Tboli Tnalak

This warp ikat-dyed panel of densely composed iconographic elements is a newly executed tnalak central panel, which they call ina, “mother,” created in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, the homeland of Tboli speaking people. 

Using abaca (Musa textilis Neé), the weavers of Lake Sebu gained considerable fame for the endurance of more than 30 weaving centers that maintain virtuoso ikat-dyeing, despite massive commercialization through the last few decades. 

The work of Tboli ikat dyers still link their work and output to Tboli mythological traditions, most widely known of which is the tradition wherein the patterns of each individual cloth are said to be received by the weavers from Fu Dalu, the spirit of the abaca, through dreams. This is why weavers of tnalak are also known around the world as “dreamweavers.”