Morales, Resyl Bei S.

Humn 11 Art Appreciation

BSED- Mathematics 3 Tue (8:00-10:00)
Assessment 5:

Choose one artist in the list of recipients of the GAMABA Award. Research on the following
information about him/her.
a. Aspects of his/her life which have contributed to his/her being an artist and to his artwork.
b. His/her life as an artist with focus on significant events that he/she experienced.
c. The significance of his/her art to the community and the Filipino as a whole.

Artisan: Magdalena Gamayo

Magdalena Gamayo learned to weave at the age of

16, informally from her aunt by copying her patterns.
She received her first loom, which she used for 30
years, from her father at the age of 19. She taught
herself traditional patterns of “binakul” – woven cloth
with square and rectangle forms making up the
“kusikus” (whirlwind, “marurup” (milky way), and
“sinan-paddak ti pusa” (cat’s paw print) designs. On
her own, she also mastered the multi-heddle
“pinalagtuan” weaving technique which, among a
variety, produces the “inuritan” (geometric design) and “sinan-sabong” (flowers), which is
considered as the most challenging pattern.
She trained some women in Pinili, Ilocos Norte including her cousin’s daughter-in-law,
sister -in-law and her neighbors in order to continue the abel weaving tradition. She was granted
the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or National Living Treasures Award in 2012 for her work in
weaving. Her prized design, “Inubon a Sabog” (String of Flowers) was first conceived in the
1950’s.
She contributed to the development of the
Ilocano abel by using traditional designs in her work
as well as perfecting weaving techniques that further
enhance the uniqueness of these designs. She also
has passionately taught the art of abel weaving and
traditional designs to her community which helps
other young people to identify their traditional
culture through weaving. Most importantly, her
work enables generations of Filipinos to learn,
exchange and grow as a community through the art
of abel making. As according to Lola Magdalena Gamayo, “My hopes for the Abel industry is
what everybody was telling me. That it should be developed, and we train more weavers so the
tradition will not be lost. We should involve the younger generation because we are getting old
and the youth should take over”.