PALAWAN, PHILIPPINES — Tina can be short for Tinagong Paraiso or Hidden Paradise, owing to its dense forest and mountains, diverse fauna and flora, and even natural scenic spots and sacred places. It’s a village located approximately 90.9 kilometers from Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
The Tagbanua weavers and craftsmen in Sitio Tina use different varieties of Screwpine pandan and Rattan as raw materials for making mats, purses, bags, baskets, and other handicraft products.
As early as 7:00 in the morning, the harvesters — mostly women — leave their homes to collect raw materials from the forest. Gathering pandan leaves is a whole year-round endeavor, and harvesters must wear layered clothes to protect themselves from thorny plants in the dense forest. Once dried, stripped and dyed, these leaves are then hand-woven into different weaving patterns and designs depending on the kind of product and skills of the weaver. It is common for weavers to work at night or early in the morning because pandan is flexible when the temperature is moist or damp. Otherwise, the material is very dry and tends to break.
Like pandan, the raw product preparation for rattan or yantok, which is used to craft rarong – a carrier of harvested produce – begins with harvesting the materials. However, since gathering raw materials requires more hard work, men usually do this. For a smaller rarong model, this would take around two hours to finish.
The crafting of rarong is particular in that it is measured uniquely according to the owner’s height and body size. It is carried on the back using straps sourced from a bark of a sayapo tree found abundantly in their area. To complete the product, a sackcloth is placed inside a finished rarong for the safekeeping of goods in the carrier.
Weaving is an ecological and cultural activity.
The Tina Weaving Community (TWC) recognized that they are part of a much larger ecosystem, which has helped them preserve its culture. They know that if they destroy their forest, they destroy the very source of their livelihood and culture. So the community members have learned to harvest only what they need and allow the forest to re-grow. Because the end products of weaving are useful and practical in their daily lives, they recognize that weaving is a valued skill to be passed down from one generation to the next.
The TWC produces woven products seasonally as demands arise. Although indigenous laws govern the community, there is no active leadership or cooperative that handles the enterprise venture of the TWC, including the collective marketing of their woven products.
LifeCollege, Inc. has outlined some recommendations for addressing these issues by identifying ways their community can benefit from their weaving traditions and local environments in their scoping study. The organization is among the nine recipients of the Woven Networks, a research grant aiming to grow forest resources and livelihood by strengthening the role of artisans in sustainable development. It’s a program by the British Council in partnership with the Forest Foundation. The research is led by Jan Vincent Abril who is the Principal at LifeCollege, Inc. with Aquatic Biologist Cristobal B. Cayetano and Judith van den Boom, a Course Leader for MA Regenerative Programs at Central Saint Martins serving as project consultants.
The vision for TWC is to transform their community into a sustainable Community-Based Weaving Enterprise. To do this, they first need to appoint leaders who could guide the group into connecting to already-existing entrepreneurial ecosystems. Within the many weaving communities in the Philippines, strong leadership is key to competitive advantage. The hope is that these connections would help them grow as a business.
Judith’s background in crafts has helped the weavers integrate their culture and values into their designs. By drawing upon aspects of the weavers’ culture, they will be able to position their products in the market and create their own brand identity. The visual participatory workshops she led allowed them to express themselves creatively, resulting in new patterns and color combinations inspired by their connection to the forest and sea. One example is a weaving pattern which depicts water and forest ways.
She also highlighted the notion of crafting clusters with nearby weaving communities. Creating time throughout the year for communities to come together, share their knowledge, and develop new ideas would help them make better networks and clear ideas on innovation and application. By supporting each other through the exchange of different cultures, they could create a true sense of community, which can lead to better designs and experiments.
The weaving of pandan leaves and the crafting of rattan are interconnected with the culture and identity of the Tina weavers. Innovating these traditional practices and connecting them to the narratives of the community can lead to empowerment and increased pride in their identity, as well as expand their economic opportunities. While it may take some time to work on building the vision shared by Life College, Inc., the scoping study has been an integral part in the initial phase of the program. It helped the community understand their issues, think of possible solutions and identify what they need to move forward.
This collaboration is made possible by the Woven Networks – Craft changemakers conserving forests programme. It aims to strengthen the voices of local communities by highlighting their sustainable practices and vital role as artisans, thus growing forest resources and livelihood. Part of the program is the Woven Networks Scoping Grants, which intends to initiate new collaborations and support projects that champion indigenous knowledge systems towards sustainable resource management and improved livelihood of craft communities. Woven Networks is a one-year partnership between the Forest Foundation and British Council through its Crafting Futures global program. It is also supported by the National Museum of the Philippines.
