
Saturdays, May 17, May 24 and May 31, 2014 | 5:00pm – 9:00pm
Croatian Cultural Center of Greater Los Angeles | 519 West 7th St @ Pacific | San Pedro, CA 90731
May 17-31: T’nalak Exhibit : The Sacred Weave of the Tbolis
Explore a T’nalak forest and enjoy 50 of the highest quality handwoven tapestries by the T’boli people of Lake Sebu, Cotabato, Mindanao Island; the documentary Weaving T’nalak; a touch-and-feel experience of the raw materials from the abaca tree; t’nalak looms; and rolls of finished products.
Curator Fides Enriquez is an independent ethnographer, film documentarian, photographer, produce,r and explorer. The T’boli textile exhibit, Fu Dalu – The Spirit of the T’nalak was first presented at Pusod Gallery in Berkeley in 2002, and then on special display at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in 2005. Fides has given talks on T’nalak at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and for the Textile Arts Council at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. In 2012, she produced the award winning documentary, Harana – The Search for the Lost Art Of Serenade, a film about the traditional courtship music of the Philippines. She has also produced Florante Aguilar’s original theatrical works Lalawigan – A Tagalog Song Cycle and Aswang – Tales of Philippine Lore.
May 17: Book Launch, Music, & Martial Arts
Author Lane Wilcken deciphers the fragments of Filipino tradition and reveals the actual life history of an ancient art and a people as we launch his book, The Forgotten Children of Maui: Filipino Myths, Tattoos & Rituals of a Demigod. 2013. Hidden within the ancient mythology, and long-forgotten tattoo designs, and dying rituals of the Philippines, lies the powerful impact of Maui, a man well-known in Polynesia but nearly forgotten in the Philippines. Wilcken is also the author of Filipino Tattoos: Ancient to Modern. 2010.
We will also hear the haunting sounds of chants from ancient Philippines which only Grace Nono, well-known ethnomusicologist could interpret as we launch her latest book, Song of the Babaylan: Living Voices, Medicines, Spiritualities of Philippine Ritualist – Oralist – Healers.(2013). Nono is also the author of The Shared Voice: Chanted and Spoken Narratives from the Philippines (2008).
The sounds of kulintang, the traditional musical instrument of the Muslim people of Southern Philippines, will enchant you as Eleanor Academia of the World Kulintang Institute demonstrates the varied tones that evolve from the brass gongs and speak to your heart. She and her husband, Guro Cass Magda of the Magda Institute (which teaches martial arts philosophy in action) will also demonstrate traditional martial art forms called Kali in the southern islands of the country and Arnis in the lowlands of Visayas and Luzon. They will talk about how the art has evolved from a dance of skills to the art of self-defense.
Hand-weaving whether for cloth or mats and baskets, kulintang music, chants and native dances, martial arts, the art of tattooing and the calligraphy of ancient Filipinos will surprise you. They are the basis of the ancient culture of the people. The Filipino you meet today is the composite of all these traditions, as he evolves from 350 years of Hispanization which has Christianized the core of his being.
MAY 24, 2014 – Reception for Filipino-American Authors
Authors have been part of the Bookshop family all these years. Our anniversary celebration is as much theirs, as it is ours!
- Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella. A retelling by Myrna de la Paz Mulhern, author and storyteller.
- Being Filipino, As a Writer in America: a panel discussion. Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Moderator.
- Baybayin & Alibata: Filipino Ancient Script. By Norman de los Santos
- Arnis: Filipino Martial Arts. A demo by Guro Ramses Sison and his students.
- Kulintang: Ancient music and its History by Ron Quesada of Kulintronica. The underlying theme is cultural survival through tradition and innocation. He will perform traditional kulintang music and to show his versalility, he will demonstrate how music from an ancient instrument can be blended to create fusion music of the 2lst century.
MAY 31, 2014 – A Celebration of Filipino Folk dances
Traditional dances from the North to the South will highlight the similarities and the differences among various communities, whether in their musical traditions, costumes and folk ways. Some of the dances to be featured include Sambi sa Malong or Kappa Malong Malong, a Maranao dance that shows the many ways of wearing a malong. Malong is a simple tubular yet highly functional piece of cloth. Another one is the Kalinga Courtship Dance from the Luzon Cordilleras.
Join us for a delightful show.
TICKETS
Tickets are good for all three Saturday events.
General: $30 or a dollar a year to represent thirty years of service to the Filipino American community
Sponsor: $100 & $50
Students/Seniors: $10
A limited number of $10.00 tickets are available for the May 17 Opening Event.
To order tickets, please send your check payable to Philippine Expressions Bookshop and mail to PO Box 4201, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA 90274. You can also pay via PayPal to : <linda_nietes@sbcglobal.net> or call 310-514-9139 should you wish to pay by credit card. Only paid reservations will be honored. The number seventy-seven (77) is the magic number for Linda this year. There will be a special prize for the number 77th guest for the next three Saturdays. Send your reservations early.
All programs will start promptly at 5:00pm. Street parking. Refreshments Table will open by 6:00pm. A mini-bazaar of Filipiniana books, art, handwoven fabrics and other curiosities will be available on all three Saturdays. If you wish to be part of the bazaar, please call Linda Nietes at 310-514-9139 or send email to: linda@philippineexpressionsbookshop.com
First Books for Filipino Children, a literacy project of Linda Nietes and Robert J. Little gives free books to the poor children of the Province of Antique, Philippines. As the name suggests, these books are literally the first and probably the last books that these children will be able to own in their lifetime unless the economic conditions of their parents improve. So, your support of these three weekend events will allow them to continue their literacy project.
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