Workshop aims to revitalize Bohol’s salt pot making tradition

The pottery tradition in Bohol is said to date back to pre-colonial times. Archaeological sites in the island have yielded earthenware vessels, many of which had been identified as grave goods or pabaon offered to the departed. These objects provide evidence of craft specialization, indicating the existence of societies with sizeable populations and economies sustained through divided labor.

Until the early 20th century, asinan or salt workshops lined the southwestern coast of Bohol, spanning six towns from Baclayon to Valencia, where the asin tibuok or “whole salt” was produced. This was described by Fray Ignacio Francisco de Alcina, S.J. in his 17th century account of the Bisayan people. Today, only the town of Alburquerque has extant salt-making practice with four active salt workshops and a few providers of salt pots, locally called ku’n.

Because of its process and cultural value, asin tibuok has been included in the British Museum’s Endangered Material Knowledge Program bringing pride to Filipino heritage advocates. Integral to making asin tibuok is the kulun (often shortened to ku’n), which because of the diminishing demand of the artisanal salt is also in the brink of vanishing. Also contributing to the dimishing demand for local pottery is the availability of fine porcelain from China in the 10th century and in modern times, the availability of metal and plastic dinnerware.

As asin tibuok experiences renewed interest and demand, there are very few practicing pot makers who can meet the demand.

The National Museum of the Philippines-Bohol in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, and the Center for Culture and the Arts Development (CCAD) of the provincial government of Bohol recognize the important role of the ku’n and the problem the practice is facing.

With the asin tibuok’s nomination to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) intangible cultural heritage list, the agencies are also making efforts to revitalize the pot making tradition.

On 10 to 12 and 17 May, they conducted Hulma: A Master Potters’ Guided Workshop Series on Asin Tibuok Saltpot Making in celebration of National Heritage Month.

Open to all Boholanos, the four-day free program had onsite and offsite components, including a comprehensive lecture covering different aspects of pottery and its design and a hands-on demonstration and workshop.

Among the speakers were Alexandra de Leon, an archaeologist of the NMP, who has carried out archaeological studies in various parts of the country and who presented “Interpreting the Past through Pottery.” Rhayan Melendres, also an archaeologist and an assistant professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, discussed his ethnoarchaeological research in Central Visayas focusing on Bohol’s pottery tradition, while Marianito Jose Luspo, a distinguished local cultural heritage consultant, shared his paper, “Visual Arts Motifs in Pre-Hispanic Bohol Pottery.” Aba Lluch Dalena, an artist who held her first solo exhibition, featuring 300 terracotta sculptures of animals at six years old, shared how terracotta traditions have inspired her.

On 12 May, for a Mother’s Day celebration at NMP Bohol, Dalena together with Yllang Montenegro, a multidisciplinary artist and founder of Empowerment Through Art, facilitated “Hinulma sa Gugma ni Nanay” (Molded by Mother’s Love), which was attended by more than 30 mothers with their children, who were taught the basic of clay molding.

On 17 May, the workshop series culminated in the town of Alburquerque, with a master class on salt pot making led by one of the few remaining pot makers, Josephine Sumingit.

Pena, as she is fondly called, learned making pots at the age of 18 from women in her neighborhood. She was able to pass on the craft to her children Anna Marie, Anna Liza and Jennifer, and to her neighbors, Helen Canda and Debbie Liwayon. They produce ku’n with their hands and the traditional paddle and anvil technique.

The workshop series was made possible with the support of the Bohol Arts and Cultural Heritage Council, together with the offices of public officials Senator Loren Legarda, congressman Edgar M. Chatto, board member Jiselle Rae Aumentado Villamor and Alburquerque mayor Don Ritchie Buates, and private-sector groups JCI Boholana Kisses and the Defending Family Values Foundation Inc.