[TALK] 'TAWID' - EXPLORING THE MUSIC HERITAGE OF THE CORDILLERA REGION OF THE PHILIPPINES

Date: Monday, 17 December 2018

Time: 13:00 - 14:30

Venue: Fang Zhaoling Gallery,  1/F T.T. Tsui Gallery, University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Language: English

Cost: Free admission. Registration required. Please click here. All are welcome.

Co-organised: UMAG, Consulate General of the Philippines in Hong Kong

 

For the indigenous peoples of the mountainous Cordillera region in the Northern Philippines, the term tawid is part of a larger worldview that encompasses both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. In this lecture, Arvin Manuel R. Villalon explores the musical culture of the Kalinga people of the Cordillera, which is tied to ideas about "luta" (land), kalidudwa (spirituality), "ili" (community), "koppyan" (the cycle of life), "mampija" (‘that which is good’) and "bivyu" (beauty). All of these elements relate to the sensory-aesthetic, mental-emotional and relational dimensions of music. The lecture will be followed by a performance by the Coro d’llera Music Ministry from Baguio, which will demonstrate how the rich musical heritage of the Cordillera continues to thrive and evolve. 

Speaker: Arvin Manuel R. Villalon is a lecturer in psychology at the University of the Philippines in Baguio. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from Ateneo de Manila University, as well as a Master of Indigenous Studies from the University of Otago, New Zealand. He is a consultant to the National Cultural Mapping Project of the National Commission for Culture and Arts in the Philippines, and is a member of the Commission for Higher Education Technical Committee on Cultural Education. His research interests include indigenous psychotherapy and spirituality, heritage studies and Cordillera musical culture.