Backpacks of Northern
Philippines Exhibition

February 13 to April 30, 2004
Hohenthal Gallery
Treganza Anthropology Museum
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94132

ON FEBRUARY 13, the Hohenthal Gallery of the Treganza Anthropology Museum of San Francisco State University (SFSU) will host a seminal exhibition of Philippine backpacks, "Carriers of Tradition: The Backpacks of the Northern Philippines." For centuries, the mountain tribes of Northern Philippines have been creating these functional forms of art. Prior to the advent of Jansport or Louis Vuitton, ancient Filipinos donned the pasiking -- hand-woven rattan and bamboo backpacks. The pasiking will be classified and displayed among ten of the Northern Philippine ethno-linguistic groups or tribes: the Apayao, Tingguian, Kalinga, Gaddang, Bontoc, Kankana'ey, Ifugao, Kalanguya, Ibaloi, and Illongot. The eleventh display will showcase contemporary Philippine weaving skill.

The exhibit will promote cross-cultural diversity and aims to provide more knowledge and understanding of the disappearing traditions of the Northern Philippines.

From the sacred to the mundane, the Hohenthal Gallery will exhibit pasiking from the collection of Armand Voltaire B. Cating and will include textiles, wood and pasiking from local and international collections.

Senior students in Anthropology, Charisse Aquino and Christina Dastghaib, will present this exhibit with Drs. Thor Anderson, Peter Biella and Yoshiko Yamamoto advising.

"Carriers of Tradition: The Backpacks of the Northern Philippines" opens Friday, February 13, through April 30. Admission is free. Visit the website at www.carriersoftradition.com for gallery hours and details. You may also e-mail questions to ckidlat@yahoo.com or mail Carriers of Tradition SFSU 2004 c/o Dr. James Quesada, Department of Anthropology, Science 377,
San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132.

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Carriers of Tradition