Protest Malong
This performative object hybridizes two vernacular textiles: an activist banner and the malong. A tubular garment indigenous to Mindanao, the malong transforms as it is worn on a body and tied in multiple configurations — adapting to the needs of everyday life. In this case, displacement and protest. Coursing through the traditional Maranao malong, woven bands called landap encode ancestral knowledge in complex geometric and floral patterns called okir. Here, the landap as a space of cultural memory transforms to remember 2017’s devastating Marawi Siege, which leveled the Maranao’s ancestral capital. In solidarity with the victims of Marawi, Protest Malong calls for Kambalingan or their “Right to Return.”
To learn more about the Marawi Siege please visit Amnesty International and follow #LoveForMarawi.
In November 2021, Protest Malong emerged in response to an invitation by Kinding Sindaw to develop a community arts workshop for their end-of-year open house. Continuing as an ongoing series, Protest Malong’s first iteration was exhibited in a group show at LaMaMa Galleria on Great Jones Street in Lower Manhattan.
Potri and Lincoln: Kinding Sindaw‘s founder dances with the Protest Malong at Cooper Union’s Great Hall after a performance on March, 23 2022.
The devastation of Marawi, the Philippines largest Islamic city, resulted in 350,000 internally-displaced citizens. Photo: Amnesty International.
Installation view.
Kinding Sindaw dancers model the ancestral Maranao malong a landap in two configurations: protection from the elements (above) and a hijab for prayer (below). Photo: Steven de Castro.
