The UP Asian Center is organizing the exhibit and curator's talk, “Unwrapping Japanese Culture Through the Tenugui Textile: An Exhibit of Japanese Hand-Dyed Cloth” on 20 August 2025, 1 PM to 3 PM (GMT+8), ONSITE at the UP Asian Center. The exhibit and a pop-up store will run from 18 to 23 August 2025, 11 AM to 5 PM at the UP Asian Center. The event is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to register online.
ABOUT THE TENUGUI EXHIBIT
The tenugui is a traditional Japanese hand-dyed cotton cloth that serves both practical and artistic purposes, used as towels, headbands, wraps, theater props, and more. This textile holds deep cultural significance in Japan and is admired for its simplicity, versatility, and craftsmanship.
As a Filipino collector and designer, Jan Vincent Ong has built a growing collection of tenugui and has designed the first Filipino Tenugui, which features the scenic landscapes of Sagada. His goal is to introduce the tenugui tradition to a Filipino audience, while encouraging local designers to explore Japanese techniques in crafting Filipino stories.
This exhibit aims to spark cultural exchange through art and textile design. It also highlights the contemporary movement of Japonisme in the Philippines, where Filipino artists adopt and reinterpret Japanese aesthetics in local contexts. It offers a unique opportunity to promote cross-cultural dialogue between Japanese and Filipino art traditions, encouraging students, designers, and the public to reflect on the evolving meanings of craft, identity, and heritage. By introducing the tenugui and its adaptation into Filipino contexts, the exhibit fosters an appreciation for traditional techniques while celebrating their modern reinterpretations. It also raises awareness of Japonisme as a cultural movement in the Philippines and validates the use of foreign artistic methods to express local narratives. The event supports the Asian Center’s mandate to engage with Asia’s diverse cultures and aims to inspire future collaborations between Filipino artists and other Asian traditions. Through this exhibit and talk, the university community is encouraged to value both preservation and innovation in folk art, and to see how traditional materials can be used as tools for cultural expression and education.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
JAN VINCENT S. ONG
Owner, J Travel Finds
Jan Vincent S. Ong is the owner of J Travel Finds, a Japanese and Japonisme arts and crafts store. His store features the Japanese hand-dyed rectangular cloth called Tenugui and ceramics. Aside from selling Tenugui, he has become an all-around advocate for this craft. One of his main achievements is designing the first Tenugui with a Filipino design and was handmade by the Nakani Dyeing Factory in Osaka, Japan. He also shares this passion as an expert speaker for the Japan Foundation and UP Tomokai. By having an exhibit, he is breaking new ground to elevate this everyday craft to a heritage craft worth exploring and preserving.
ABOUT THE REACTORS
MATTHEW M. SANTAMARIA, Doctor of Law
Professor and UP Artist, Asian Center, UP Diliman
Dr. Matthew Santamaria is a Professor at the Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman, where he shares his expertise in Japanese politics, culture, and society. He earned his Doctor of Law and Master of Law in Political Science from the Graduate School of Law at Kyoto University, Japan, and holds a Master in International Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of the Philippines Diliman. Dr. Santamaria's academic journey reflects a profound commitment to understanding the political and cultural dynamics of Japan and Southeast Asia.
Specializing in politics, performance studies, and the cultures of Japan and Southeast Asia, Dr. Santamaria has made significant contributions to these fields through both scholarship research and creative pursuits. His research interests include Sama-Bajau studies and Philippine culture, with notable publications such as "Pag-jamu Boheh Deya: Interrogating 'Property' in the Sama Tabawan Music and Dance Ritual of the Sacred Well." Beyond academia, he co-directed and choreographed Tanghalang Ateneo's "Sintang Dalisay," showcasing his dedication to integrating performance art with cultural studies. In recognition of his artistic achievements, Dr. Santamaria was appointed as a UP Artist, underscoring his dual impact as a scholar and artist.
NORMA RESPICIO, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Department of Art Studies, UP College of Arts and Letters
Dr. Norma Respicio is a PhD holder in Philippine Studies from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Her primary fields of specialization are; 1) the history and aesthetics of traditional art forms with special focus on the textiles of the Philippines (and Southeast Asia) and those of Japan (and East Asia), 2) the management and documentation of tangible and intangible art forms (e.g., songs, epics, indigenous skills and technology), and 3) the safeguarding of heritage sites (built and natural) in the Philippines. She has also done in-depth studies on Japanese textile art history and aesthetics over decades in several institutes in Japan, earning prestigious fellowships including the Japan Foundation’s.
Dr. Respicio earned the Most Outstanding Researcher’s Award in the Centennial of Philippine Independence Gawad Chancellor’s Awards, University of the Philippines in 1998. Her publications include “Journey of a Thousand Shuttles, The Philippines Weave” published by NCCA and the US Embassy, 2014, and “Tawid, The Living Treasures of Ilocos Sur” (as co-author), Sanicua Publication, the Philippines, 2010, to name but a few.
ABOUT THE HOST
TESSA MARIA GUAZON
Assistant Professor, Asian Center, UP Diliman
Prof. Tessa Maria Guazon is a Manila-based educator, writer, and contemporary art curator whose work focuses on contemporary art practices in Southeast Asia and their engagement with the public sphere. Her curatorial and research projects include collaborations with institutions such as the International Institute of Asian Studies (SEANNET), Independent Curators International (Notes for Tomorrow), and the Philippine Pavilion at the 58th Venice Art Biennale, as well as participation in the 10th Asia Pacific Triennial, the 2021 Asian Art Biennial, and residencies at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. Recognized with awards such as the UP One UP Professorial Grant, the UP Artist Award, and the Nippon Foundation Asian Public Intellectuals Fellowship, she has published essays and reviews in academic journals, anthologies, and exhibition catalogs, with recent writings exploring the University of the Philippines art collections, artist initiatives during the pandemic, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas art collection.