BEHIND THE WEAVE

              The art of weaving in the Philippines has been around since pre-colonial times. Despite being considered a traditional craft, many Filipinos are still unfamiliar with the color it adds to our already rich culture. Weaving is more than just art: It can also be a representation of the livelihood, geography, and social structure of a community. Such craftsmanship is handed down from generations of women determined to showcase and preserve the Filipino culture. However, as modernization dominates the scene, weaving seems to struggle to maintain its place in the arts. That is why we must keep it alive. Indeed, textiles create a special connection between those who weave them and those who wear them. 

 
             Our first collection, the Laga Collection, showcases textiles from Kalinga. Upon its establishment in 2020, Namnama came as an opportunity to help support the local weavers' livelihood during these difficult times. With that, we contacted Donsan's Weaving, which marked the onset of Namnama. In the video below, Adeng Alice is seen making the Silambituwon textile. For some, weaving is an alternate job – other weavers have different kinds of work apart from weaving. Therefore, it is important that the next time we think about hand-woven textiles, we bear in our minds how these masterpieces are created and who makes them, on top of the time and effort spent, not to mention the ability to make this their only livelihood. In line with this, the slow movement we advocate for enables manufacturing with respect to the people and community from which the materials are gained.