Sagada Art Space to be launched in Sagada Mountain Province

Sagada Dogo Siwang Art Hub
Photo courtesy: SunStar

Cordillera-  Sagada Mountain Province continue to preserve the Igorot's culture and heritage.

The "Dogo Siwang Pagbuyaan" (Theater) and " Dogo Siwang Utuan ya Panganan" (dining area by the rice fields) will be launched in Barangay Patay, Sagada, Mountain Province by the Cordillera News Agency Foundation Inc. (CNA).

The opening of the two traditional features Dogo Siwang Pagbuyaan and  Dogo Siwang Utuan ya Panganan  is the living testament to the preservation and promotion of Sagada's heritage. 

The Dogo Siwang Pagbuyaan will become an area for cultural performances or demonstrations for a bigger audience as well as a receiving area for all visitors touring the art hub.

While the installation of the Dogo Siwang Utuan ya Panganan is to promote the culinary heritage of Sagada.  The traditional kitchen will have a "dapuan" a traditional stove to showcase the preparation of "tapuey" or rice wine and "etag" a preserved  meat through  "masuukan" or smoking using  "tuk-tuk", a wooden apparatus to hang the meat.

The idea is  to encourage interaction and offer real time experience to visitors through demonstrations of how the etag  and tapuey  are prepared in the traditional kitchen .

To understand more about the origin of these important facets of Sagada's culture is to learn about "Todo id Baguilota", a folklore that Sagada elders believed which was passed on for generations. The elders believed that Kabunyan sent his son Lumawig to bring three gifts to the earth: the "balbeg" spear, "gameg" bolo, and "etag" preserved meat. They believed that Lumawig brought these gifts to earth and presented to the Sagada villagers. The etag was prepared in heaven as Lumawig's food on his way to earth.

Today, natives from Sagada learned to prepare etag in three ways: the "binalag" method or sun drying, the "masuukan" method which is done through smoking either in the  "dapuan" or the "pat-yay" chimney and the "binul-ay" method by  preserving the meat inside a jar.

Sagada Dogo Siwang Art Hub was made possible through a grant from the National Commission for Culture and Arts in partnership with the Daoas family and CNA.

The Art hub is conceptualized as a venue for convergence in tourism, educational and cultural exchange to encourage the promotion and  preservation of arts, culture and heritage not just in Sagada but the whole Cordillera.

Source || SunStar Baguio