Tugaya, Lanao del Sur

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map of Lanao del Sur showing the location of Tugaya

Tugaya (alternate spelling: Togaya) is a municipality in the province of Lanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 20,139 people in 2,391 households.

Tugaya has a land area of 4028 hectares, equal to 40.28 square kilometers. Tugaya is located on the shores of the largest lake on Mindanao Island: Lake Lanao.

Tugaya is unique in that the town is inhabited almost entirely by craftsmen and artisans of various pursuits. Each household specializes in some form of art or craft that is part of traditional Maranao culture: back-strap loom weaving, tapestry weaving, and other kinds of handmade textile manufacture; foundry casting of various forms of brass or bronze vessels, instruments, and decorative items; wood-carving and mother-of-pearl inlay work; metalwork and silver- and gold-smithing -- all of which utilize the traditional Maranao form of decoration, okir. From this community come the artisans called upon to decorate major forms of architecture in the traditional manner, e.g., the Maranao "torogan" or royal houses. Performance arts are also unique among the residents of Tugaya, where the penchant for the artistic spills out into everyday games and mundane articles of domestic use.

Textile weaving in Tugaya includes traditional Southeast Asian back-strap loom weaving, utilizing indigenous okir decorative motifs. Laborious, expert needle-weaving produces the complex "langkit" panels which are incorporated into the traditional Maranao garment, the "malong landap". Foundries employ the cire perdue or "lost wax" method to produce various types of bronze or brass products which follow traditional forms, such as the "gador" (a pair of ornate brass urns). Metal forging uses the traditional Southeast Asian double-bellows forge, and employs traditional tools. Other forms of metalwork include hand shaping and pounding of metal sheets, a laborious method which transforms flat metal sheets into sturdy, solid metal Maranao kulintang ensemble gong instruments, including "gandingan" and "agong". Woodworking includes manufacture of decorative objects, ornate furniture such as the traditional storage chest "baul", musical instruments such as the large drum "dadabuan", and ceremonial 12-foot-tall Maranao drums (such as were used for the "call to prayer" in the 1800s). Carved and painted wood products also feature the distinctive okir decorative motifs.

Nearly every member of the community is engaged in one or more of these forms of traditional arts and crafts, and many of their products are specially ordered on a regular basis by merchants in Davao City, which is the largest city on Mindanao island, a full day's drive from Tugaya. When displayed in the stores of Davao City, Tugaya's products are purchased by locals and international visitors, and by professional buyers from the department stores and tourist shops of MetroManila.

Thus, Tugaya supplies both inhabitants and visitors to MetroManila with high quality, traditional, handmade items which are identified to customers as simply being "from Mindanao". NB: The majority of items sold in MetroManila as being "from Mindanao" are actually manufactured in Indonesia or Thailand, but are represented as being from Mindanao because the items were imported into Davao City by a middleman before being re-sold and transported to MetroManila.