European Scientific Journal November 2013 edition vol.9, No.32 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e - ISSN 1857- 7431 349 LUKAY ART IN CEBU: A HERITAGE OF LIVING TRADITIONS Reynaldo B. Inocian Cebu Normal University Abstract This study is a documentary analysis of “puso” (rice-pouch/hanging rice) used as a ritual object among the village farmers in Taptap, an isolated mountain barangay of Cebu City. “Puso” is an embodiment of the cultural identity of the Cebuanos that needs ardent preservation as a heritage of living traditions. The use of ethnography and actual observation revealed that “puso” is used in the farm rituals. Six major designs of “puso” were documented as the last few pieces of the elaborate designs woven before the 13 th century prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521. Actual weaving and cooking processes were photographed, art elements and principles were analyzed in each design, and symbolisms were identified based on the actual ritual. All these variables were juxtaposed to establish a need for preservation. The cultural preservation of intangible heritage is an advantage for successful socio-cultural-tourism framework. Keywords: Lukay art, puso-weaving, puso ritual, “panaad”, “lantayan”, “harangan”, “tambalan”, “mamumutang”, heritage of living traditions Introduction Emily Dickinson once said, “Nature is a haunted house--but Art--is a house that tries to be haunted”. Nature is preoccupied with all the different species of life as a perfect macrocosm of God’s creation. Humans who represent her microcosmic entity try to extol her beauty through art appreciation. The best source of art is nature herself that generates a myriad appreciation like Lukay Art. This natural art is embodied through the use of “lukay” (coconut palm), as one form of perishable art in the Philippines with which early “Sugbu-anons” (Cebuanos) were engaged in before the 13 th century, but records of which were chronicled by Spanish missionaries and friars in the middle of the 15 th to the 17 th centuries in the Visayas. As quoted in a South Sea maxim "He who plants a coconut tree plants food and drink, vessels and clothing, a home for himself and a heritage for his children". The fringes and shorelines of the Visayas are