LESSON 4:

THE CONTEMPORARY IN
TRADITIONAL ART:
National Living Treasures Award
(Philippines)
alternatively known as the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA; lit. Award for
the Creators of the Country) is conferred to a person or group of artists recognized
by the Government of the Philippines for their contributions to the country's
intangible cultural heritage.
 A recipient of the award, known as a National Living
Treasures or Manlilikha ng Bayan is defined as "a Filipino
citizen or group of Filipino citizens engaged in any traditional
art uniquely Filipino, whose distinctive skills have reached
such a high level of technical and artistic excellence and have
been passed on to and widely practiced by the present
generations in their community with the same degree of
technical and artistic competence.
 The National Living Treasures Award (Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan) was institutionalized in
1992 through Republic Act No. 7355. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts,
which is the highest policy-making and coordinating body of the Philippines for culture and the
arts, was tasked with the implementation. This is in line with UNESCO's criteria of Living
 is an inhabitant of an indigenous/traditional cultural community anywhere in the
1. Philippines that has preserved indigenous customs, beliefs, rituals and traditions
and/or has syncretized whatever external elements that have influenced it.

must have engaged in a folk-art tradition that has been in existence and
Criteria: 2. documented for at least 50 years.

To become a
National Living
must have consistently performed or produced over a significant period,
Treasure, the 3. works of superior and distinctive quality.
candidate must
possess the
following must possess a mastery of tools and materials needed by the art and must
qualifications: 4. have an established reputation in the art as master and maker of works of
extraordinary technical quality.

must have passed on and/or will pass on to other members of the community their
5. skills in the folk art for which the community is traditionally known.
A traditional artist who possesses all the qualities of a Manlilikha ng Bayan candidate,
but due to age or infirmity has left them incapable of teaching further their craft, may
still be recognized if

1. had created a significant body of works and/or has consistently displayed

excellence in the practice of their art, thus achieving important
contributions for its development.

2. has been instrumental in the revitalization of their community's artistic

tradition.

3. has passed on to the other members of the community skills in the folk art
for which the community is traditionally known.

4. community has recognized them as master and teacher of their craft.

National Living Treasure
Categories: Maritime transport
Weaving
Carving
Performing arts
Literature
Graphic and Plastic arts
Ornament
Textile or Fiber art
Pottery
GAMABA AWARDEES
WEAVING
Year of Conferment: 1998
Ethnicity/Location: T’boli/Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, Mindanao, Southern Philippines
Expertise: Tinalak Weaving
Year of Conferment: 1998
Ethnicity/Location: Tagabawa Bagobo/Bansalan Davao Del Sur, Southeastern Mindanao Island,
Southern Philippines
Expertise: Inabal Weaving
Year of Conferment: 2004
Ethnicity/Location: Tausug/Parang, Sulu, Southern Philippines
Expertise: Pis Siyabat Weaving
Year of Conferment: 2004
Ethnicity/Location: Sama/Tandubas Tawi-Tawi, Southern Philippines
Expertise: Mat Weaving
Year of Conferment: 2012
Ethnicity/Location: Ilocano/Pinili, Ilocos Norte, Northern Luzon Island , Northern Philippines
Expertise: Inabel Weaving
Literature and
Performing Arts
Year of Conferment: 1993
Ethnicity/Location: Hanunoo Mangyan/Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, Central Philippines
Expertise: Surat Mangyan and Ambahan Poetry
Year of Conferment: 1993
Ethnicity/Location: Pala’wan/Brookes Point, Palawan Island, Central Philippines
Expertise: Lyrical Poems (kulilal, basal, and bagit) and playing their accompanying instruments;
epic chanting and storytelling
Year of Conferment: 1993
Ethnicity/Location: Maguindanao/Mama sa Pano, Maguindanao Western Mindanao
Island, Southern Philippines
Expertise: Playing the Kudyapi
Year of Conferment: 2000
Ethnicity/Location:Kalinga/Lubuagan, Kalinga, Northern Luzon Island, Northern Philippines
Expertise: Playing the Kudyapi
Year of Conferment: 2000
Ethnicity/Location: Sulod Bukidnon/Calinog, IloIlo, Panay Island, Central Philippines
Expertise: Chanting the Sugidanon epic of the Panay Bukidnon
Year of Conferment: 2000
Ethnicity/Location: Yakan/Lamitan, Basilan Island, Southern Philippines
Expertise: Playing Yakan musical instrument
Plastic Arts
Year of Conferment: 2004
Ethnicity/Location: Kapampangan/Apalit, Pampangga, Central Luzon Island, Northern
Philippines
Expertise: Silver Plating of religious and secular art
Year of Conferment: 2012
Ethnicity/Location: Ilocano/San Quintin, Abra, Northern Luzon Island, Northern Philippines
Expertise: Gourd casque making
The Production
Process and
The Changing
Environment

Factors that affects

the traditional
artists production
process:
• Tourism – land areas are converted
into sites for tourist consumption.
Ecological domains becomes more
susceptible to damage with the
combined forces of natural disasters
and tourist mobility.
• Dances and rituals are staged for an
external audience.
• Art forms diminish in quality, the
works are transformed into mass
produced souvenirs.
• Synthetic fibers have been made
available.
• Mining and Infrastructure Projects – the
construction of dams and the
establishments of oil and mining
companies evict people from their
dwellings and severely damage the
environment.
• Indigenous groups are prompted to
seek short-term employment from
these industries in order to make ends
meet in a money economy.
• Militarization – the insecurity and
tensions brought about by militarized
zones arrest the people’s ability to
create art. It prevents people from
having communal gatherings, where
exchanges and passing of knowledge
can take place.
• Christianization – the influence of
Christianity and the conversion of the
natives to a foreign religion have
caused members of the community to
forsake their indigenous rituals and
traditions.
• People are led to believe that that the
latter are primitive and therefore their
practice has no place in the
contemporary culture.
 • The archipelagic orientation
of the Philippines makes it
Difficulties challenging to reach by land,
air, or sea.
in the
• Locations - Places that pose
Selection security risks, particularly
Process militarized zones.
 • It creates a division within the
communities when one person
is elevated to the status of a
Effects of national awardee.
the • The attention and the entry of
the awardee may create a
GAMABA disruption that may also
change, not just the social and
in the economic relationship, but also
the people’s attitudes,
concepts, and definitions of the
Communities art forms and the processes.