THE NATIONAL Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) lauded national living treasures through a fashion exhibition showcasing the crossroads of Philippine fashion and weaving tradition.
NCCA mounted the exhibit at SM Lanang on Aug. 20-25dubbed ‘Panaglaga Ti Lagda’: Weave Transcending Time, a fashion exhibit displaying the life and works of Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) or the National Living Treasure awardee for Inabel weaving in 2012, Magdalena Galinato Gamayo.
Oscar Casaysay, NCCA executive director, said that the exhibit is to acknowledge that Inabel weaving in local textiles can thrive and be incorporated into a world-class fashion.
“Because Davao City is a very progressive city, we have been doing fashion, nagiging kaakibat na po ng ating selebrasyon ang pagsout (it has become part of our celebration), incorporating textiles of Mindanao into our daily wear,” Casaysay said.
Casaysay encouraged the tribal communities of Davao to focus on the crafts, culture and heritage of each cultural community to help the weaving withstand the test of time.
The opening of the exhibit featured designs of two renowned Davao artists, Neil Patrick Jimlani with his collection “Molino Ti Angin” and Mark Joseph Sayad’s “San Pedro Cathedral” collection that reimagined indigenous Inabel weave textiles into wearable pieces.
Gamayo’s inabel weaving technique focused on the runway was “The Binakol,” a plain weave design technique utilizing double-hued weft, dominated by black, green and white, blue and white, and sometimes red and white, forming alter-negative and positive patterns with rectangles of graduated size.
Meanwhile, “The Impalagto” consists of design patterns made up of supplementary warp or weft yarns, with tiny design patterns on the surface and strands of design warp or weft yarns on the reverse side.
