A joyful celebration of Filipino ancestral heritage through the culinary Mana. Mai’dasar [ma-ee-da-sar] is an Ilocano [ee-lo-ka-no] term meaning “to prepare”. It describes the narrative of preparing the ingredients or setting the table before a meal. These three significant ancestral dishes are explored and transformed into modern centrepiece food arrangements and content for the mural collection to evoke the narrative of reconnection, celebration and resilience. 

The murals reflect the visual language of tapa painting, bridging the ancestral cultural connection with the Pacific Islands. The illustrations express energy and rhythms through linear shading, as an interpretation of the ocean currents, interpreting the resilience, adaptability, and movement, conceptualising the narrative of the significant tradition as dynamic rather than static.

In addition to the collection, an extended revitalisation of the Filipino ancestral art of writing Baybayin [buy-buy-yin], in which the preparation of each dish is written in Ilocano baybayin, exploring the humble voyagers’ feast to celebrate the resilience of indigenous identity and amplify the heritage to the diasporic Filipino.