LOPE Bosaing is a Sagada farmer who began making pottery in 1995. Sagada pottery is well-known for its intricate designs and remarkable craftsmanship, and has been a prized item among art collectors. Potters from this highland area undoubtedly have the skills but lack the materials needed to produce more amazing pottery and a venue to showcase these works.

Now, thanks to the Sagada Kiln Project, Bosaing and his neighbors had been given a chance to display their works and sell some of them to eager collectors during the ?Ub Ubbo 2010 (Sharing and Working Together): Pottery from Sagada? exhibit held on July 8-21 at the Cav Wine Shop-Café, Bonifacio Global City. Other potters from Sagada whose works were included in the exhibition are Tessy Baldo and Sigrid Bangay. Works of well-known potters Jon Pettyjohn, Joey de Castro, Pete Cortes, Jo Geraldo, and Pablo Capati III of the Putik Potters Association of the Philippines were also included.

The exhibit was made possible by the Australian Embassy in the Philippines, which took heed of Australian artist Sean Cassidy?s suggestion to include Sagada potters in the embassy?s Direct Aid Program that supports Philippine indigenous groups. The Sagada Kiln Project provided the potters with materials and financed the setting up of a pottery center where they can improve their craft and train the younger generation so as to preserve this ancient skill.

The pottery exhibit was also part of the Australian Embassy?s celebration of National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (Naidoc) Week.

Bosaing joined the Putik potters association in 2001, grateful that there are people and organizations who can help him and fellow potters find a venue to display and sell their works. Having a kiln at their disposal also helps them explore other pottery-making skills, he adds. ?With the kiln, we can create glazed stoneware instead of or earlier rough or raw pottery,? he explains.

?I also get inspiration from my province,? reveals Bosaing. ?If you take a closer look at my works, you will notice that I try to correct misconceptions about our indigenous traditions. For example, there are symbols in other provinces that they call gods, but in my works I try to explain that for us in Sagada they are not gods but just symbols.?

The project, which is now on its second year, ?has sparked economic activity for the pottery industry in Sagada,? says Stephen Scott, Australian Charge d?Affaires. Scott also sees the project as an example of cultural diplomacy between the two countries. ?Aid to Philippine indigenous groups is just one aspect of our program,? he says. ?We started this program with a lot of enthusiasm because we saw in Sean [Cassidy] the passion to help elevate the skills and works of the people of Sagada.?

Thanks to Cassidy?s encouragement, selected works from Sagada potters will also be exhibited in Parkes and Canberra, Australia within the year. ?We hope to link [Sagada potters] with indigenous Australian artists,? says Scott.

The embassy?s Direct Aid Program includes such projects as ?Reconnecting with Our Roots ? An In-depth Advocacy on Our Cultural Heritage? with the Cartwheel Foundation in Bukidnon and Kalinga; the construction of T?nalak Dyeing Center with the Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers Association Inc. of South Cotabato, and ?Indigenising Education in a Kalinga Public School,? with the Ateneo Center for Educational Development in Kalinga.

Naidoc Week is celebrated every first week of July all over Australia and in Australia?s embassies and consulates around the world. To celebrate the event, the embassy has an ongoing screening until August 9 of Australian Indigenous short films from the Australian National Film and Sound Archive?s Black Screen Collection at the University of the Philippines in Manila and Baguio, and the University of Asia and the Pacific. ?