TOKYO—At the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Hibla ng Lahing Filipino Traveling Exhibition in March, Ambassador to Japan Jose C. Laurel V and the Asean-Japan Center Secretary-General Masataka Fujita encouraged Filipina weavers and embroiderers to tap into the AJC’s Women Entrepreneurs Linkage Program, established to empower women entrepreneurs in the region.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Laurel welcomed the revival of the piña industry, which has allowed weavers and embroiderers—many of them women—to practice their craft anew.
He also expressed gratitude to the National Museum of the Philippines and former sen. Loren Legarda for allowing the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo to share with its community the beauty of the piña cloth, the famous pineapple silk cloth unique to the Philippines.
Legarda, through her message read by National Museum Assistant Director Dr. Ana Maria Theresa P. Labrador, recalled that “Hibla ng Lahing Filipino” was born in 2012 with a vision to create a Philippine textile gallery that showcases the indigenous artistry of Filipinos through traditional textiles.
In 2018, the exhibit was incorporated in the cultural and diplomacy program of Philippine foreign-service posts, which allowed the exhibit to travel through several countries. The Philippine Embassy in Tokyo was the first Philippine diplomatic post in Asia to house such.
Guests from the diplomatic corps were given a firsthand look at the piña-seda cloth collections of the National Museum, a foot loom or tanhaga, and a collection of fibers from the Philippines.
Piña-seda weavers Raquel R. Eliserio and Carlo R. Eliserio of Aklan, as well as embroiderers Lolita J. Pereza and Loreto D. Maestre Jr. of Laguna, assisted guests as they tried their hand at looming and embroidery.
The embassy also invited members of the Filipino community, as well as Japanese and Filipino students in Tokyo, to weaving demonstrations and embroidery workshops, where they were given the chance to embroider a piece of piña cloth under the supervision of the expert weavers. DFA
Image credits: Tokyo PE