Filipino songwriter Joey Ayala starts research project with LC
Popular Filipino composer and performer Joey Ayala has teamed up with the CBNRM Learning Center in an action research project that aims to document and record local songs and other artistic creations by fishers and coastal communities. The research, entitled "Songs from the Seas", will cover five (5) provinces in the Philippines including Bohol, Samar, Misamis, Batangas and Sorsogon. The research project is envisioned to heighten people's awareness of local knowledge and CBCRM issues in the country.
Describing the research, Joey compares his encounters with small fishers and local people as like the waters in the bukana or opening of a river. "The river's mouth is basically where freshwater and saltwater meet. It is a region of great flux and represents the potential creative interactions between the middle class urban-based artist like me, and the 'culture bearers' among the fishers and poor people in coastal communities," explains Ayala. "The image is also appropriate as we don't want this research to be just all about recording or documenting local songs. We want this to be a real two-way exchange with the people. It is also about valuing local culture and knowledge, and rediscovering ways to make such culture or knowledge an integral part of local efforts to improve livelihoods and resources management activities," added Ayala.
The research began last 16-19 July 2006 with the site visit to Bohol hosted by Participatory Research, Organization of Communities, and Education towards Struggle for Self-Reliance (PROCESS). Joey Ayala's research assistant Oni Badiang, member of Ayala's former group Bagong Lumad, and a representative from the CBCRM Resource Center/CBNRM Learning Center met with leaders and members of the San Vicente Mangrove Association (SAVIMA) at Maribojoc, Bohol. Local culture bearers attended a recording session at the PROCESS office in Tagbilaran and performed Tagalog and Bol-anon songs about fishers and CBCRM that they have composed.
Last 13-17 August, Joey Ayala went to Maliwaliw Island located on the easternmost tip of Samar in the Visayas where he conducted a field workshop on local culture and songwriting with around twenty (20) participants. The Samar visit was hosted by Guiuan Development Foundation, Inc. (GDFI). The third leg of the research conducted last 27-31 August covered Baliangao Bay in Misamis Occidental. Joey facilitated a 4-day workshop on basic songwriting attended by seven (7) cultural bearers from the communities. The Danao Bay Resource Management Organization (DBREMO) hosted the Misamis visit. The Resource Center is currently facilitating two more visits to Sorsogon and Batangas, both in Luzon. The research project is being supported through the small grants facility of the CBCRM Learning and Research Network (LeaRN). go back to CBNRM LC homepage
