To inform my practice, I decided to dedicate a day to researching the colonial aspects of the Philippines.
Early on, I stumbled upon the journal of Antonio Piagfetta available on archive.org. Pigafetta accompanied Ferdinand Magellan on his circumnavigation of the world, on his quest to find spices among other things. This French edition from 1525 has the French and English translation side-by-side. With archive.org you can ‘borrow’ the book for an hour at a time.
Pigafetta’s journal, while being an account of Magellan’s (‘The Captain’) journey is also seen as unusual due to his more personal insight into what happens. As an artefact from the 1500s it’s a compelling document on colonial thinking, divine right, the perils of divide and conquer, Indigenous welcome and resistance, and pre-contact ‘Philippines’.
Personally, I have an emerging interest in this writing via my great-grandmother Adela Bermudez (nee Subido). While I only met her a handful of times, I have lots of questions around which Indigenous tribe she belonged to, the impact of conversion from Islam to Christianity on her identity and family trajectory, and how (and if) the different cultures were able to coexist or continue.
A lasting image which informs my work is Adela playing the kulingtang. The kulingtang is similar to the gamelan: a set of metal gongs which are played rhythmically and produce an almost atonal percussive sound. I’ve been working with Mark A. Galang’s kulingtang samples to create a soundscape.
Magellan was eventually killed in Indigenous resistance led by Chief Lapu Lapu. Pigafetta’s account of in the lead up, during and the aftermath are really something.
Adela’s playing of the kulingtang. While a clear connection to her Indigenous identity, was it also her small act of resistance?