Tuklas: Discover the Indigenous Culture of Filipinos

 

Philippine Expressions Bookshop celebrates its 30^th 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.

Twelve FilAm Authors to Sign Books at FPAC

Saturday, Sept 7, 2013 and Sunday, Sept 8, 2013
11:55am – 4:00pm

Twelve authors will be signing their books during the Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC) at Point Fermin, San Pedro on the weekend of Sept 7 and 8. This will be the 22nd annual Festival organized by FilAmArts, the premier arts organization of the Filipino American community of Los Angeles. Philippine Expressions Bookshop, now on its 29th year of operation as a Filipiniana book specialist will sponsor the booksigning which will be held at their booths at the Festival. The authors who will be booksigning on specific dates and time are:

Saturday, Sept 7.

12:00noon – 2:00pm.

Marvin Gapultos, author of The Adobo Road Cookbook: A Filipino Food Journey – from Food Blog to Food Truck, and Beyond

Leslie Ryan, author of I Am Flippish!, a children’s book that highlights the multicultural heritage of her two children who are of Filipino and Irish parentage.

Giovanni Ortega, author of Leaves from the Silverlake Barrio, a collection of prose and poetry. Ortega is a poet, playwright and performer and has performed his poetry all over the US.

From 2:00pm – 4:00pm, Leslie Ryan will again sign her book, and tentatively, with Marvin Gapultos. Myrna de la Paz aka as Myrna Mulhern, author of Abadeha: Philippine Cinderella has also been invited to sign from 2-4pm on Saturday.

Myrna J. de la Paz aka Myrna Mulhern, author of Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella.

2:00pm – 4:00pm

Imelda Lorayna Fowler, author of Home and Back Again, is the mother of two and a grandmother of three children. She is also a National and State Power Lifting champion (97 lbs. class), holding several records in the United States. In her book, she relates her Near Death Experiences (NDE), which gives the reader not only a glimpse of our real home, but answers many of life’s basic questions. Moreover, it will inspire and give hope, strength, healing and above all, faith and love for God to live better more meaningful and loving lives.

Sunday, September 8.

12:00noon – 2:00pm.

Jay Wertz, who is an American chronicler of World War ll will join the Fil Am authors and will sign his two books, The Pacific: War Stories. WWll Firshand, Vol. l: Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal which includes accounts of the Filipino participation in WWll and his recent book, The Pacific: War Stories. WWll Firsthand Vol. Two. The Solomons to Saipan. Both titles were published by Weider History Publications, Virginia

Albert J. Mortiz, author of Discover the Philippines Cookbook. A self-taught cook, Albert is a world traveler and has been exposed to a lot of cultures as well as their cooking traditions.

Judy Patacsil, author of Filipinos in San Diego. She is a tenured professor at Miramar College, San Diego, a second generation Fil Am and a Trustee of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS).

Patricia Justiniani McReynolds, author of Almost Americans: A Quest for Dignity. An American Memoir. Her father was Filipino who married a Norwegian-born woman and as a child, McReynolds suffered the stings of prejudice while helping her parents negotiate the shoals of racism.

All the above authors will continue to sign their books from 2:00pm – 4:00pm.

12:00nn – 1:00pm

Lorenzo Paran III, author of Pinoy in America, a collection of interesting vignettes regarding life in America for Pinoys and of course, Pinays. Read it and find yourself in the many stories being retold here. Third, (that is his real nickname) was Asst. Professor in the Dept of English and Comparative Literature at the University of the Philippines before he moved to the US. He now reviews Filipino American art and culture as well as work as a Copy Editor and Page Designer of Los Angeles News Group.

1:00pm – 4:00pm

Sumi Sevilla Haru, author of Iron Lotus: Memoirs. For forty years, Haru had advocated for the rights of people of color, women and for realistic images of Asian Pacific Americans in the media. She was a national vice-president of the AFL-CIO.

2:00pm -4:00pm

Carina Monica Montoya, aka Carina Forsythe will sign her latest book, A Rose and a Butterfly: An Autobiography of an Immigrant’s Daughter. Montoya shares the story of her life as a second generation Fil Am born and raised in Los Angeles, who is “too brown to be “white” and “too white-washed to be “brown.” She is also the author of four other books: Filipinos in Hollywood, Los Angeles’s Historic Filipinotown, Let’s Cook Adobo, a juvenile book and Santa Maria Valley which includes accounts of Filipinos in the area. The last title was co-authored by the Santa Maria Valley Historical Society.

Dawn Bohulano Mabalon, author of Little Manila Is In The Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California was also scheduled to sign her latest book at the Festival but will be unable to come because of illness. Mabalon’s first book is Filipinos in Stockton which is still in print.

For the last twenty-two years, Philippine Expressions Bookshop has been sponsoring booksignings at their booth at the Festival. This is an ongoing outreach program in order to help develop the interest of Filipino Americans for books written by authors of Filipino ancestry.If you will be unable to attend, the Bookshop accepts orders for signed copies of authors’ books until Thursday, Sept. 6. Just call (310) 514-9139 or email: linda@philippineexpressionsbookshop.com. You can become a friend of Friends of Philippine Expressions Bookshop on facebook. The bookshop’s address is PO Box 4201, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA 90274.
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Everyone is invited. Please drop by our Booth and browse. A select collection of fine Filipiniana books and books written by Filipino Americans authors will be on display, suitable for all ages. Support writings by FIl Am authors and have your books autographed by them. See you …