The island of Marinduque has lengthy been identified for its Moriones Pageant. It is without doubt one of the oldest lenten rites within the Philippines the place individuals put on Moryon (helmet) masks and roam the streets of Marinduque as an act of penitence. Throughout my latest go to to Marinduque, we visited the workshop of one of many identified Morion masks makers on the island, Salvador “Buddy” Liwanagan. It was fascinating to witness firsthand how these iconic masks with grimacing Roman faces are made.
A Morion Masks Maker in Mogpog
Buddy Liwanagan’s workshop in Mogpog, Marinduque is a typical humble rural residence within the province. We adopted a slender dust path resulting in a 2 – story home partly nonetheless beneath building. The home is pleasantly surrounded by bushes and foliage.
The sound of a chainsaw reducing by some logs and sandpaper brushing on the floor of the wooden greeted our arrival. Liwanag’s open-air workshop is suffering from sawdust, items of wooden, sculpting instruments, and several other wood sculptures. Liwanagan took a chunk of dap-dap wooden he had simply reduce and positioned it on high of his wood work stool. Dap-dap and santol wooden are the popular wooden for the Morion masks.
Artwork and Devotion
Liwanagan began chipping away the wooden along with his chisel and mallet. Quickly the wooden would have already fashioned a form of a face. Moryon Masks Making for a time, adopted the same old design of an indignant Roman face in character from the supply of its people story of Longinus. Buddy Liwanagan nonetheless, is thought for his extra elaborate masks faces, typically copying the faces of celebrities and political figures by request. A feat that requires a elegant ability in sculpting.
Curiously, Buddy Liwanagan didn’t have formal coaching within the arts or sculpting. He discovered from watching and ultimately honing his craft by persistently doing. Now his commissioned masks are value P4,000 to P8,000 per masks, relying on the work and complexity.
Apart from the same old paper mache or wood designs of Morion Masks, some variations have extra profound significance. In some areas of Marinduque, the plumes or ornaments on the masks might imply what number of occasions an individual or a member of the family has participated within the ceremony.
Dwindling Technology of Masks Makers
To at the present time, the custom is alive and constantly attracts vacationers and pilgrims to this week-long Lenten ceremony. However regardless of this, the variety of Morion masks makers is frequently dwindling. Liwanagan admits that the youthful technology would favor doing different work or industries. A tragic actuality however I hope the native authorities can implement applications to proceed the craft and make the locals respect this wealthy custom. It’s one of many distinctive practices and traits of Marinduque.
We noticed a cute toddler with a tough hat and hammer pounding on some wooden close by. He was one in all Liwanagan’s grandchildren who loved lingering within the workshop. Maybe there may be nonetheless hope for the way forward for Morion masks makers if we proceed to encourage these kids by exposing them early on to the colourful tradition of the Moriones.
Ferdz Decena is an award-winning journey photographer, author and blogger. His works has discovered print in publications corresponding to Singapore Airways’s Silver Kris, Philippine Airways’ Mabuhay, Cebu Pacific’s Smile and Seair InFlight. He has additionally lent his experience to numerous organizations just like the Oceana Philippines, Lopez Group Basis, Save the Youngsters and World Imaginative and prescient, contributing high quality photographs for his or her advertising supplies.
