IJWBAA [eej-wah] is a Filipino digital artist and the first Filipino recognized in Techspressionism. He is a neologist and the originator of Decolonial Minimalism —an art movement that reclaims minimalism through ancestral memory and cultural reawakening. His work earned a spot on the shortlist for the Hiiibrand Design and Illustration Awards 2024. His papers were published on Academia.edu.He was selected by David Quiles Guilló, Director of The Wrong, to participate in the 7th Edition of The Wrong Biennale - described by The New York Times as the digital world's answer to Venice Biennale - with Prayers to Ai, further cementing his standing in the international digital art community. His collected works, compiled in two volumes of I Just Wannabe an Artist, have been recognized, officially archived, cataloged, and made available in the collections of the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Museo Reina Sofía, the National Museum of the Philippines, Getty Research Institute, and other prominent cultural institutions worldwide. The two volumes are cataloged in WorldCat under OCLC Numbers 1530632939(Book 1) and 1530636063(Book 2).

binunghay

binunghay

Decolonial Minimalism Founding Work (Culture - Habi)

Size: 1400 x 1400 pixels

Medium: Digital Art

Artist: IJWBAA

Year: 2025

Description:

IJWBAA’s Binunghay serves as a definitive manifesto on decolonial minimalism, stripping back the sacred, compound patterns of the Panay Bukidnon Panubok tradition to reveal their core structural power. By distilling the intricate zigzag geometry of the binunghay—a motif born from ancestral memory—into its most elemental form, the artwork challenges the colonial tendency to view indigenous crafts as merely "ornamental" or "complex." Instead, the piece asserts that these patterns possess an inherent, sovereign logic that does not require layers of western-style artistic embellishment to be profound; their simplicity is, in itself, an act of resistance.

Set against a stark, uncompromising red field, the digital rendering of the pattern demands absolute clarity and focus. This intentional use of high-contrast, geometric precision distances the work from the "rustic" or "folkloric" labels often imposed by outsiders, reframing the binunghay as a sophisticated, mathematical blueprint. The repeating vertical rhythm captures the pulse of the habi, yet it is presented with a modern sharpness that declares Filipino indigenous design is not a static artifact of the past, but a living, evolving infrastructure for contemporary identity.

Ultimately, this work reframes the traditional weave as a visual statement of artistic sovereignty and "absolute" truth. By reducing the motif to its foundational essence, IJWBAA demonstrates that indigenous storytelling can dominate modern spaces without losing its ancestral soul. Binunghay is presented not as a mere abstraction, but as a foundational pillar for the future—a reminder that the rhythms of the Panay Bukidnon ancestors are the very blueprints upon which a decolonized Filipino visual language is built.

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