Old Filipino practices and traditions were painted by various Negrense artists whose mural paintings were the pleasant sights at the Mural Hall of the Negros Museum.
Eight huge portraits done by local artists beautified the walls of the Mural Hall of The Negros Musuem.
Each painting has its way of seeking out one’s appreciation of the arts that perfecting connect the present generation to the once premitive beginnings of the Filipinos.
There is a painting done by Antonio Tejado of the “First Man and Woman” (Una nga Lalaki kag Babayi), a Visayan creation myth where the first man and woman sprung from the same node of split bamboo which a burd pecked at. In the local myth, these two people were named Kang and Laon. Seen facing one another in the form of a mountain, people believed that this was how Kanlaon volcano was created.
The second painting was done by artist Fred Juson dubbed as “Hunting” (Pangayam).
It states that hunting was the most important survival skill of the early inhabitants. Negros was accidentally discovered by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in April 1565 where he encountered people with dark skin who were small and had kinky hair. The Spaniards called them Negritos or Negrillos, thus called the island Negros, “negro” being the Spanish word for black.
The third painting was done by artist Rex Cuanca dubbed as “A Tumandok Backyard” (Ugsaran sang Tumandok).
Tumandok means native. Before the Spaniards came over, the island was called “Buglas” which in Hiligaynon means “to cut off.” The island was a tropical rainforest. Most of their houses were built high to protect them from wild animals.
The fourth painting was done by artist Roy Aguilar dubbed as “The Babaylan” (Ang Babaylan).
One of the most important in a community or town was the “Babaylan,” a traditional healer and an adviser to their leader. The Babaylan was in charge of the community in the absence of a Datu. In our local dialect, they were called “manughilot.” Another popular term is “sorwano” from cirjuano, a Spanish word for “surgeon.”
The 5th painting was done by artist Jecky Alano about “Burial Practices” (Costumbre sa Paglubong).
The early Negrenses practiced two kinds of burial – the primary and secondary burial. In the primary type of burial, the Babaylan prays over the person’s dead body, then covers the eyes, nose and mouth with burial mask. It is believed that in this way, the dead person will be protected from evil spirits, otherwise, the spirits will enter the body. During the burial, some of the dead person’s things are buried inside a cave. For the second type of burial, the bones are taken out of the cave after four to five years and put inside burial jars and given back to the family or relatives.
The sixth painting was made by artist Romulo Gallermo dubbed as “Fishing” (Pangisda).
The early inhabitants live near the riverbanks. One of the sources of their subsistence was fishing. They used varieties of techniques to catch fish like using spears, traps, fish pens and nets.
The seventh painting was done by Orville Visitacion dubbed as “Boat Building” (Paghimo sang Sakayan sa Dagat).
Visayan people were excellent boat makers. They used to build boats which they sold to different migrant and trading groups. The mural shows a man with tattoos which symbolizes one’s social status and indicated whether you were a rich or brave man. The practice of tattooing the body was popular in Negros Island, thus, when the Spaniards took over, they called the inhabitants “pintados” meaning “the painted ones.”
The eight painting was made by artist Marcial Buelba dubbed as “Moro Raids of Ilog”(Pang-ati sang mga Moro sa Ilog).
Ilog is located next to Kabankalan City in Southern Negros. It was the first capital of Negros Occidental. Since Ilog is a coastal area, it was subject to periodic attacks by the Moros. They raided the place for slaves and loot people from Ilog said that one attack was stopped because of the appearance of the Sto. Niño in the sky.