THIS week, we take a look into the rare intersection of social media and cultural preservation. I am speaking of, of course, the ongoing incident of conflict between beloved mambabatok Whang-Od and her family, and the Internet entity Nas Academy, a sub-project of the daily vlog Nas Daily.
For context, the incident is as it stands: Nas has started offering an online course called the Whang-Od Academy, which promises to teach the art of the mambabatok for P750 a pop. The matter became viral after the esteemed tattoo artist’s grandniece Grace Palicas called it a scam that was put up without the proper consent of Whang-Od.
For additional context – I will not be the most objective of people on this topic. I despise Nas Daily and consider the vlog drivel at best, but I will do my due diligence and declare it as early as now.
That being said, let us divine.
The story is not exactly new. As a land full of various cultures, the Philippines is no stranger to culture being commodified and sold to the highest bidder. As the culture reaches a wider audience in the face of globalization and heightened interconnectivity in the modern age, in the era of the Internet, so comes the eye of the profiteers of the world.
Currently, the Whang-Od Academy has been taken down, and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples – Cordillera (NCIP-CAR) is looking into the incident to determine if there was free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) as Nas claims, and to determine the appropriate counter-action if the incident is proven to be a case of violation of intellectual property over cultural expression.
Nas claims that an appropriate contract was entered into, and showed a video of Whang-Od affixing a thumbprint to what is supposedly a contract, but questions remain regarding whether the contract is valid and whether Whang-Od was properly informed of the stipulations of it, whether it was translated right, or whether it was an incidence of trickery.
Regardless of the result, the incident highlights the need to be wary of exploitation, especially of important cultural practices and expressions. Whang-Od’s art is part of the Kalinga Indigenous Cultural Community (ICC)’s collective property and must be treated with the same level of respect and proper cultural context, and not reduced to an online cash-grab by a mediocre content mill.
The preservation of culture is an appropriately important act that must be properly handled. Culture and traditions do not exist without context. What some people might perceive as simple geometric figures carry the weight of a community’s past and their perspectives. It is no overstatement to say that these tattoos, as are many of the practices and traditions of the indigenous peoples, are a crucial part of the preservation of the peoples’ identities.
I am also inclined to take the side of Palicas over that of Nas, not just because of my biases against the vlog, but also because there is nothing to be gained by lying about this matter. If they were truly informed properly and agreed to the online course, why would they shoot themselves in the foot by speaking out against something that indeed provides them income?
For now, we will have to wait until Whang-Od herself speaks up publicly, and until the NCIP completes its own review of the incident. But if there is anything this “academy” has taught us, it is this – be wary and vigilant always, for under the skin may lie something more sinister.
