Badlit, or Suwat Bisaya, is an ancient Visayan writing system similar to Baybayin. Superseded by the Latin alphabet following Spanish colonization, Badlit has seen some revival among the Visayan people in the present times in the pursuit of reconnecting with our rich precolonial roots and cultural identity. 

This series of artworks symbolically depicts today’s renaissance of the Visayan script through a contemporary style inspired by traditional East Asian calligraphy. Uniquely Bisaya words such as bahandi (meaning treasure/wealth in the Visayan languages), handuraw (to imagine/reminisce) and ginikanan (parents/ancestors) are transcribed in Badlit and then given life in this digital calligraphic series as a way to celebrate not just our native Visayan culture, but also our nation’s diverse heritage as a whole.