Mandaya

The Mandayan (Eastern Mindanao) woman in full tribal costume and seated in front of a Mandayan textile presents the viewer with a new and exotic, yet immediately recognized, standard of beauty. She symbolizes the aesthetic treasures of the Filipino indigenous cultures, so worthy of preservation and study. On the outside vertical panels of the background weaving,  giving in to a Post-modern temptation to mix styles and historic periods, I have written the words of Romans 1: 20 which appropriately speak of God's love and provision for indigenous peoples.