Read up on local weaving at the Mess Studio library
If you’ve ever wondered just how abundant and intricate the weaving tradition of the Philippines is or you’re simply in awe of handwoven pieces, these books from the Mess Studio Community Library will raise your appreciation of it to another level. The three HABI books cover everything there is to know about weaving in the Philippines and we’ve also got a workbook to get kids started on creativity and crafting through weaving.
HABI: A Journey Through Philippine Handwoven Textiles
A book meant to be an intro to the world of Philippine indigenous textiles, it features colorful threads of stories that go from our country’s different woven fabrics to a textile collector’s personal journey. You get a mix of essays and informative articles that dive into the plant fibers used, the painstaking process, and the patterns that come alive from the women who work the loom.
Pick up this book to learn about Abel Iloco, the Cordillera weaves, the textiles of Maguindanao, sinamay, Philippine piña, Iloilo’s hablon, and more.
Rara - Art and Tradition of Mat Weaving in the Philippines
Author: Elmer I. Nocheseda
This heavyweight of a book provides an extensive look into the “ubiquitous and indispensable object in the Philippines,” the banig or mat. While maybe not as mainstream in today’s modern world, the banig thankfully remains. Rara, the art and tradition of weaving mats, has been woven in our history and tradition for centuries. It introduces the casual weaving enthusiast to master weaver Haji Amina Appi of the Sama indigenous people of Tawi-Tawi, who left behind a legacy creating boldly colored mats in complex geometric designs. It also explores the varied weaving techniques and plants used for weaving.
Pick up this book to see more than a hundred pages of mats—beautifully photographed to showcase its different patterns, colors (both simple and bold) and styles. And at the back pages, you get a list of weaving communities from the different regions of the country and the kind of mats they make. We won’t blame you if you find yourself taking a picture of both the list and the spreads of banig to search for them when you find yourself traveling around the country.
Weaving Ways - Filipino Style & Techniques
Authors: Norma Absing Respicio and Gay Eiko Yoshikawa Zialcita
The third in a series of books by HABI the Philippine Textile Council, Weaving Ways is more of a manual and resource for students, teachers, and researchers in the world of weaving. Divided into two parts, the book has a technical section, which provides detailed instructions on producing hand loomed textiles, from setting up an upright loom to reading and creating a pattern draft. In part two, it focuses on specific textiles and weaving methods of a select number of communities in the country.
Pick up this book even if you’re not a student of weaving but wish to broaden your technical knowledge on its principles and procedures, regardless of loom style. The illustrations, photos and tables (yes, tables) are all meant to help in a very detailed manner, matching the intricacies of weaving.
+ a Bookshop Find
Kabataan Krafts Workbook Volume 1
Produced by Woven and Work Together Foundation, this little workbook aims to give kids the tools to foster their creativity. Divided into three modules, it goes from finding creative inspiration in your surroundings, in nature, and your community to create your own design and then helps you to lay out the pattern you came up with.
Pick up this book for the many activity pages in each module that even grown-ups will likely find helpful to flex those creative muscles and think visually. Available in both the Mess Studio library and bookshop.
