When it comes to handwoven textile production in the Philippines, the process is a slow and tedious one. From harvesting crops from which fiber for weaving will be stripped, to knotting and tying each fiber, it can take months before a final fabric or garment is produced.
“It’s tedious because it’s done by hand,” said Anna India Dela Cruz-Legaspi, a piña weaver who has been weaving for more than 20 years. “No gadgets [are] used. You can finish making one-fourth meter of pure piña fabric per day.”
That’s a little less than 10 inches per day.
Similarly, another tradition, the weaving of the t’nalak, a tapestry made by the T’Boli tribe in Lake Sebu in South Cotabato, takes one-and-a-half months to complete four meters (about 13 feet and 1 inch), said Bernadeth Ofong, a master T’boli weaver who has had more than 30 years of experience in the craft.
Yet despite the time it takes to create fabric using this method, weaving is a tradition deeply rooted in many Philippine communities and one the country is looking to promote and spur interest in.
Along with four other weaving traditions, the piña and t’nalak weaves have been selected to be featured in the 12th annual 2015 International Folk Arts Market (IFAM), which will be held in Santa Fe, NM, on Friday through Sunday, July 10 to 12. About 20,000 people are expected to attend the event.
The market “celebrates the humanity of the handmade and empowers communities through monumental earnings,” according to the International Folk Art Alliance website, the umbrella organization under which IFAM falls. Since 2004, the market has hosted 750 artists from 92 countries.
The Philippines’ participation in the market is meant to revitalize hand woven textile production in the country, said Tanya Lat, secretary of the board of trustees of Non-Timber Forest Products Philippines (NTFP). The organization and its marketing arm, CustomMade Crafts Center, Inc. (CMCC), are representing the Philippines this year.
“We have so many textile traditions from north to south and we all need to clothe ourselves, and it’s really sad that we import 80 to 90 percent of our clothing requirements from other countries when we could be generating our own clothing,” Lat said during a presentation on Monday, July 6, at the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles. “[We] hope that the IFAM participation will regenerate interest in the hand-woven textiles and also help generate demand.”
This weekend will be the second time the Philippines has been selected for the weekend market. Last year, five Philippine weaving traditions were represented and 173 artists from 59 countries chosen to participate. The Philippines was also among six new countries to join in on the market.
From Friday through Saturday, six Philippine folk art traditions will be represented. More than 150 artists from 57 countries are slated to attend the event.
“Artists from the CustomMade Crafts Center bring to the International Folk Art Market-Santa Fe woven textiles and baskets like none other in the market,” said Mary Littrell, head of the International Folk Art Alliance selection committee, in an email to Asian Journal.
“The beauty of the hand woven textiles and baskets shines out for all to see. That the art is made from abaca and piñon fibers and in vibrant colors from natural dyes adds to their uniqueness for the market customers. In addition customers are greatly appreciative of the sustainable forest management from which the materials are derived,” she added.
The piña leaves of Kalibo, Aklan
Among the six traditions to be represented in the upcoming weekend market are piña-woven textiles. Kalibo, Aklan, located on the island of Panay in Visayas, is known to be the oldest and primary manufacturer of piña. The weaving of fibers derived from pineapple leaves began centuries ago when Red Spanish Pineapple – which is not indigenous to the Philippines – was introduced by Spanish colonizers.
Piña peaked in the 1800s, but slowed in the later years of the century due to the introduction of cheaper, machine-made cloths.
The tradition nearly came to a complete end during the American colonial rule in the Philippines, which lasted from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s, and particularly as younger generations showed little interest in the craft.
In the late 1900s, public-private partnerships between Philippine government agencies and Aklan local piña weaving initiatives started reviving piña weaving.
Today, many Aklanons earn a living from this craft.
Dela Cruz-Legaspi, one of the two Philippine artists who will be featured at the 2015 IFAM, credited herself as having developed contemporary combinations of materials into piña weaving, such as silk and abaca, which resembles and is related to the banana plant. These innovations, among others, are ones she said weavers in the province use today.
She said this demonstrates the sustainability of the industry, and added she did not bother registering her innovations with the Intellectual Property Office.
“[You] will be running after so many people that would copy and it’s a waste of time and money. Maybe you’ll get court cases. So you just would like to also think that that’s your contribution to the industry, which is much better than keeping it to yourself,” she said.
Dela Cruz-Legaspi brought scarves to Monday’s presentation and explained that natural dyes — such as coconut husk, jackfruit and indigo — are used to color the fabrics.
Dela Cruz-Legaspi owns Heritage Arts and Crafts, a business she founded in Kalibo that specializes in piña handwoven textiles.
The t’nalak of the T’boli of Lake Sebu
T’nalak abaca tapestries crafted by T’Boli people are often described “woven dreams,” as the process typically begins with the spirit of the abaca showing the weaver in her dreams a pattern laid out on a loom. Among symbols that have been woven into these tapestries include a butterfly, eagle and python. Each fiber is knotted and tied according to the weaver’s dreams, and then dyed.
During Monday’s presentation at the Philippine Consulate, Ofong explained that there is no pattern followed in t’nalak weaving. She added that the traditional color of the tapestry is red, black and white.
The craft is a family tradition and activity, so mothers and daughters do the knotting and designing, while husbands harvest and strip the fibers, and knot when they have free time.
Among purposes for which the t’nalak has been used include bartering for horses and carabaos. They have also been given as dowries, for a first baby and as gifts. The fabric can then be used as a blanket, bag, vest, blouse or table runner, among other things.
At P600 (less than US$20) per meter, Ofong said the t’nalak is the most expensive of fabrics they sell.
Ofong will be one of the two Philippine artists featured at this year’s IFAM. She is a mother, community leader and founder of a T’boli artisan-run business called KLOWIL KEM LIBON, which means “life of women.” The enterprise aims to preserve and promote traditional T’boli arts and crafts, according to a CMCC statement.
The tingkep baskets of the Pala’wan tribe of Palawan
Tingkep baskets woven by the Pala’wan tribe in the southern half of Palawan province is used for a variety of purposes: as a storage container for rice, salt and personal belongings; in hunting; in bartering, where it is exchanged for rice, wraparound skirts, and blankets, among other things. The tingkep is also experiencing an increasing demand among tourists who visit Puerto Princessa, the capital city of Palawan, and has become the primary source of income for the tribe.
Similarly to other Philippine weaving traditions, tingkep-weaving is passed down to future generations and involves multiple family members. Both girls and boys are taught to weave at a young age, although men participate in the process by helping gather and prepare materials, while women perform the actual weaving.
Weaving is done in the daytime, when there is sufficient light to see what is being woven and when it is too hot to work in the fields. The same is done during the rainy season.
Tingkep is also used to house the powerful female spirit “Linamin et Kundu” during a healing ritual called “Kundu.”
The hinabol of the Higaonon of Impasug-ong, Bukidnon
Higaonon hinabol weavers hail from Bukidnon, a mountainous region in North Central Mindanao. In the Binukid dialect, “hinabol” means woven.
Weaving is generally a happy activity for hinabol weavers. The textile produced reflects the moods and feelings of the weaver, similarly to how a painter might do on a canvas. The “woven happiness” is seen in the patterns and bright colors of the hinabol.
Also known as a “piece of cloth,” hinabol is woven as an offering to the spirits. It is also given as a gift, as a dowry and is used to bring about peace during tribal conflicts.
Each hinabol is a unique piece of art, as weavers acknowledge each other’s “intellectual property” and only replicate designs given the explicit permission of the original artist.
The geometric weaves of the Yakan tribe of Zamboanga and Basilan
Yakan weaving features elaborate geometric designs and patterns that are inspired by nature. Fabrics produced by Yakan weavers are used for religious and ritual purposes: they are bartered for daily necessities, given as gifts and used for peace offerings in times of conflict.
Originally from Lamitan, Basilan in Mindanao, many Yakan communities were forced to flee to Zamboanga City due to the conflict in Basilan that took place from the 1970s through the 1990s.
Because of their continuing displacement due to conflict, weaving has become increasingly important to the Yakan community throughout the past 40 years. The craft has always been important to the Yakan community and economy and has allowed Yakan women a means to preserve their cultural identity amid displacement. Additionally, it has provided them a way to earn an income away from their homeland.
The tapis of the Kalinga tribe
The tapis, a costume indigenous to the Kalinga area, will be featured at this year’s IFAM. It is a rectangular cloth women wear as a wraparound skirt. The garment is woven with backstrap body-tension looms, embroidered with nature-inspired patterns and are sometimes adorned with mother-of-pearl platelets and shells, which represent wealth and prestige in the area.
In Northern Luzon, women from Lubuagan, Kalinga weave to earn an income that is vital in providing the needs of their families.
Weaving in Kalinga is a tradition that is passed on to subsequent generations from mother to daughter. Girls begin learning how to weave as early as 10 years old – and in some cases, even younger – with the help of their mothers and grandmothers.
In some communities, men also participate in the craft. Once women are finished weaving their piece, men will stitch designs into the fabric that are inspired by the natural environment in Kalinga. Among these designs include mountains, birds, lakes, and stars.
Implications of Philippine participation in IFAM and looking ahead
Each year, the IFAM takes in a gross average of $2.5 million, with average sales per booth at $18,000.
Last year, the five artists from the Philippines took in a total of $10,000, which Lat was told was a fair amount for first-timers to IFAM. The Philippines also received helpful comments about product development, which it acted on for this year’s market, Lat said. For instance, the tapis pieces brought to the event this year were made larger to accommodate taller and larger wearers.
Through participating in the event, the main hope Dela Cruz-Legaspi and Ofong have is a boost in sales in the U.S.
Dela Cruz-Legaspi added that it could also serve as an avenue for educating people about Philippine weaving traditions, as it isn’t something everyone know about.
“It’s about time that we will not be confined in our province or in our country, but we have to be globally exposed and to be competitive with the other handicrafts or traditional crafts that we have,” she said.
The Philippines will try to be represented once again in the 2016 IFAM, and Andres Moran, liaison aide with NTFP, expressed hopes of being able to bring more artists in the future.
Last year, Hinabol weaver and master dyer Myla Abalang-Carcasona of the Higaonon Sunflower Weavers Association was the Philippine artist featured in last year’s market. And although two artists will represent the country this year, four more could have attended.
“There are artists who have actually earned their [spot] here, but [couldn’t come] because of financial constraints,” he said.
Dela Cruz-Legaspi and Ofong were able to attend this year through a sponsorship from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in the Philippines.
Amid future goals and anticipated results from this year’s IFAM, having Philippine works of art represented in an event attended by thousands of people nationwide and across the globe is an opportunity the country can be proud of.
“It’s a source of pride for us to be able to bring our traditions to the world,” Lat said.
By Agnes Constante
Published: July 9, 2015 | No Comments – See more at: http://asianjournal.com/aj-magazines/philippine-weaving-traditions-featured-in-12th-annual-international-folk-art-market/#sthash.itjt9V3e.dpuf
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