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Agad’na: Canoe Builders
The ancient CHamorus who were skilled at canoe building and navigation were called agad’na. Early European accounts regularly marveled at these CHamoru vessels, William Dampier.
Chant
References to chanting practices of the CHamoru people can be found in early missionary documents. Fray Juan Pobre, writing about his stay in Rota in 1602, described the type of chants he observed during funerary rites. Women performed this ritual during an extended period of mourning around the deceased, prior to burial.
CHamoru Dance
Native dance of the CHamoru people was only vaguely described by early visitors to the Mariana Islands. The Jesuit annual report for 1669 to 1670 provides a rare description of a women’s dance.
Printmaking
Many private print collections on Guam center around authentic Japanese woodblocks including a sizable patronage of French artist Paul Jacoulet. Jacoulet worked out of Japan with master woodblock carver, Kazuo Yamagishi, in the early 1930s and created a body of work based on Pacific cultures, Korea and Japan. Some of his subject matters were Pacific island natives of Micronesia, which provided an affinity with many local collectors on Guam.
Photography
Photography as an art form is relatively new on Guam. There have been visiting photographers on Guam since the early 1900s. However, the evolution of photography as a form of artistic expression of the island residents has only happened within the last half a century.
Painting
The work of some of Guam’s contemporary painters can be found right off the tarmac as travelers arriving or departing through the A.B. Won Pat International Airport will discover what is probably one of the largest collections of paintings produced by some of the island’s most established artists.
Taotaomo’na
Taotaomo’na, the people of before, refers to ancestral spirits that inhabited the earth along with the living. Ancient Chamorros/CHamorus believed the world around them was full of spirits who provided both daily protection and assistance in their tasks, but also created dangers and problems.
Graphic Arts
Although a relatively new form of art, graphic arts on Guam became a common medium for cultural and artistic expression as modern technology became more accessible to the general public. Ancient Chamorro paintings, or pictographs, found in caves depict their lives and offer a glimpse of how the ancient island people viewed and interpreted the world around them.
Inafa’maolek: Striving for Harmony
Interpretive essay: Striving for harmony is the foundation to CHamoru culture. The phrase inafa’ maolek (pronounced e-na-fah mao-lek) describes the CHamoru concept of restoring harmony or order. The literal translation is ‘to make’ (inafa’) ‘good’ (maolek).
Filmmaking
Though it is still relatively small, filmmaking is growing on Guam as both an art form and an industry. On an island that values story-telling, community, and preserving history and traditions, film is a natural fit as an arts medium and technology is only expected to help it continue to flourish.