Ifugao Bulul Carving

The bulul is the best-known object of Ifugao material culture: a human figure, usually seated with arms on knees, carved from narra or other hardwood, made in pairs and consecrated in a ritual involving the sacrifice of a pig or chicken and the anointing of the wood with blood and rice wine, after which it is placed in the granary to guard the rice and ensure the harvest. Age darkens them with soot and offerings. Genuine consecrated bulul are family property with religious force, not merchandise, and the trade in old figures taken from granaries has been a serious problem for decades. What is sold in Banaue and Baguio shops is almost entirely new work made for the market - which does not make it worthless, since the carving tradition is alive and the workshops are worth visiting, but a buyer should understand which of the two is on offer, and be sceptical of anything presented as an authentic old ritual piece.

What you actually see

• The carving workshops - figures worked in hardwood by hand.
• The seated form - the characteristic pose of the bulul.
• The finished pieces - new carvings made for sale.
• The granary context - where consecrated figures belong.

When to go

November to May for travel in Ifugao. Weekday working hours to see carvers at work; ask at guesthouses in Banaue or Kiangan for directions to workshops.

Honest expectations

Pieces sold to visitors are new work, whatever the seller says about age. Genuine consecrated bulul are ritual property and trading in them is a real problem - do not buy anything presented as removed from a granary.

Nearby

The Banaue and Batad terraces, the Ifugao Museum at Kiangan and the province's other clusters are all close.