Mainstream Muslim Traditions
One of the most notable features of the Muslim areas of Mindanao is the relatively
high preservation of many aspects of material culture. Whether one speaks of handweaving,
carving, or metalwork, one still finds there active practitioners of these traditional
skills.
One of the most pervasive design motifs found among the Muslim groups is the okir
(Maranao), or ukkil (Tausug), a leaf-and-vine pattern. The adoption of this
prevailing motif is a response to the Islamic injunction against the use of human
or animal representations in art. Among the Maranao, this motif finds its most lively
manifestation in the torogan, the traditional ancestral house of which the
main architectural feature is the panolong, a protruding, heavily carved beam
on the facade. The beam is flamboyantly decorated with okir designs. The size
of the torogan and the panolong is expressive of the power and status
of the occupant.
Okir also occurs on objects of everyday use as well as on ritual vessels and
implements of defense. One of the most interesting objects to come out of the Muslim
area is a set of armor,
consisting of a coat of chain mail linking flat strips of carabao horn, that is meant
to serve as protection for the upper body during armed combat. This is matched by
a helmet made of cast brass whose form reveals its source of influence. The helmet
is an almost exact replica of that of the Spanish conquistador. Among Philippine
groups, there is no known tradition of personal armor other than this piece.
The okir, in a more contained form, is also found on brass objects. The lost-wax
technique, one of the oldest methods of casting metal, is practiced by the Maranao
to create a wide range of brass pieces. One of the most commonly encountered items
in any Muslim home is the betel nut container, which comes in many shapes and is decorated
with variations of theokir motif. One of the more impressive examples is the
Maranao lotoan­p;a box of brass inlaid with silver and with a heavily
beaded handle.
The same inlay technique is used on the Maranao gador, a ceremonial container for wedding gifts that is often
embellished with fine silver okir. The precision with which the Maranao outline
an intricate network of vine-and-leaf motifs has few equals among the metal traditions
of Asia.
Other object designs focus more on form than on surface embellishment, an example
being the panalugudan,
the Maranao water pot holder. There is a whole repertoire of traditional forms
that has remained consistent over time. These forms echo a similar, if not identical,
tradition found in the Muslim-populated areas of adjacent Borneo.
More information about Western Mindanao artifacts:
