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FAST FACTS
Provincial Origin: Aklan
Fiber Composition: Pineapple Fiber
Method: Hand-loomed, with Inlay
Identifiers: Light, Smooth, Translucent, Shiny
Woven from fiber stripped from pineapple leaves, this sheer cloth belongs to the highest category of weaving among the people groups that came under colonial influence in the 16th Century. Surviving examples of centuries-old piña in museums outside the Philippines show remarkable technical and aesthetic expertise so soon after the pineapple arrived via ships conveying colonizers, missionaries, and galleons plying the Manila-Acapulco route.
Today, its weavers continue to set a high bar for woven-in patterning, such as the “renge/ringue” featured in this exhibition: a matrix of tight and loose weaves. The patterning is entirely unique to Aklan.
The Akeanon in Philippine Textile Heritage
The province of Aklan has been singularly the home to the finest woven piña and, moreover, of the subtlest patterning introduced as supplementary weft floats while the gossamer fabric is woven. The Akeanon-speaking province of Aklan produces nearly all the pineapple fiber cloths used in multitudes of formal Philippine affairs.
Exhibit Provenance
The light-as-butterfly-wings cloth on display was created by La Herminia Piña Weaving Industry of Kalibo, Aklan. All were designed by Alan M. Tumbokon, 63, a civil engineer and rare male weaver. To produce the 20 pieces, La Herminia weavers, speakers of the Akeanon language and residents of Kalibo, worked simultaneously and as a collective. They are Rose Bella S. Regusta, 52; Rosalvie J. Tumaca, 42; Ma. Rowena A. Regusta, 49; Zairel A. Regusta, 27; Rosemarie R. Loveras, 46; and Christopher Saligumba, 39 (warper). Arlyne M. Tumbokon, 64, the marketing manager of the weaving group, coordinated the project.
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