Ifugao Sculpture

Both figurative sculptures and ritual boxes exemplify the talent of artists from the Ifugao, Bontoc and Kankanaey tribes in the northern Luzon region of the Philippines. The exhibition and publication are organised by the University Museum and Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with Martin Kurer and Asian Art:Future. The works displayed include ritual wood carving of sculptural objects, including bulul statues, which are carved wooden figures used to guard the rice crop by the peoples of the Cordillera mountains in northern Luzon. The sculptures are highly stylized representations of deities. The exhibition also includes ceremonial and functional wooden boxes and bowls. By highlighting the modern abstract style of these carved 19th- and 20th-century sculptures, this collection takes an artistic rather than an anthropological approach. Both the bulul figures and boxes are deeply connected to cultural rituals while presenting abstract expressions of a group of talented rural artists.