Key Concepts: Art and Intangible Cultural Heritage
This picture was taken on Sunday April 9th, and it shows the traditional Philippine dance: subli. Subli is an example of art, which Miller defines as “the application of imagination, skill, and style to matter, movement, and sound that goes beyond what is purely practical” (Miller 2017, p. 301). More specifically, subli falls into the category of performance arts. The dance is a ceremonial display in which dancers pay homage to the holy cross. However, this dance has been dramatized and no longer is danced for the sake of worship but instead is now performed almost solely for the sake of entertainment. For example, the subli dancers here are performing it as part of the Philippine Cultural Society’s annual culture show instead of as part of prayer. Regardless, this performance art reveals much about Philippine culture, or at least the microculture of the peoples of Bauan, Batangas where subli originates from. It gives insight to the aesthetics of the region and demonstrates the importance of Catholicism, as the residents value the religion so much as to create a complicated dance in its name.
The photograph also displays an example of intangible cultural heritage. Miller defines this as “UNESCO’s view of culture as manifested in oral traditions, languages, performing arts, rituals, and festive events, knowledge and practices about nature and the universe, and craftmaking” (Miller 2017, p. 319). Although subli isn’t part of UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage, I believe that both subli and all Philippine dances should be added onto it. Further, I believe that the dances are similar to practices that are part of UNESCO’s list. There are five widely accepted Filipino dance suites: Lumad, Igorot, Maria Clara, Muslim, and Rural, the last of which Subli belongs to. These suites and these dances were created by a major dance company in the Philippines in order to promote and preserve Filipino heritage. Due to colonization of both the Spanish and the US, the members were alarmed at how western the country was becoming. Hence, these dances were created as a reclamation of the traditional in the face of colonialism and as an expression of Filipino identity. Additionally, as part of culture show and danced by Filipino-Americans, it is a reclamation of our heritage that each of us feel a sense of disconnect from since none of us grew up in the Philippines.