Preserving culture

Can culture be preserved?

Is culture really lost or does it just constantly evolve?

My professor asked the class these questions before we went to see the Sarsuela exhibit in UP Diliman’s Vargas Museum.

While walking around, my eyes kept drifting towards the food table. Partly because I was hungry and partly because I was thinking about Filipino culture. Seriously.

There was a woman preparing puto-bumbong at the table and it got me thinking about how the tradition of the Filipino kakanin has persisted throughout the years. There aren’t as many kakanin stalls in markets these days but a lot of commercialized versions, especially of the bibingka, have appeared. I often try out these commercial kakanin out of curiosity but most of the time I am disappointed.

Some of my favorite merienda as a child were sapin-sapin, bibingka, puto, puto-bumbong, pichi-pichi and biko. I long for the taste of my childhood. Have I set my standards too high? Has it been so long that I have forgotten what my favorite snacks really tasted like? Or do modern kakanin really pale in comparison to the ones from a decade ago?

The kakanin did not disappear, it evolved. Now I’m confused. If culture isn’t lost through evolution, why do I feel like there’s something missing in my new kakanin? But if the culture from before is different from the culture of today, what would be left of my kakanin ten years from now?

Scientifically speaking, they say evolution gets rid of the unnecessary. Parts of an organism that are useless or hindrances are gradually eliminated. Is it the same for cultures? If so, who decides which part of the culture is unnecessary? How is it decided?

If moving forward means leaving something behind, how do we decide what to hold on to and what to let go?