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afishtrap · 7 years

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Javellana (1982) initiated this effort of documenting some palaspas forms, which he grouped in terms of their function, such as arches for weddings and fiestas, food wrappers, and playthings. In the present paper, I use both archival and oral sources, and some of my own life experiences and field observations, to appreciate an art form that Filipinos share in varying degrees of complexity and elaboration with other pan Pacific and Asian countries. In defining the text of the art of palaspas, I follow the approach of Plasencia by simply elaborating on the material or the medium used, the techniques employed, designs or forms, and functions. To go beyond Plasencia, I identify the various expressions of palaspas in feasting, food art and everyday life, its historical and cultural context, and its manifestations in other genres such as literature, poetry, the art of church sculpture, prints, painting and other expressions. In the end, I will say something about its significance for a syncretic religion, for we will gain an appreciation of the strength and richness of the art of palaspas, the expressive elements of which did not die with an acquired faith and its ensuing cultural assimilation. Rather it prevailed and metmorphosed into expressions that, though still reflecting indigenous structures, can now be reinterpreted within the context of adopted beliefs.

Elmer I. Nocheseda, "Palaspas Vernacular: Towards an Appreciation of Palm Leaf Art in the Philippines", Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, Vol. 32, No. 1, Special Issue: Philippine Arts and Crafts I (March 2004), pp. 1-72.

Describing the first baptism (of the Cebuan Rajah Humabon) in the Philippines almost seventy years before Plasencia, Pigafetta wrote in 1525 that "a platform was built in the consecrated square, which was adorned with hangings and palm branches..." (Pigafetta 1905: 155). For her baptism, the queen "was young and beautiful and was entirely covered with white and black cloth.. .while on her head she wore a large hat of palm leaves in the manner of a parasol, with a crown about it of the same leaves, like the tiara of the pope; and she never goes any place without such a one" (Pigafetta 1905: 159). Later on he described the funeral rites for a chief. The principal women sat near the coffin, under branches of trees that were hung from ropes surrounding the coffin. Next to each woman was a girl "who fanned her with a palm-leaf fan" (Pigafetta 1905: 173).

In his short glossary of Visayan terms, he listed some items made of palm, like uliman, "leaf cushions" (Pigafetta 1905: 195), tagichan and bani, "palm mats" (p. 105), and the word for the fruit of the coconut palm itself, lubi (p.193).

[...]

The early Spanish accounts noted the many uses of the palm leaves and the ingenuity of the Filipinos in using them as paper on which they wrote their notes with a pointed stylus or iron point (Bourne 1902: 144, Chirino 1904: 243). Woven palms were used as sails (Transylvanus 1902: 305) and as hats (implied by San Antonio 1906: 328). Palm leaves could be made to serve as torches or anime (Pigafetta 1905: 121, 199). One account noted that the early Sambal tied long strips of anahau onto the hilts of their daggers in commemoration of having struck the first blow in a killing (Perez 1906: 323).

[...]

More than a century after Pigafetta in 1668, Fr Alcina still noticed that the indios de Bisayas used nipa palm leaves "to make a very large kind of chain (cadenzas muy grandes) which, when yellow, looks like gold. They also make these chains out of coconut fronds. Thus with these palm chains they adorn the roofs and walls of churches." These simple decorations took the place of the brocades and tapestries of Flanders in Europe. Alcina praised these artistic creations when he said that, "God who did not disclaim to be born on straw and in the bed of a poor manger, it seems, has provided for the lack of these natives and their temples" (Alcina 2002: 363). However, he also noted that as time passed the church ornamentation became increasingly European.

Other than passing notices from the Spanish chroniclers about this Filipino penchant for decorating and embellishing their rituals with palaspas, there was no comprehensive effort to document this art as to its aesthetics, functions, symbolism and values. No document was able to record in detail how the intricate folds and weaves were done. Perhaps it had been assumed that the art was too commonplace, ordinary, or evanescent to deserve any attention.

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The Spanish conquistadors initiated a large scale planting of this indispensable crop. Realising the great potential of a coconut industry, Spanish governor-general Hurtado de Corcuera ordered the greening of the countryside in 1642'(Medina 1975: 496). Before that, in 1613, Pedro de San Buenaventura (1994) had published his Tagalog Vocabulario, which showed that Filipinos had a great inventory of the useful palm trees around them. While coconut, nipa and areca nut palms were cultivated for their economic values, most of the palms were undomesticated (palma sil vestre) or growing wild in the mountains {palma del monte). Some of these wild palms were buri, tical (Livistona saribus), anibong (Onco sperma horridum), pugahan (Caryota cumingii), and banga (Orania pal indan).

Anahaw, sapac (?), anibong, tical, and banga had wide leaves that were used as walling and roofing materials. Mats were generally made from buri palm. However, pandanus-leaf mats were also made. Buri had seeds used as enormous rosary beads. Cauong (Arenga pinnata), pugahan, and nipa palms provided better sap for palm wine than the small quantity derived from the pasang (?). The anahaw (or luyong) palm was a favorite source of wood for making bows for arrows, while the pugahan and cauong (called by San Buenaventura tamping) provided the finest and toughest cabo negro cords.

However, not all palms were useful. Palipog (Epipremnum sp.) was just too small and weak for any practical use and tampinbanal (Rha phidophora merrillii) simply useless and monstrous.

Bongbong referred to the palm frond. Because the palm has a complex leaf composed of a long rachis with many pinnae or leaflets attached to it, San Buevanentura's definition was not clear as to whether the word referred to just a leaflet or to the whole palm frond itself. However, a contextual reading of the entry hints that San Buenaventura is referring to the whole frond. Palapa or balaba was the name given to the petioles of the leaves of the palm. Ibus or ibos were the young and fresh leaves that grow out of the heart of the palm.

On the other hand, laquilang were those that were neither very young nor mature leaves. Cayacas, on the other hand, were the dead leaves of dried palms and landag the withered leaves, salab the palm leaves and stems dried over fire or heat, and layac those that had fallen to the ground or into the waters. Tica were those leaves that were thin and unhealthy, while sagonson were those that were profuse, but of equal sizes and orderly in their arrangement.

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William Henry Scott (1994: 200) also noted the relation of the palm leaves to the sixteenth century technology of rice farming. Once the rice plants started to bear their grains, salidangdang or palm-leaf pendants were placed in the fields and used as panakot or pamugao (scarecrows), kept moving by the wind. They were woven from palm leaves in a variety of different shapes called pamanay, balian, palawit, bangkiaw, and pakan log. These words are now almost meaningless as the objects they named have been replaced by plastic materials and other refuse which have less aesthetic value as compared to these forgotten woven palm forms.

Noceda and Sanl?car (1860) noted the word samat for the woven palm leaves that served as plates or food containers. Magsamat was to weave palm leaves into food plates while the sinamat were the plates themselves.

There were also different kinds of woven petate or mats. Caroro can were probably the finest mats used by the principales elite and their special guests. While banig has always been the general term for the woven palm mat, sinabatan was an elaborately colored mat with intricate designs, whether large or small. Such a mat was used, among other uses, to sleep on. The parati was an ordinary small mat for everyday use. It was woven from the coarser leaves of the pangdan anuang (a Pandanus sp.). On the other hand, the bangcouang was a larger and finer version of the parati. Balia was the coarse and common matting and bailing material used for holding rice to be sold. Samil were reinforced with insertions of rattan and used as boat awnings or as covering materials for jars.

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