In response to the difficulties experienced by participating communities due to the onslaught of tropical storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng, Likhang Habi: Market Encounter 2 bazaar has been postponed to October 23 & 24.

The best of home-grown textiles will be up for grabs in this 2-day event from 10am to 7pm hosted by the Yuchengco Museum at the RCBC Plaza Courtyard in Makati City. The market encounter will bring a mélange of traditional and contemporary indigenous textiles from weaving communities all across the country—loom woven cotton inabel from Northern Luzon, various blends of piña silk from Palawan, yakan material from Mindanao, t\’nalak from dream-inspired patterns, embellished textiles, and other hard-to-find, one-of-a-kind clothing items. Fashion items will be seen in the banana fiber and silk items of Dita Sandico-Ong and the piña-knits of Lulu Tan Gan, amongst others.

Habi, the Philippine Textile Council, has arranged for Dr. Norma Respicio, leading textile expert, to talk on embarking on indigenous textiles research on Saturday, October 24, 3pm at the Yuchengco Museum’s Masters Gallery. An exhibition of rare home-grown fabrics from private collectors will open simultaneously with the bazaar. A minimal fee of Php50 entitles the visitor to the bazaar and free admission to the museum and lecture.

Originally slated to open October 9 & 10, Likhang Habi: Market Encounter 2 is a joint undertaking of the Museum Foundation of the Philippines (MFPI), the Yuchengco Museum and the Lopez Memorial Museum in celebration of Museum Month this October. It also celebrates the United Nations proclamation of 2009 as the International Year of Natural Fibers. Likhang Habi is an offshoot of Market Encounter initially launched at the 2nd ASEAN Traditional Textiles Symposium held last February at the National Museum. For information, call the Yuchengco Museum at (+632) 889 1234 or email marketencounter2@museumfoundationph.org.

In celebration of Museum Month this October, the Museum Foundation of the Philippines (MFPI), alongside partner institutions, the Yuchengco Museum and the Lopez Memorial Museum, join forces to bring the public the best of Philippine textiles.

The event, Likhang Habi: Market Encounter 2, will be hosted by the Yuchengco Museum on October 9 and 10, 2009 from 10am to 7pm at the RCBC Plaza Courtyard in Makati City. The 2-day activity will bring a mélange of traditional and contemporary indigenous textiles from weaving communities all across the country—loom woven cotton from the Easter Weaving School in Baguio City, cotton inabel from Northern Luzon, various blends of piña silk from Palawan, patadyong and hablon from Antique, yakan material from Mindanao, t\’nalak from dream-inspired patterns, embellished textiles, and other hard-to-find, one-of-a-kind clothing items. Fashion items will be seen in the banana fiber and silk items of Dita Sandico-Ong and the piña-knits of Lulu Tan Gan, amongst others.

An exhibition featuring antique indigenous textiles and a lecture surveying the regional development of the local textile industry will complement the bazaar.

Likhang Habi: Market Encounter 2 is an offshoot of Market Encounter initially launched at the 2nd ASEAN Traditional Textiles Symposium held last February at the National Museum. For information, call the Yuchengco Museum at (+632) 889 1234 or email marketencounter2@museumfoundationph.org.

Likhang Habi General Press Release
For information, please call Cherry Alanguilan or Carla Martinez, Yuchengco Museum telephone 8891234

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the Museum Foundation of the Philippines!

From February 1 to 3, the Museum Foundation of the Philippines and the National Museum of the Philippine People will host a series of talks and demonstrations on traditional Southeast Asian textiles. Specialists and practitioners from four continents will speak on the successes and challenges that face the manufacture, use, and distribution of natural fabrics. Through site visits, the symposium participants will see first-hand the realities of surviving as professional weavers and how some of our best practitioners fulfill orders for the urban market. Outstanding fabrics like piña, hablon, abel, sinamay, and t\’nalak that make our country\’s production unique will be on show and on sale. Philippine representatives will speak on four topics: shared textile traditions in Southeast Asia; piña weaving in an underserved community; and symbols, meaning, and power in local wear today. Other ASEAN presenters will speak on, among other issues, how their communities have addressed textile preservation and sustainability. Together we hope to find useful solutions to common concerns.

In addition, the National Museum will (1) mount T/ISSUE, a textile exhibition curated by Marian Pastor Roces; the Museum Foundation will (2) organize Market Encounter where textile merchants from Abra to Bali will showcase and sell their products; and (3) present Habi: Weaving the Fabric of Life, a special evening featuring designers who have innovated and integrated local fabrics into their creations: Patrice Ramos Diaz, Rhett Eala, Lulu Tan Gan, Randy Ortiz, and Cary Santiago. In addition, the symposium will host the batik designs of Iwan Tirta, one of the most established Indonesian designers, and Suraya Shaari, a young, multi-awarded Malaysian designer.

Looking forward to seeing you at the National Museum February 1-3. Do register now (http://aseantextiles09.museumfoundationph.org/) and join the Museum Foundation and the National Museum in supporting some our greatest cultural assets: our weavers and our weaving!

You can download the symposium information (pdf, zip) and the registration form/payment information (pdf, zip) in both pdf and zipped pdf.

Warmest wishes for a good start to the New Year and looking forward to seeing you at the symposium!

Sincerely yours,

sgd. Corazon S. Alvina, Co-Chair, Second ASEAN Textile Symposium
Director, National Museum of the Philippines

sgd. Maria Isabel G. Ongpin, Co-Chair, Second ASEAN Textile Symposium
Ex-Officio Director, Museum Foundation of the Philippines