History
First phase: 1994-2002
The Tao Foundation for Culture and Arts was incorporated with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1994 by Grace Nono, Antonio Buencamino, Alex Cruz, Roberto Aves, Virginia Gapuz, and Roselle Leah Rivera.
Tao Foundation’s First Phase saw the organization respond to the dearth of educational materials on Philippine traditional musics. Between the years 1995 and 2002, at a time when Philippine teachers and students, especially in public schools, had few materials to use to teach Philippine traditional cultures and musics, the Tao Foundation published five audio recordings, three of them with monographs. The titles published were: 1) Maguindanao Kulintang featuring Aga Mayo Butocan (audio); 2) Pakaradiaan Maranao Epic Chants and Instrumental Music featuring Sindao Banisil (audio), 3) Marino Hanunuo Mangyan Chanted Poetry and Instrumental Music featuring Baryus Gawid, Ulyaw Bat-ang, et al. (audio and print), 4) Kahimunan Agusan-Manobo/ Higaonon/ Banwaon Cultural Music featuring Datu Tomambaw Salvador Placido, Pastor Jose Havana, et al. (audio and print), and 5) Tudbulul Lunay Mogul: T’boli hero of Lunay, the Place of Gongs and Music featuring T’boli cultural music featuring Mendung Sabal (audio and print). Related to the publications, cultural education workshops were mounted at the Ateneo de Manila University, the Community of Learners Foundation, and the Museo Pambata. Part of the proceeds of this series was used to support a small scholarship program for indigenous college students. This publication series ended in 2002 because the high costs of research, production, and printing could not be recouped. By 2025, rights to almost all of the titles have been reverted back to the traditional artists and their families for them to manage and use in indigenous education in their respective communities.
Photos of Publications
Maguindanaoan Kulintang (1995)
Pakaradiaan: Maranao Epic Chants and Instrumental Music (1996)
Marino: Hanunuo Mangyan Music and Chanted Poetry (1998)
Tudbulul Lunay Mogul (2002)
Kahimunan: Cultural Music of the Manobo, Higaonon, Banwaon of Agusan del Sur (2002)
Photos of Workshops
Community of Learners Foundation (1998)
Photos of Scholars
Hanunuo Mangyan
Ibaloi, Ifugao and other Cordilleran
Agusanon-Manobo
Second Phase: 2003 to 2008
Tao Foundation mounted over thirty workshops and seminars on traditional performing arts and crafts, holistic health, and intercultural/interfaith dialogue at the National Museum in Manila, British Council in Manila, Museo Pambata, fifteen public schools in Metro Manila, Rizal, and Laguna, thirteen Agusan del Sur barangays and municipalities, and at the Tao Foundation’s center in Agusan del Sur. These activities were supported by the Tao Foundation’s officers, their families and friends, the Toyota Foundation, UNESCO, Advocates of Philippine fair Trade Inc., Philippine-Australia Community Assistance program, Cultural Center of the Philippines, UNICEF, National Commission for Culture and Arts, the provincial government of Agusan del Sur, and local communities and organizations.
Photos of Workshops
National Museum (2002)
Museo Pambata (2002)
British Council (2002)
Agusan Tour (2003)
Sining Salubungan (2004)
Balay Agusan Festival (2005)
Healing Arts Workshop (2008)
Third Phase: 2009-2014
Organizational recess.
Destruction of the Tao Foundation’s facilities in Agusan del Sur due to the 2012 super-typhoon Pablo.
A number of the Tao Foundation officers enrolled in graduate school programs but remained active in their respective areas of activity, including publishing, workshops and conferences.
Fourth Phase: 2015 to 2020
The Tao Foundation officers raised funds to rebuild their activity center with the help of Give2Asia, Sanctuary Fund, and friends in North America and the Philippines.
The rebuilt facility has been used to host the Agusanon-Manobo School of Living Traditions in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, where Cultural Masters transmit their knowledge of Indigenous language, governance, customary law, ancestral domain conservation, spirituality, food, medicine, embroidery, chant, dance, musical instruments, to the younger generations. The same facility has been the venue for PAMATI (“listen” and feeling” in Visayan), a gathering that brings together Philippine Indigenous ritual specialists, Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim clergy and adherents, as well as professionals from different fields, from the homeland and the diaspora.
School of Living Traditions (SLT)
PAMATI
PAMATI 2015: Listen to Waters and Songs of Ancestors was co-convened by the Tao Foundation, the Center for Babaylan Studies, GINHAWA (Growth in Wholeness and Wellbeing Associates, Inc.), and the Institute of Spirituality in Asia.
PAMATI 2017: Listen to Bodies, Songs and Waters was co-convened by the Tao Foundation, the Center for Babaylan Studies, GINHAWA (Growth in Wholeness and Wellbeing Associates, Inc.), the Jung Circle, and the Institute of Spirituality in Asia.
Fifth Phase: 2021 – Present
During the Covid 19 pandemic, the Tao Foundation and partner organizations raised funds twice through online concerts by Dr. Grace Nono, to send rice and other basic necessities to several indigenous and local communities in Mindanao, Visayas, and Luzon.
Alay 2021 Photos
Bayanihan-Musikahan 2020 Photos
Also during the pandemic, the Tao Foundation launched Himig, Tula, at Galaw ng Ninuno HTGN or Philippine Traditional Music, Poetry, and Movement Webinar Series, an online educational platform for Philippine Cultural Masters/ Practitioners to pass on some of their knowledges to learners across ethnic and cultural boundaries. HTGN brings together Cultural Masters, Students, and Facilitators who are mostly the Cultural Masters’ long-standing students, able to bridge languages, concepts, pedagogies, and technologies.
►Himig, Tula, at Galaw ng Ninuno
Still during the pandemic, the Tao Foundation collaborated with indigenous leaders and culture bearers in La Paz, Esperanza and Loreto, Agusan del Sur, and the non-government organization PASAKK Panaghiusa Alang Sa Kaugalingnan Ug Kalingkawasan, to implement the National Commission for Culture and Arts’s program to revitalize and enhance traditional music instruments.
Traditional Music Instruments Revitalization Photos
In 2023, as soon as the pandemic came to a close, the Agusanon-Manobo School of Living Traditions opened its doors again, this time, in three sites: Bunawan, La Paz and Esperanza, Agusan del Sur.
► Agusanon-Manobo School of Living Traditions
During this phase, the Tao Foundation also began to co-produce documentary films such as Wisdom Keepers of the Earth, about a number of ritual specialists and other wisdom keepers in Mindanao, Visayas, Luzon, and in Korea, South Africa, Mexico, Kenya, and the Philippine Diaspora in the United States. Directed by Bagane Fiola in Bukidnon and Sarangani, by Anna Razel Ramirez and Ramon Ramirez in Panay, by Darwin Belmoro and Sonny Boy Castillo in Batangas and Manila, and by Jocelyn Banasan-Kapuno in Ifugao, Wisdom Keepers of the Earth was produced by the Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy in cooperation with the Tao Foundation for Culture and Arts and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, to commemorate the Philippines’ National Literature Month, Araw ng Kagitingan, and Earth Day in the year 2022.
►Wisdom Keepers of the Earth
A second documentary film co-produced by the Tao Foundation is BALAAN: Sacred Voices, Sacred Lands. Directed by Mindanaoan filmmaker Bagane Fiola of Origane Films and co-produced by Martin Cohen and Dr. Grace Nono with the support of Dr. Luke and Christine Negri, the Philippine Development Council of the Philippines, the National Commission for Culture and Arts, and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, BALAAN follows Tao Foundation Founder Dr. Grace Nono as she returns to four of her teachers of chant in Mindanao. These teachers are Talaandig Chieftain Datu Migketay Victorino, joined by Bai Nanapnay Liza Saway and other members of the Talaandig Indigenous Cultural Community; Agusanon-Manobo chanter Bae Angela Placido, joined by Bae Manyaguyad Lucy Rico, Datu Kanimbaylan Remy Reyes and other members of the Agusanon-Manobo Indigenous Cultural Community; T’boli shaman and epic chanter Mendung Sabal’s family members, joined by Boi Myrna Pula and other members of the T’boli Indigenous Cultural Community; and Blaan chanter-dreamer Elia Capeon, joined by Legla Cansing, Mata Masayeg, Lalinia Tialang, Datu Martin Magoling, Dakel Makundon and other members of the Blaan Indigenous Cultural Community.
►BALAAN: Sacred Voices, Sacred Lands
Yet another noteworthy development during this Phase is the Tao Foundation’s involvement in the land-based program, Alima Eco, Agri, and Heritage Park development. Situated in the San Teodoro peatland in northeastern Mindanao, this program is a collaborative effort among the Nono family that is devoting its property towards educational, cultural, artistic and scientific purposes; specific Indigenous Culture Bearers; the Tao Foundation Trustees; Friends in the Philippines and in the United States; and scientists in the Philippines, Germany and in other parts of the world. Ecosystem restoration, cultural revitalization, and food security are three of this program’s focal points.
►Alima Eco, Agri, and Heritage Park Development