Art and the Environment

• Main Author: Garcia, Leni dlR.
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2017
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/paha/vol7/iss2/13; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/paha/article/1250/viewcontent/PAHA_207.2_2013_20For_20the_20record_20__20Garcia.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Excerpt: On June 15, 2017, my students and I found ourselves dancing to the beat of native instruments, played by Leo Emmanuel Castro and his associates at Sanghabi, an organization that promotes indigenous Filipino culture. We were each holding a bungkaka, beating it against the palm of our hands, as we participated in Leo’s panghinalay, a prayer ritual that drives away evil spirits and at the same time gives thanks to the divine as it gathers together disparate people into a community. My students and I were having fun, getting into the rhythm of the gong and the bamboo xylophone, swaying our hips and waving our arms in the air. The others in the group were more inhibited, perhaps uncomfortable with the unconventional prayer. Or maybe because it felt very strange for them to be participating in such a pagan ritual, especially because we were in The Museum, on the opening day of the last show for this year.