Congratulations on the 78th birthday of Manlilikha ng Bayan Uwang Ahadas (February 15, 1945)
Uwang Ahadas
Musician
Yakan
Lamitan, Basilan
Uwang Ahadas was a Yakan, a people to whom instrumental music is of much significance, connected as it is with both the agricultural cycle and the social realm. He is cited for his talent and expertise in playing various Yakan instruments and for keeping his musical tradition alive and flourishing despite his deeming eyesight.
From the ‘gabbang’, a bamboo xylophone, his skills gradually allowed him to progress to the ‘agung’, the ‘kwintangan kayu’ and later the other instruments. Even musical tradition failed to be a deterrent to his will. Or perhaps it only served to fuel his determination to demonstrate his gift. Yakan tradition sets the ‘kwintangan’ as a woman’s instrument and the ‘agung’, a man’s. His genius and his resolve, however, broke through this tradition. By the age of twenty, he mastered the most important of the Yakan musical instruments, the ‘kwintangan’ among them.
Read more: https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/gamaba/national-living-treasures-uwang-ahadas/
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