From The Inbox
On becoming brown
(Note: The author intended this article not to follow the rules on capitalization as his way of de-constructing the text and context of the change in color...)
that dagoy, the city's icon for dinagyang, is black will not be true anymore starting this 2008. he will be brown. and all things associated with dagoy- particularly the warriors- will be brown, too. in short, dinagyang is brown not black in 2008 onwards.
though lacking in historical basis, dinagyang has remained the premier festival in the province and city of iloilo where people from all walks of life, places, and even milieus swarm iloilo every fourth week of january. these people, including most ilonggo population, share the impression that: (1) dinagyang is the encapsulized story of ilonggos as a people and (2) the way ilonggos celebrate it defines who they really are and draws the line between the present and eventually their future.
this is not purely about brown and black as colors as most people, especially those in the city government, likely to believe. dagoy will be brown to make it different from ati-atihan. to be different takes a lot. and some people, the self-proclaimed cultural activists, think changing one's color means uniqueness. from black to brown, dinagyang is not only distinguished from ati-atihan but occupies a new space in one's consciousness.
through their eyes, the viewers will forget black and remember brown. for them, black is not black. it is something else. to their eyes, dagoy should not be black after all. or worst, black is nothing. in the process, black as a color is easily forgotten. it is repressed, consumed yet present. hence, to remember is to forget.
and the viewers remember brown. if so, it is seeing dinagyang as exotic. it is something different before the viewer's very eyes. that's why they keep on seeing, coming, and telling about dinagyang to everyone else every year. even ilonggos themselves would like to hear foreigners saying that their dinagyang is unique, exotic, and special. indeed, one does see dinagyang through foreigner's eyes relegating their own culture in subconscious.
the self-proclaimed cultural activists might have not realized this. i can't blame them. all they know, at most, is about income, profit, and tourists. that's why they want dagoy be brown-to be different, to be remembered, and to feel and look like foreigners in their own land. this is how dangerous their thoughts are. verily, the greatest battle lies in the realm of our minds.
since it began, dinagyang is black. atis and warriors are painted black. people who flock the streets have anything black. the festive mood is colorful yet black. changing black to brown is like losing one's soul. to be different, in this case, is not being different at all. it is the disintegration of the body, mind, and soul.
undoubtedly, dagoy is now a cultural relic. to say something is cultural means it embraces the thoughts of a group of people in a given time and space. to produce a symbol based on a deficient and misguided understanding of history- the Ilonggos'- would lead to a divided, rivaling but subdued society. culture is not being different, unique, or exotic. it is being proud of what one has and not seeing it as a hindrance to development. not to feel, look and think alike is not only looking at one's own foreign but also alienate themselves from their society that given them form and substance.
festivals are there for they capture a portion of the past, present and future. it is where every color does not mean only a color. that one's memory keeps unfolding. that power struggle within the society remains vocal yet silenced. it echoes the times and spaces shared by the people that make them moving. now, are income, profit, and tourists development? maybe, the atis of panay have answers from our own streets.
* Rene C. Trance is a Science Research Assistant at WESVARRDEC, UP Visayas, Iloilo City.