By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
Meet Eden Cawang, the quintessential indigenous culture artist.
She is known as Ayonna in the art world. That’s her native name. This name is appended in her art works. A Tam-awan Village Junior Artist, she is the only lady wood carving artist in Benguet. She had shown in her activities, a deep concern for the promotion of artists among the kids and youth of Benguet.
In the social media, she can be seen as the Ivadoy Artizt.
I met her initially during the 2nd Philippine Museum Congress held in Baguio just this month of October. When you think of museums, you harbor the worn-out idea that those involved in managing or manning them are of the serious, silent and not outspoken type. Heard that they are even jokingly described by some as glorified janitors.
Since the event was a Museum Congress, it was natural to think that the participants were museum people themselves thus, serious type with measured words and not so voluble. Certainly, It was a surprise that the one I was talking to for the first time, across the table, was of a different mold.
She struck me as a very amiable person, ever ready for a smile, pleasant and comfortable to be with. She is an archetype of a modern museum personnel
Then I learned that first and foremost, she is an artist. More specifically, an Ibaloi indigenous culture artist, who traces also some roots in Mtn Province.
Some visual artists that I came across with, are almost averse to extended conversations, as they prefer to let their works do the talking. Once, I (together with 3 other friends) visited an aspiring lady painter in Belgium, married to a gentleman we knew. She was very fluent in English but she conversed in very short sentences, giving the impression that “I have work to do and I better paint now than talk”. While Ayonna works tirelessly even when a bit indisposed, she is almost the opposite of this lady.
Eden Cawang, maybe considered as a precocious artist. Since her early years at Tacdian Elementary School in Shilan, La Trinidad, Benguet she had already shown gifts as a future artist. She won poster making contests; represented her school in district poster making contests and won medals including those held at Lednicky Hall of the La Trinidad municipal building.
In her secondary school, she started painting colors starting with the circulated image of Jesus Christ, dabbled into abstract painting, then dipped into expressionism.
In college, she started charcoal sketching earning some money from it. She did charcoal sketch of the late Lourdes Bello, owner of Dane’s bakeshop. According to her, it was a bit difficult since she was asked to put on a toga on a regular picture of Bello that she was copying. But she did it anyway. Mrs. Bello did not have any picture wearing a toga when she graduated from college.
Still earning her degree in college, Eden was employed by Blessed Association of Retired Personnel (BARP) due to her working knowledge of computer and accounting. She continued to stay with the office after her graduation at the University of the Cordilleras in 2003. In 2006, She was awarded as one of the most outstanding personnel of Baguio city.
This gave her the credential to be accepted as an employee of a big international company based in the United Arab Emirates.
All along, her love and penchant for art was steadily burning inside her.
Before her stint abroad, she was actually given a big break by the Department of Tourism when she was chosen one of just three indigenous artists to be featured and to exhibit their artworks during the World Tourism Day on Sept 29, 2003. She was in her early 20’s.
She was chosen as a wood carving artist; Carlos Buya, as bulul sculptor and Edgar Banasan as bamboo artist. All three are indigenous culture visual artists.
Ayonna is primarily a painter at the moment. She is relatively young but she had already done solo exhibits internationally (14 in all) in India, Vietnam, Hongkong, and UAE (10) and nationally (12) in Baguio and Benguet. She had also joined at least 250 art exhibits in many parts of the country, mainly in CAR, NCR, Regions 1, 3 and 4.
In all her exhibits she carried the name of Benguet, La Trinidad and even Cordillera thereby definitely bringing honors to her place of origin.
The lure of a good-paying job abroad did not deter Ayonna’s resolute desire in returning back home to better promote indigenous culture through her artworks. That aspiration even led her to put up a mini gallery and museum.
I made an appointment wIth her for an interview and to visit her gallery. Before I journeyed to her place, she gave me what amounts to a resume; a document in 5 long bond papers set in font size 10, detailing her accomplishments, art activities, international/local awards and recognitions, plus more.
The long list astonished me. Relatively young yet full of accomplishments already. I pored over the entire list, scribbled some notes then went on my way.
Surprised I was, on arriving in the gallery not due to her winsome smile, and her warm welcome but because I found much more artworks than I expected that are completed and in various stages of finishing touches. And there is a museum as well! This was a treat!
She showed me a beautiful completed painting priced at 50K but already fully paid for by a buyer from Cebu. What is interesting is that the full payment was directly given to a motorcycle rider from Bakakeng, Baguio, a vehicular accident victim, for his hospitalization and recovery. That’s her revealing compassionate side
Actually, Ayonna had participated in many Exhibits for a cause or donations for beneficiaries in La Trinidad, other parts of Benguet, and also Baguio. She had been doing this for about 12 years already.
She is not only a painter, and a wood carving artist but also a photographer, a lecturer, a judge of various art competitions, a mentor to the youth, and soon to be sculptor as she is about to dive into an intensive training for wood sculpture.
Definitely, we will be hearing more in the future of this talented, compassionate and multi-awarded artist.
I wonder though why, with all her accomplishments and promotion of La Trinidad and Benguet through her artworks and activities, she (together with Jordan Mang-osan, the world-renowned solar artist) is not yet accorded a proper award/recognition by the municipality or Province. Is she like a prophet without an honor in his land?
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