IN PERSON

RSVP

Gassia Armenian, co-curator of Mountain Spirits, will guide the reading of Benita and the Binobodan: An Ifugao Story, written by Marlon Martin and illustrated by Kizel Kotiw-An. The story follows a young girl who initially resists learning to weave. Sent to a neighboring village, she learns from skilled artisans the intricate techniques of binobodan, an ikat textile historically associated with Ifugao elites.

Textile weaving is central to the transmission of Ifugao cultural values. Researchers from the Cordillera Textile Project (CordiTex) study how these traditions are preserved and reinterpreted over time, including through children’s storytelling. Listen to how Benita’s journey unfolds as she becomes a master weaver, gaining a deeper understanding of her cultural inheritance.

Gassia Armenian is a curator and researcher at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, where she conducts collections research and manages exhibitions. She has curated several notable shows, including those on Armenian textiles and diaspora, which received recognition from the Armenian Academy of Sciences in 2023; and pioneering presentations featuring interactive technology. A co-curator of the Fowler’s current exhibition on the Ifugao people of the Philippines, she is developing a project that links global artists to local communities for ancestral healing. Prior to the Fowler, she worked with USAID in Armenia on civics education.

Image courtesy of CordiTex; written by Marlon Martin and illustrated by Kizel Cotiw-An; published by Cordillera Textile Project, CordiTex, University of the Philippines, Baguio City, Philippines, 2020