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).

Manunggul Jar

Manunggul Jar

Decolonial Minimalism Founding Work - Culture (Symbols)

Size: 1400 x 1400 pixels

Medium: Digital Art

Artist: IJWBAA

Year: 2025

Description:

Manunggul Jar by IJWBAA distills ancestral passage into minimalist maritime rhythm. Against a red field, a white boat glides atop a stylized wave—its twin circular forms echoing the iconic lid of the Manunggul Jar, a Neolithic burial vessel found in Palawan. In the original artifact, two figures ride a boat toward the afterlife. Here, IJWBAA abstracts that journey into geometric silence: no faces, no oars, just presence and pulse.

The Manunggul Jar is one of the Philippines’ most sacred archaeological finds, symbolizing the belief in life beyond death and the soul’s voyage across waters. IJWBAA’s rendering honors this cosmology without replicating it. The circles suggest duality—body and spirit, past and future—while the wave line anchors the vessel in movement. The red background evokes bloodline, sacrifice, and sacred transition. It is not grief—it is grace.

This artwork reframes the Manunggul Jar as mnemonic infrastructure: a visual prayer for continuity, dignity, and the sacredness of departure. By stripping the form to its essence, IJWBAA invites viewers to meditate on legacy—not as static memory, but as motion. Manunggul Jar becomes a chromatic chant for the soul’s journey, where abstraction holds ritual, and silence becomes archive.

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