Likhang Habi market fair opens at Glorietta

MANILA, Philippines - It’s that time of the year again, when HABI, the Philippine Textile Council, holds its annual Likhang Habi Market Fair featuring products made from traditional Philippine textiles. This year, the fair will be held at the Glorietta 2 Activity Center in Makati, from Oct. 23 to 25.

It was in 2009 when chairman of the board Maribel Ongpin organized HABI, which hosted the second conference of the ASEAN Traditional Textile Symposia in Manila. The organization is composed of volunteers and private individuals who share a common interest in fabrics. They have made it their mission to help develop and promote traditional textiles made from natural fibers.

In the process, they “encourage the preservation and blooming of indigenous weaving cultures”, of which our country has a long heritage and tradition.

There’s the inabel from Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra and La Union; the Cordillera weaves from Banaue and Pacdal in Benguet;  the abaca weave, T’nalak, from the T’boli of Lake Sebu in Mindanao; piña from Aklan and Palawan; hablon and patadyong from Iloilo; Mangyan textiles and baskets from Mindoro; Yakan weave from Basilan; and mats and bags from Samar and Bukidnon. Weaving communities all over the country, from Luzon to Mindanao have used pineapple, abaca, cotton, silk, banana, buri and pandan to produce their own unique weaves.

 “It is intricate work. It is not something you learn overnight,” Ongpin remarks. “Weaving is a ritual, the way cooking is a ritual. But weaving is more permanent. It’s a statement. It’s not just manufacturing. You need a concept.” She points to the insukit detail on a tablecloth wherein the design is handwoven into the fabric and not merely added or embroidered. “It’s a special skill.” Ongpin says. “These weavers are geniuses.”

To be featured in this year’s market fair will be the creations of the late T’nalak master weaver, Lang Dulay, a National Living Treasure Awardee (Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan), whose designs were lifted from her dreams.

“Her family will exhibit some of her works that remain in their possession,” Ongpin said.  Buyers will also be able to interact with local weavers who will be present at the market fair to expound on their creations.

Time was when Filipiniana was thought to be old-fashioned or reserved only for formal wear. Not anymore. Young designers have given traditional patterns a modern spin not only in home essentials such as blankets, mats, cushion covers, table runners, napkins, baskets, and trays, but also in clothing and fashion accessories. There is the Filip+inna brand of Len Cabili, who draws inspiration from the tribal wear of the T’boli and Tausug, and executes them in beadwork and embroidery on linen and other woven fabrics. Island wear fashion designer Twinkle Ferraren uses modernized ethnic designs on natural fabrics such as pina and abaca.

“Her clothes are more suited for the hip-hop generation,” says Lisa Ongpin Periquet, who shares her mom’s advocacy.

There has been a growing interest in recent years  in textiles made from natural fibers as opposed to synthetic fibers.  “The general idea is to move out of synthetics because the world now wants natural fibers,” Ongpin observes. “Natural fibers command a high-end price, so we said, why don’t we get into the high-end market.”

There have been some exciting innovations, such as the development of textile blends like tepina, which is a blend of raw silk and pineapple fiber. Then there’s Pinatex, a leather-like textile “made from the leftover leaves of harvested pineapples.”    

Also to be highlighted during the three-day market fair will be handwoven textilemade from 100-percent, Philippine-grown cotton. “We have a cotton advocacy,” Ongpin says. “We have spent the last year and a half going to the provinces in Luzon as well as the Visayas and Mindanao, distributing cotton thread for free to weavers who are out in the rural areas.”

The proceeds from last year’s fair allowed HABI, with technical support from the Philippine Fiber Development Agency (PhilFIDA), to fund a cotton crop at their facility in Batac, Ilocos Norte. “This will allow cotton to be brought back to small farrmers,” Ongpin noted.

With the mission to encourage weavers to go back to natural fibers, HABI also secured a grant from the NCCA to teach cotton spinning to producers in Miagao, Iloilo. “We are not only preserving tradition, we are also helping the rural economy,” Ongpin remarked. She’s encouraging people to come to the market fair to see for themselves and appreciate our traditional textiles as it secures the rightful place it deserves in these modern times.

The dedicated members of HABI, which include HABI president Monsie David, vice-president, Ruby Diaz Roa, Louie Barcelon-Locsin, and Joy Adarme, were on hand at the press preview of some of the items that will be on sale at the Likhang Habi market fair, to drum up interest and awareness for their advocacy.

 “HABI was organized to help the weavers,” says Rene Guatlo, who edited the guidebook, HABI: A Journey Through Philippine Handwoven Textiles, “but you cannot help the weavers unless you create the market. And the market won’t be there unless they know what it is.”

Also scheduled to be launched by HABI is “the first banig book in 100 years”, titled Rara: Weaving Mats of Dreams in the Philippines. - Photos by Julie Cabatit-Alegre