Waway saway biography of christopher

His profound love for art gave him the passage to meet artists and artisans in both local and international scene. Currently, he still continues to master his techniques in singing, and continues to help his community through charity and volunteerism with Tabang Malaybalay Foundation. Home About Awards Contact Foundation. The famous and International Bukidnon artist Waway Saway.

Waway Linsahay Saway Christian name: Rodeliois a byword among contemporary artists and indigenous communities in Mindanao. Son of Talaandig supreme chieftain Datu Kinulintang—a famous arbiter and peacemaker—Waway was born into a family of 17, his father having had three wives. And unlike many indigenous children, Waway went to college in the prestigious Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro and took up Agriculture.

Pretty soon, his artistic inclinations would bring him out of the academe and into the university of life. And so it was that in the early 90s Waway joined a band of bohemian musicians and craftsmen wrapped in stone and bead ornaments. The group travelled to Manila and Boracay playing "world music," which, to Waway, sounded like the music of his own indigenous community.

At about that time, too, indigenous-inspired apparel and jewelry were becoming fashionable. Realizing that people around him appreciated indigenous art more than he did, Waway decided he needed to go home to re-discover his tribe. And so after a brief sojourn with the travelling troupe, Waway packed his bags and instruments and trekked back to his mountain community.

He re-learned his tribe's art, customs, and traditions, and found out that the Talaandig have long been waway saway biography of christopher to reclaim their ancestral domain and cultural integrity. I spend four years in Boracay, meeting with different artists and musicians. At that time I was searching for myself. I grew up with my parents and relatives in the Talaandig community, hearing the music and seeing the dance and rituals.

But then I didn't have the feeling of loving these things, because I had nothing to compare. I was rather interested in western music played on the radio. When I stayed in Boracay, I learned some tribal people were working with their identity through arts, and it opened up my mind. My understanding about our cultural identity became clearer.

When I was growing up in the community, I didn't realize my village was a treasure, and the culture was gold. So after I learned many things outside, I came back home and I started to revive our music and art, and teach the importance to young kids. When I came back inthe music in the tribe was almost dying because of the modernization.

I tried to apply what I learned outside to my community. What I did was to make a traditional drum, and I taught people in my community how to play. I also taught them how to paint. Most of the kids here only go up to elementary school. Artists here don't have proper education, but through art and music they can interact with people in other communities.

I also teach them how to communicate in English. Because there are many foreign visitors come here, so they need to build up their speaking skills. Is painting a part of traditional culture for the Talaandig tribe? Painting is not part of our culture, but through painting, we show our culture. It's like a narrative of culture. Because we are a tribe, we have to work together.

Painting gives us an opportunity to exchange ideas. When one person proposes an idea, we do critique to come to an agreement. They often ask me for the suggestions for the title of their works. They tend to just paint. I tell them to transfer their imagination to canvas. I just teach them how to use the brush, soil and paint on canvas. While they are painting, I also give them technical suggestions like how to make the color balance, etc.

When I was in Bohol, I used to paint together with friends by using clay. So when I came home inI introduced not only clay but also soil that we can pick up from the land as pigments. You can choose different colors with soil. Many friends, like Kublai Millan from Davao, also helped us to develop the craft. How many artists do you have in the community?

Some are active and some only paint once a year. They are also farmers. So I would say 20 to The younger ones work faster. The Talaandig artists are featured in Singapore Biennale How did it happen? The curators, Ms. Joyce Toh and Mr. Abraham Jr. Garcia came here, talked to the artists and asked us to write a proposal. So we submitted the proposal early this year, and it was approved.

So we thought of what it means to us, and we painted our community and how the traditional culture and development coexist. In the proposal we noted only 10 artists, but most of the artists in the community worked for it. The work is already in Singapore Art Museum. How was the process of making a collaborative work? How was working with international curators?

Good thing about collaboration for us is that we have an illustrator, who is good in sketching- Salima Saway. We tell her where to put the images like waway saway biography of christopher, car, truck, and other stuff and our master sketcher says OK and she finishes the sketch. After that, we put colors. We just enjoyed the process.

We don't have problems with painting together. Nobody opposes each other. Grounded in his indigenous origins yet with a contemporary artistry and outlook that has brought him to Europe, USA, and everywhere in the Philippines, Waway leads a pack of young Talaandig musicians and visual artists, who often gather around his bamboo home and the adjacent workshop area to make drums, flutes and rainsticks, paint, play music, and create earthcraft jewelry, stonecrafts, and other butingtings knicknacks.

He discovered painting with soil and clay and nature dyes in the late 90s. Waway is known for using and popularizing soil and clay as paint material, thus accounting for the earth colors of all his paintings. His first music CD was recorded in the heart of Mt. Kitanglad, Bukidnon's highest mountain. Barely two months later, Waway recorded the music of his co-Talaandig musicians and mass-produced the CDs from the new CD-dubbing machine.

His home in Sungko is also home to many "outsiders"; several have come all the way from Europe to visit the community musician who is also a great storyteller. His stories and his amazing sense of humor drew many artists, journalists, and cultural workers to the small Talaandig community. Waway fathers four children, with another one on the way.

He is closest to Ellahi, to whom one of his music albums is dedicated. Another soil painting artist is Villamor "John" Estrada. I know John personally. When I first saw his artworks at the Malaybalay City Tourism Office, my interest to soil painting spurted up. I contacted him and ordered one of his works, which is reasonably priced. I also ordered a customized painting copied from my photo, with some preferred changes for a more earthy and tribal effect.