Launch of the photographic exhibit by Francisco A. Datar at the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology

Wednesday, October 29, 2025
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Pacific Time)
UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
A Level, Fowler Musuem Building

Across the Philippines, food carries stories of place and people. With over 7,000 islands and more than 170 ethnolinguistic groups, the archipelago’s kitchens reflect histories of exchange, ecological limits, and creative adaptation. Flavors of the Archipelago brings these stories to light through photographs from Dr. Francisco Datar’s four decades of fieldwork. Visitors will see how shark and/or stingray becomes kinunut in Bicol, how rice wine (bayáh) marks Ifugao rituals, and how Ivatan households preserve taro stalks as vunés in Batanes. Each image opens a window onto traditions of sharing, ritual practice, and the everyday work of sustaining community. The exhibit invites audiences to explore how Filipino foodways connect land, sea, and communities across the archipelago.

You can view the exhibit in the hallways of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the A Level of Fowler Museum Building at UCLA.

This exhibit is supported by the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, the UCLA Fowler Museum, the UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies, and the UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies. 

*****Please also join us for the opening lecture "Batanes Food Stories: How Survival Meals Became Prestige Dishes" by Francisco A. Datar for the exhibit launch on October 29, 2025 at 5pm in Deutsch Room, Fowler Museum at UCLA.

Sponsor(s): Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Fowler Museum at UCLA, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, The Philippine Consulate General of Los Angeles, Office of Senator Loren Legarda (Senate of the Philippines), UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies, UCLA Southeast Asian Archaeology Lab