The main focus of my collection is the old capital of Kiyyangan and the border-areas where the Ifugao culture has been influenced by direct contact with other tribes and Ilocano settlers. You will witness the stark polarization of carving styles from North and Central Ifugao. Southern form and style was  overlooked or de-prioritized by many collectors in the past. Why? Well, my theory is quite simple. It was the Westerners (i.e Europeans then the Americans) who first took interest in Ifugao Art. They most likely began to collect pieces from Baguio City or directly from Banaue, seeing as these were the tourist hot spots in the 80's. Hence, they were the ones who defined the Canon for us. And we Filipinos who had much later developed a similar curiosity and interest in the same Art would naturally refer to books, publications written and documented by Western authors. One would have also visited Art galleries abroad which were curated by individuals influenced with the same aesthetics. These then defined the canon; a gaping mouth. deep-set hollow eyes, hands on the thighs, mortar-shaped bases, crusty, dark patina, seated-angular form. It became gospel truth in the tribal art circles. I am oversimplifying for effect, but I did personally experience this feeling like if your pieces did not have any of these characteristics or were not able to tick-off these mandatories then your pieces were bluntly considered doubtful, fake or tourist art. That really got me thinking...