The line between appreciating our heritage and misappropriating centuries-old cultures can be a fine stroke we don’t even notice. While there is nothing wrong in being proud of our rich culture, danger and disrespect lie in mistranslation…… Below is a century-old original design of the Kalinga wrap-around skirt “Gilamat”, embellished with copper-nickel-zinc five centavo US/Philippine coins dated 1944-1945. Earlier Gilamat designs were usually adorned with minted coins and embroidered with flower designs. (Noticed the single star embroidered at the lower left. Imperfection in design and symbols known as signatures are deliberately added to create portals for the spirits/deities “aran/kekeyajing/alito” etc. to enter and depart from the textile or to trap or to wardoff spirits during rituals). Kalinga textile designs are associated with specific functions and uses during rituals and heavily laden with meanings and symbols, hence before you don and parade that Kalinga garb, know the meaning behind ? You don’t want to accidentally open a portal of the underworld, nor attract misfortunes and evil spirits, right?
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