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).

Pangalan

Pangalan

Decolonial Minimalism Founding Work - Culture (Wika)

Size: 1400 x 1400 pixels

Medium: Digital Art

Artist: IJWBAA

Year: 2025

Description:

Pangalan by IJWBAA is a chromatic roll call of ancestral presence. Set against a deep brown field, these names ripple like constellations—each one a vessel of myth, leadership, or cosmic rhythm. From kalaw (the hornbill, often a spiritual messenger) to gat (a noble title), the composition becomes a mnemonic invocation. These are not just words—they are inheritances, echoing across time, land, and lineage.

The names span mythological beings (Bathala, Mayari), celestial bodies (araw, bituin), and precolonial titles (lakan, datu, dayang, lakambini, gat). IJWBAA’s minimalist arrangement resists hierarchy, placing all names in horizontal rhythm—suggesting equality in remembrance. Amanicalao, a lesser-known term, pulses with mystery, while diwa anchors the list with spirit and essence. The brown background evokes soil and origin, grounding each name in the land that birthed it.

This artwork reframes naming as a radical act of reclamation. Pangalan becomes a visual chant, a mnemonic panel where each term is a portal into Filipino cosmology and sovereignty. IJWBAA invites viewers to speak these names aloud, to remember not just who we are, but who we come from. It is a chromatic archive of dignity, myth, and movement—where language becomes legacy.

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IJWBAA. Decolonial Minimalism. Photobook, mm/dd/yyyy, p. #. - coming soon

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