Maranao Art | 🌷“Lakub” from Marantao, Lanao del Sur 🇵🇭

Have you seen this beautifully painted designs in NAIA Terminal 3 airport?

Have you wondered what inspired this art?

This rare object is a cultural product of the Maranao people. It is used to store tabacco and as a decoration. NCCA made a search in 2015 and found the remaining masters of Lakub. The masters stopped making Lakub for decades already because very few buy them. And with the recent Battle of Marawi, the old masters have stopped making them yet again. 

Lakub is a distinct art by the Maranao and is usually used as a container for tobacco or as decoration. Watch the video to learn how this piece of functional art is made.

The Maranao tradition of lakub-making using bamboo, designed with dyed pieces of paper, was revived by the NCCA through their Schools of Living Traditions (SLTs) after the craft was discontinued for 20 years.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts is reviving the Maranao Art of Making Lakub with traditional artist Haji Abdulazis Renayong from Marantao, Lanao del Sur.

I'm hoping an organization will sponsor their nomination as a group Manlilikha ng Bayan (National Living Treasures) which will help the masters to continue and promote this unique Filipino art form.

The remaining masters are:

- Abdulazis Renayong

- Omelkahir Renayong

- Maimona Ditowalan

You can watch this video on how they made this beautiful maranao art:

https://www.facebook.com/NCCAOfficial/videos/10153405946440283/

Credits: Bernadette David - NCCA Program Monitoring and Evaluation Division (PMED)

Photos by Bernadette David - NCCA Project Monitoring and Evaluation Division (PMED)