Spirit Boats

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“Archaeological finds uncovered in Butuan City in the North of Mindanao in the Philippines Archipelago have provided considerable evidence of the regions connections with the Maritime Silk Roads.” - unesco.org


Boats are an essential part of life and culture of the Philippine archipelago for thousands of years. With various types and sizes that could fit from two to a hundred people, boats are meticulously designed as vessels to serve a specific purpose such as for transportation, fishing, trade, exploration, war, as well as recreation.

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Boats serve as homes for the Sama Badjao people of Southern Philippines, and balangay boats continue to be built and used today to ferry passengers between Tawi-Tawi to Malaysia.

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The diverse types of boats include lepa, bangka, paraw, baroto, vinta, kakap, karakoa, and balangay.

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Boats are also an integral aspect of indigenous Philippine spirituality. Its purpose extends beyond the practical to that of ritual: as a vessel to the realm of the spirit.

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As a symbol and metaphor of a vessel taken on a journey between the corporeal and the spiritual realm, it is a vehicle for communing with the spirit world and for traversing the transitory state between life and death, and life, again.

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With Lakbai Diwa, Diasporic Spirit, a multidisciplinary project that explores ancestral oceanic culture of survival, resilience, and prosperity, we use the spirit boat as a metaphor for the ways we navigate our lives in the diaspora, for ways of healing and wellness, and the values that we bring on our journeys.

References:

https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/2071/

https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/did-you-know-butuan-archaeological-sites-and-role-philippines-maritime-silk-roads

 

 
 
teka muna, Lakbai DiwaKularts