Panay Bukidnon children show skills in 'tawo-tawo' making
CALINOG, Iloilo -- Twenty four Panay Bukidnon children have shown artistry in tawo-tawo making (doll making) during last week’s Panubok 2, a binanog dance and costume embroidery exhibit and workshop.
The children aged from as young as seven years old to 15 years old dressed up dolls according to their traditions and culture. They were assisted by Iloilo provincial awardee for visual arts Alan Cabalfin and hantup (master embroiderer) Gleceria Gilbaliga. Gilbaliga is only one of the few remaining hantups in the Panay Bukidnon.
The Panay Bukidnon children from Calinog are called Halawudnon while those from Tapaz, Capiz are called Pan-ayanon. They got their names based on their river settlement. Halawudnon came from the Halaur River and Pan-ayanon from Pan-ay River. They were dressed in their colorful supa (traditional costume). Girls even wore headdress adorn with 1974 1 peso and 1981 10 centavo coins. The coins were kept by their parents for more than two decades.
The Halawudnons came from three barangays in Calinog namely Igcalaga, Garangan and Masaroy, some 12 kilometers away from the town proper.
The children with the help of Cabalfin and Gilbaliga dressed up the dolls based in their own skills, understanding and appreciation of their culture as members of the Panay Bukidnon or indigenous people. To note, not only the female children joined in the doll making but also male children. They look like they were just playing while sewing mini-dresses for their dolls.
They used materials such as cloth, colorful threads and yarns to express their artistic skills in doll making. Duldol (cotton) was used as filling materials to form a doll. Red yarns dominate the colors of their works.
Gilbaliga, whose two young children Rolinda, 7, and Angelie, 12, were among the participants, said she has been teaching her kids from early age to hone their skills. Angelie, aside from her interests in tawo-tawo making, is also a graceful binanog dancer.
Binanog is a kind of dance that needs grace and skills. It is a dance that manifests actions and movements of a hawk or dapay.
Gilbaliga said she has been doing designs such as sikag-sikag, tuko-tuko, bulak na puti, togi-togi and mata ka magkal. Most of these designs reflect creatures found in their place. Sikag-sikag resembles fishbone, tuko-tuko, a salamander and mata ka magkal, eyes of snake.
The Panubok is a kind of activity to liven up the indigenous people’s culture and traditions in this modern time. The Panay Bukidnon’s artistry especially in embroidery is also shared by indigenous people in other parts of the Panay.
As a hantup, Gilbaliga has been to the provinces of Aklan, Capiz and Antique and to different activities sponsored by the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP).