These hand-painted ceramics by Santiago Bose feature designs and drawings derived from the iconography of anting anting talismans, incorporating geometric, figurative and animistic references from vernacular, Indigenous and Catholic symbolism. Strongly influenced by the folk and ethnic cultures of the Philippines, Bose is known for having directly incorporated Indigenous cultural materials, symbolism, spiritual icons and social concerns into his practice, along with a range of art-making techniques and aesthetic sources gleaned through a nomadic lifestyle.

Through these ceramic works, Bose explores what he has referred to as ‘the invisible world that is ingrained in the Filipino psyche’, including the belief in abilities of shamans and faith healers, and the power of specific objects or symbols to act as talismans or amulets, protecting the wearer from illness, injury and even death when empowered by rituals and incantations. Associated with people’s uprisings against colonial and dictatorial regimes, anting anting embody a cultural memory of resistance.