Spring 2024 Philippine Master Artists in Residency
April 26 - 28, 2024
San Francisco and Oakland, CA
KULARTS welcomes T’boli master culture bearers Boi Myrna Bebing Pula, Yakan master weaver Evelynda Otong and Kalinga master weaver Jenny Bawer Young for an afternoon of conversation, epic story-telling, weaving, dance and meryenda!
“Sharing our culture is a big means for us to survive. It is a tremendous struggle to preserve and embrace culture because of the pressing Western cultures. We, the tribes all over the Philippines, are forest hill tribe dwellers, we take care of our forest to allow people in the world to breathe fresh air! If you ask me what can Filipinos do? The biggest help is to help us take back our Ancestral lands, so it will allow us to restore, reinstate, and rehabilitate our forestland.”
— Boi Myrna Bebing Pula, T’boli Culture Bearer
Spring PMAIR program in partnership with Oakland Asian Cultural Center and The Weaving Stories & Dreams Project a collaboration with KINdom, Rag Royalty, Vegan Women's Summit, and CulturAid, and House of Gongs’.
Upcoming Programs
Philippine Master Culture Bearers of T'boli, Yakan, and Kalinga People
Boi Myrna Bebing Pula, photo by Gabriel Nivera; Evelynda Otong Hamja, photo by Artu Nepomuceno; Jenny Bawer Young.
Join visiting T’boli master culture bearers Boi Myrna Bebing Pula, Yakan master weaver Evelynda Otong and Kalinga master weaver Jenny Bawer Young for an afternoon of conversation, epic story-telling, weaving, dance and meryenda.
Saturday, April 27, 2024
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 9th St. #290, Oakland, CA 94607
About the Residents
Boi Myrna Bebing Pula
T’boli Storyteller and Cultural Leader
Boi Myrna Bebing Pula is a master T’boli culture bearer born in Sitio Lembisol, Poblacion, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. Her mother was a T’nalak weaver and food producer, while her father was a village chieftain and legal advisor. A cultural researcher, storyteller, weaver, translator, and writer, Boi Myrna is a recipient of Tubas Talimbong Award of Excellence in Culture and the Arts and she has represented the T’boli people in Belgium, England, Australia, Taipei, the USA, and Hong Kong University. Recently, she was chosen by Boris LeLong to bring Lemhadung, her music and dance troupe, to France in Partnership with the NCCA.
She’s the composer of Lemlunay and O D’wata Holi Kemudung. She is a contributor to numerous T’boli academic and artistic projects.
Evelynda Otong Hamja
Yakan Master Weaver
Evelynda Otong Hamja is a fourth-generation master Yakan weaver currently residing at the Yakan Village in Zamboanga City. She was born and raised in Lamitan, Basilan until the 1970's when the military forced them out of Basilan and moved them to Zamboanga where many settled in what is now called the Yakan Village. Her father was a farmer while her mother stayed home to weave. She began weaving at the age of 7. She currently works with a community of weavers, called the Tuwas Yakan Weavers of Basilan. Using the traditional backstrap loom, weavers can produce beautiful three foot or one meter pieces in four to seven days. It is part of her mission to keep the weaving tradition alive by influencing her community to keep weaving for those who are able to appreciate their artisan crafts.
Jenny Bawer Young
Jenny Bawer Young is the Master Weaver, co-founder, and driving force behind Kalingafornia Laga, a women’s collective dedicated to preserving and promoting traditional Kalinga culture in the Bay Area. She was born and cradled by a family that bears the Kalinga Traditional way of life. She is the daughter of Maria and Cirilo “Sapi” Bawer, who is internationally recognized as a Culture Bearer of Indigenous Knowledge, Skills, and Practices of the Kalinga people. Since childhood, Jenny’s parents and grandparents passed their knowledge and practice of Kalinga traditional arts—particularly laga (backstrap weaving), music, chants, and dances—to her siblings.
Jenny has performed and conducted Kalinga traditional arts workshops in her native Cordillera region, Metro Manila, Switzerland, Germany and in the US. Since immigrating to California with her family in 2006, Jenny has been a valuable resource on Kalinga culture for the Filipino American community, especially in the San Francisco area.