Tiw-tiwong: An Uncyclopedia to Life, Living, and Art in Baguio, Cordilleras, and Beyond

A multi-pronged, multi-layered collaborative art book, Tiw-tiwong: An Uncyclopedia to Art, Life and Living in Baguio, the Cordilleras and Beyond summons the potency of history, the transformative potential of art, and an inheritance of indigenous knowledge and practices, to open up the story of Baguio and the Cordilleras during a time of rapid change. Tiw-tiwong takes the form of an irreverent and defiant reference book: the 'anti-textbook' antidote to more than a century of colonial representations and institutional studies of Baguio and the Cordilleras. It is also one of the most wide-ranging overviews of Cordilleras and Baguio- based art collated to date. Spanning topics such as the changing face of the bul-ul, the truth about dog-eating, and how to sleep on a Dangwa bus, the 950+ entries explore the known and unknown, as well as the celebrated, notorious and misunderstood aspects of life in the Cordilleras, a mountain terrain that is both generous and unforgiving.

With artists, writers and cultural activists as the chroniclers of change, the book is an urgent remembering of histories and inscribing of indigenous ways of living and communal knowing, and a call to action to value the resources that are still with us today. Through the act of sharing, it also seeks to activate the transference of fragile knowledges to a generation that is yet-to-come. As such, this book is a tribute to ancestors who have passed on, a lament for things lost, but it is also a celebration and a carnival — a gathering of spirits, where the past, present and future come to party and play.

Published in 2022 by Baguio Kunst Book Publishing and Partners for Indigenous Knowledge Philippines

345 pages