"Very few locals appreciate and have the heart for this; foreign buyers do," he admits. Yet, selling primitive art objects and antiquities to foreigners pain him. "Many times I lose money, forcing my friends to buy them just so that these rare objects do not go out of the country. At least if they remain here, I can sometimes visit and see them."
Batangas-born Baylosis delights in the primeval rhythm, symmetry and strength of style in the art of the Bontocs and the lfugaos.
Instead of colonial retablos and santos which he describes as "borrowed art," Baylosis opts for more basic art "born of and dictated by native needs and beliefs, and free from colonial influence." The art of the mountain people of the north can be both decorative and utilitarian.
For instance, the kalasag, (Kalinga shield) is utilitarian, but is overlaid with elaborate decorative motifs and designs. The same is true with such Ifugao household articles as the haldak (shelf and rack), dinalulu (animal-form bowls), datiw (food and spice bowl), ido (wooden spoon with carved laddle), duvo (food and condiment bowl). Some artifacts are for rituals such as Dunamhan (ritual box) and bulul and bihana, (wooden religious images placed in rice granaries, burial caves and entrances to the villages).
Another interesting object d'art among the lfugaos is the hap, abi a prestige bench from Kiangan, carved from a single tree trunk, with an abstract animal head on each end. It functions as a major ritual object in the elevation of a community member to the status of kadangyan, or one of the social elite. Ceremonies are naturally not without the
tilf-ay )Ifugao spear) and the sulibao and kimbal (Nabaloi drums) in sight and in use.
Issue No. 1
Highland Art, The Power and Vigor
