The Complex Tension Between Cultural Preservation and Commercial Demand
Eulalie Dulnuan draws from her background of teaching tourism—particularly heritage tourism—to explore the complex tension between cultural preservation and commercial demand. She reflects on how the changing perception of the bulul raises important questions: is it beneficial that people are no longer afraid of the once-sacred figure, or has something meaningful been lost? She highlights the distinction between contemporary, tourist-oriented bulul carvings and traditional, ritually consecrated bululs used by culture bearers—objects believed to carry spiritual power and thus inappropriate, even harmful, for visitors to take home.
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Rice granary guardian male and female figures (bululs)
Attributed to the carver Taguiling
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PERSON

Eulalie
Dulnuan
Tourism and Cultural Officer
President of the Ifugao Intangible Heritage and Performing Arts Society
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THEMES
