Ukkil: Visual Arts of the Sulu Archipelago by Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa

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This book is a useful source of information on an impressive range of decorative motifs and designs of the Sulu Archipelago, their usage as well as their probable connection with other living within and beyond Southeast Asia. This comprehensive book is important because it seems to be the only one of its kind, it shows what the fertile imagination of unheralded folk artists can accomplish with simple tools and indigenous materials within the context of their own cultural milieu, at once physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. The Sulu Archipelago, a chain of nearly 500 picturesque islands and islets ringed with glistening white sandy beaches, extends northeast-southwest from the southwestern tip of Mindanao Island. It is inhabited by the Samal or Sama, the Badjaw and the Tau-Sug which is the dominant ethnic group today. "Moro art" is the collective label for the traditional art forms originating from the diverse Moro or Muslim ethnolinguistic groups in Southern Philippines. Included in this book are artworks of a style reflecting the traditional Islamic artistic values and ideals, evident in (1) the oral traditions, (2) the performance arts - martial arts, dance and music (3) the applied and plastic arts - weaving (basketry and fabrics), cutwork and needlecraft - (embroidery, appliquí©, beadwork, pottery, sculpture and metalwork (blacksmithing, brasscasting, silver-and goldsmithing). This book is a wonderful companion to the author's first book, Pang-alay: Traditional Dances and Related Folk Artistic Expressions. Both of her books document the abundance of a cultural heritage unknown to many Filipinos. A coffee table books worth passing on to the next generation.

Finalist, 2006 Gintong Aklat Awards for the Arts.

About the Author
Excerpts from the book regarding the author, written by Matthew M. Santamaria, Ph.D. and Nanette Matilac: Numerous awards conferred on Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa attest to her valuable contribution to dance research in the Philippines. Among them are awards from her alma matter, Far Eastern University; a special award from the City of Manila during the city's 423rd founding anniversary as well as an award in May 1999 on the golden jubilee of the Philippine Folk Dance Society. In July 2005, she received the Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi from the Ateneo de Manila University, " for illuminating what is probably the darkest region of our cultural terrain by her research and teaching, for her dedication in preserving and transmitting the wealth of Sulu art and culture. In the words of many people, she is "a national treasure long unappreciated and unrecognized." Widowed since 1987, the book is a fine tribute to the culture of her husband, the late Datu Punjungan Amilbangsa. Her two books reveal her reverence for the objects of creation, and celebrates the people and culture from which it emerges. Her personal philosophy is to preserve the process of the art form as a "meaningful mode of expression of the people as they evolve through the passing of time." To her, preservation recognizes that "tradition is continuity" which makes her, not only an art scholar but also a significant social thinker.
A Philippine import. Limited copies available.

Publisher : Ateneo de Manila University Press, December 31, 2007
Language: : English
Paperbound: 302 pages
ISBN-10 : 971550480-9
ISBN-13 : 978-97-1-550480-5
Item Weight : 2.6 pounds
Dimensions : 8.5 x 0.75 x 11.75 inches