Session Name: Negotiate and Resist from the Margin: Contemporary Cultural Representation and Material Agency of Indigenous Struggles in Philippines and Taiwan
2 - Interwoven Identities: Negotiating Space through Weaving Practices among the Ifugao People in the Philippines
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
11:15 – 13:00 (GMT+7)
Presentation Abstract This research explores how the Ifugao people in the northern Philippines Cordillera represent their identity through weaving practicesand further negotiate space within the dominant Filipino national narratives. Inabol, the Ifugao handwoven textile, serves as the primary material for their clothing, continually evolving at the crossways of diverse cultures. Today under the pressures of the Philippine nation-building process, the Ifugao people actively engage in culture revitalization, the construction of ethnic boundaries, and indigeneity. Handwoven textiles have emerged as a distinctive cultural heritage that the Ifugao have chosen to emphasize as an integral part of their unique tradition. However, they are confronted with a situation in which the government, under the banner of tourism and economic development, seeks to assert dominance over the development and cultural interpretation of Ifugao weaving. In this context, the Ifugao not only weave unique historical narratives about their textiles but also seek to articulate the textiles within contemporary settings, demonstrating the resilience and agency of their communities. Through the practice of weaving, the Ifugao actively negotiate space within the broader Filipino national narratives and mainstream culture, showcasing the hybridity and creativity of contemporary weaving among the Ifugao. Nevertheless, their representation of "traditional" weaving also reveals the complex interplay of historical narratives and interpretation.
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