Tam-awan Village

Tam-awan Village is an artists' haven. It is found at the northwestern part of Baguio City. It is one of the less famous place in the City but really worth-seeing if you are tired of visiting the City's tourists traps. Although it is a hectic work-week, a friend invited me to see the place which I really appreciated.

The place features a number of Igorot huts which will allow you to see how the homes of the mountain people really look like. You do get a chance to climb up the wooden ladder and see what is inside each hut. This will give you a chance to feel what it is like to be living in one of these huts. Since these huts were set up on different locations on a hillside, visitors have to climb up the steep pathways to go from one hut to another. For those lowlanders who are not accustomed to Baguio's high elevation, it does get to be quite an exhilarating experience to visit the Tam-Awan village. One will surely find a need to rest at each hut just to catch a breathe before climbing further up.

And since the place is an Artists' Haven, lots of excellent artworks adorn the place. Here are some photos I have taken on the village:

X-Painted photos of social ills and problem hanging by the bamboo bridge.


A touch on the belly of a Fertility Statue is said to do wonders to those who wish to conceive.


In-house artists can do your portrait in just fifteen minutes.


Paintings of Tandayon, Alangui, Cablog, Mang-osan and some young painters are on display on one of the native huts.


Artistic works of Ben Cab are also features in the garden and other places of the Village.


A typical hut features a bed laid down on the wooden panel, a sungka, and a fireplace in the middle of the room.



The place is also known as the Garden In The Sky so pretty flowers abound.


It takes a lot of courage
To come near the children's pain
Perhaps because
It opens us up to our own pain
Which we would rather deny.

In Tam-awan
Beauty was seed
In brokenness darkness
And even in garbage
It really takes an artist
We learned,
To let us see beauty
In everything, and everyone.

The welcome and warmth
Was unconditional and palpable
Which provided a secure place
Like a womb.

Where each one could gestate,
In four days... and believe
In some innate goodness in one's self.

Artist are healers too...
By their spirit and eye for truth
They touch and transform
Lives
And awaken spirits.

poem lifted from http://www.tamawanvillage.com/content.php?content_id=106