HABI the Philippine Textile Council, will preserve, promote and enhance Philippine Textiles Education, Communication and Research using public and private resources. We are all about sustaining weaving communities all over the country.
LIKHANG HABI FAIR , an annual event every October at Glorietta Activity Center that promotes “the preservation and creative enhancement of the indigenous textile industry through entrepreneurship and synergy,” The fair features master weavers talking about their craft and a forum focused on the revival of the local textile industry.
“We want to preserve develop and modernize the textile industry… because it’s part of [the Philippine] tradition and economy,” Maribel Ongpin, chair of the Likhang HABI Philippine Council.
Through the annual Habi Market Fair, an activity that promotes and develops hand-woven traditional textiles, Habi hopes the Philippines indigenous fabrics industry will get its revival it deserves.
Saving cotton for weavers
Slow Fashion helps the environment- weaving communities depend on natural fibers but it is either too expensive or not enough. Philippine cotton, highly comparable to Egyptian cotton became a major feature of the Philippine economy during the early days. It was traded for porcelain jars from Chinese merchants and was exported to the old world in the Spanish galleons. Unfortunately, the Philippines cotton industry has not been sustained nor developed.
Since the arrival of cheap, factory-manufactured textile in the country, the Philippines cotton industry has been enduring a major setback. And with only few surviving cotton farms in the Philippines, its cultivation and use has almost died out in the country.
According to Habi Chair, Maribel Ongpin, people’s lack of interest in tradition is killing the cotton industry and the whole indigenous fabrics industry.
HABI Philippine Cotton Grow Kits support local farmers.
President Adelaida Lim and Chairperson Maribel Ongpin support the growing of local cotton .
“You know we have cotton here, and it is endemic, people just need to be aware of it and appreciate it. Cotton seeds are an indispensable part of native rituals and lore. But aside from being a large part of the indigenous people’s culture, a great number of Filipino farmers and weavers also depend on it for their living,” Ongpin said in an interview at the press preview of the Habi Market Fair.
Serving indigenous women
Aside from developing and marketing the unique and varied indigenous fabrics, Habi also links weavers with institutions that can provide technical support for their welfare and the preservation of their culture.
Irene Bawer-Bimuyag, a weaver at the Mabilong Weaving Village in Kalinga, Cordillera region is just one of the weavers who was assisted by Habi. She started selling with HABI 5 years ago.The village of Mabilong is one of the few community that has preserved this traditional art as their source of income, livelihood and employment. She is now one of HABI fairs best sellers. HABI’s practice of inviting weavers to the FAIR serves as an introduction to learning methods of marketing, selling and supporting natural fibers . Irene is a HABI success story.
“Grade three pa lang ako tinuruan na ako ng nanay ko mag-weave. So mga 30 years na. My ancestors are doing weavings at pinasa nila sa akin 'yun. Lahat kami na babae sa village sa Mabilong, sa village namin marunong kami,” she said.
Around Bawer-Bimuyag, the weaving landscape of the Philippines is going through a metamorphosis. Among fiber and fabric artists across the country, she benefits from current endeavors to bring our natural fibers to the global market, initiated by institutions such as Habi, the Philippine Textile Council. Last weekend at Glorietta, the council organized the 6th installment of Likhang Habi, a market fair showcasing Philippine woven products, with a focus on advocating the return to pure cotton. As the group encourages the planting of cotton in the country, weavers, with their new designs, can get a chance to become more competitive in the global textile market.
(Interview with Bawer)
What kind of thread did you use to weave with back then?
I’m depending on what kind of thread comes in, like polycotton. It [also] depends on the cotton that comes in. First, we [use] polycotton, [while still being able to] do very beautiful things in weaving. But now that Habi and the Philippine Textile Council are [advocating] for pure cotton, they give us the chance to weave cotton now. We had a natural material before but, of course, we cannot get it now. There’s a plant, we call it buteg before in our place, it’s from a tree. We [would] make our own thread. But now, it’s no more. So it’s good that they are advocating this and we are trying to [get] back [to] our natural materials. Last summer, we [started] weaving with pure cotton.
Habi, through the Philippine Textile Research Institute has helped a number of weavers and textile industry partners create special threads by blending and experimenting with the materials --- combining pineapple with silk, and cotton with pineapple and mixing cotton with materials such as bagasse, a fibrous by-product of the sugar industry. These efforts open niches for local weavers in global fashion trends.
In the annual Habi Market Fair in Makati at the Glorietta Activity Center, buyers are introduced to a wide range of woven products while weavers and vendors exchange ideas on the marketing, creative design and modern use of the fabrics with traders, designers and other interested parties.
Entrepreneurship comes to the fore as weavers from all over the country are exposed to current trends and tastes; and are encouraged to upgrade, update and refine their products.
