Fan-tastic!

MANILA, Philippines - Floral architect Rachy Cuna is a great fan of fans. Which is why nobody was surprised when he recently mounted an exhibit of fans at Robinsons Place Manila. And there’s just one word to describe the show: Fan-tastic!

Part of the Filipino Heritage Festival, held in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Department of Tourism, and Robinsons Place Malate, “Paypay: Atin Ito” featured 100 traditional fans, 12 contemporary Rachy Cuna-designed fans, and an installation. Needless to say, there was a lot of fan-fare at the launch of the exhibit attended by assorted friends and fans of Rachy Cuna.

Amid the scorching heat, the sight of Rachy’s fans was welcome relief. Did you know that before the advent of the electric fan and the air conditioner in the Philippines, there was only the punkah? A punkah is a large, broad rectangular fan suspended from the ceiling. It’s hand-powered — one pulls on a rope to swing it to and fro. Some punkahs are made of woven palm leaves, like a banig or sleeping mat. Others are made of light canvas, stretched on a frame, and painted over with flowers, birds or classical art motifs.

Together with the punkah, helping us keep cool are the hand fans or paypay. Philippine paypay is crafted from various palm leaves, abaca, grasses including bamboo and vetiver (moras), even vines. They come in colors that range from natural ecru to mocha, except for the nito vine-accented or dominated paypay, which is rendered elegant with the nito’s subtle sheen and ebony hue. And then came the dyes, both organic and chemical, which enhanced these utilitarian objects, making them eye-catching as well as community marking as the colors signify the origin of the paypay — for instance, the fans from Mindanao are vibrant with their jewel greens, amethysts, and turmerics.

Fans come in various shapes and sizes. The sabutan fans from Baler, Aurora are round, in fresh green or coral pink or sunshine yellow or a combination thereof. The flag-like paypay from Vigan is made of the thinnest bamboo plaits, spined on the side, and has a bamboo handle that is longer than the handles of most hand fans. From the Bicol region come round fans made of braided lengths of abaca sewn together into a concentric circle and given a wooden handle. Also from Bicol is the twined moras, which not only cools the air but also wafts the clean green scent of vetiver. But most common and beloved are the heart-shaped paypays, at whose cusp the handles are formed.

Very handy, light, pretty, durable. It seems that we will never have enough of this cool object called paypay.