Espasyo at Identidad: Mga Ekspresyon sa Kultura, Mga Sining, at Lipunan ng mga Muslim sa Filipinas

The UP Asian Center, together with the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, will be launching, Espasyo at Identidad: Mga Ekspresyon sa Kultura, Mga Sining, at Lipunan ng mga Muslim sa Filipinas, a book by Professor Abraham Sakili, on 7 November 2017, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, Japan Hall, UP Asian Center, QC. The launch is free and open to the public, but seating is first-come, first-served.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Espasyo at Identidad: Mga Ekspresyon sa Kultura, Mga Sining, at Lipunan ng mga Muslim sa Filipinasis the Filipino translation of Space and Identity: Expressions in the Culture, Arts, and Society of the Muslims in the Philippines published in 2003 by the UP Asian Center. Using ‘space’ as a theoretical lens, and Islamic doctrines on art and theology as a background, Dr. Sakili examines the following art forms:

• • Architecture (masjid or mosque, langgal, torogan, local dwellings and traditional boats
  • Surfaces (traditional textiles, handwoven mats, wood and metals where ukkil (curvilinear) and siyabit (geometrical) designs are used. This also includes the pis siyulatan (amulet) and religious books which feature Arabic calligraphy, localized as jawi)
  • Arts with square format (pis siyabit, tubao, and saputangan)
  • Arts that are forward- or upward-looking dubbed as the “Muslim flying arts” which include (burraq, sarimanok, among many others)
  • Traditional paintings (boras or rattan mat) and littuk-littukan or bulak-bulak (face painting)
  • Stylized figurative forms, the discussion on which springs from “the Islamic injunction against figurative forms.”

In Muslim art, the Islamic notion of space and time is tied up with Tawhid or the Unity of the Divine Principle which underlies the Muslims’ basic assumptions of the university, defines their relations with nature and guides them to understand how elements are interrelated in different art forms, as well as in diverse cultural settings (Back cover of Space and Identity)

PRICE

The book will be sold at a discounted price (PhP 200) during the launch. Regular price is PhP 230.Other works on Muslim history, art, and culture in the Philippines by Dr. Sakili will be available for sale.

PROGRAM

The program will include a lecture by Professor Sakili, “Diversity in Unity Through Space in Art and Culture.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abraham Sakili, Ph.D. is Professor of Art and Humanities, Department of Art Studies, College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman. He has a BA in International Relations from Mindanao State University in Marawi, and obtained his MA and PhD in Philippine Studies from the University of the Philippines. An artist, he has conducated public lectures and written articles on the humanities and on Philippine Muslim art, culture, and history, as well as on Moro issues in the southern Philippines.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS

The book launch is organized by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, which published the translation; and the UP Asian Center.