Barbara Ofong was born into the T’boli community in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato which is home to an abundance of cultural heritage and artistry. From a young age she took an interest in dream weaving traditions, immersing herself with the process of it. As she matured, her fondness for weaving grew and her talent for it became known throughout the community. The essence of spirituality and ties with Fu Dalu who is the guardian spirit of abaca lies in the process of making a T’nalak, which is a sacred cloth based on the patterns in dreams, which guided Barbara in expressing herself as an artist. Her dream weaving incorporates the artistic expression of concepts such as cosmology, human relationships,  and reverence towards nature. 

In the mountains of Cotabo you will find a home to a tribe often described as colorful: the T’Boli or the Tagabili. The tribe’s name roughly translates to people, “tau”, and hills “bilil”–people of the hills, Given the nature of their ancestral domain the T’Boli’s main source of livelihood are hunting, fishing, and agriculture. They place great importance in rice, not only as their main source of food, but also as a primary means of exchange of good will with each family having a statue of sfu halu, a rice spirit wrapped in their own sticky rice. This importance is also emphasized in how they measure time as their calendar years are named after their term for unhusked rice and the stages of rice production representing the months. This production also brings their families together, weaving them tighter together through the process as it is done with family and relatives; this also ensures the easy passage of T’Boli traditions and values from generation to generation. 

Their stories and beliefs are also preserved through their weaving, the T’Nalak, which is a cloth made from dyed abaca fibers made to pay tribute to important milestones in their life like marriage, birth, and death. The members of their tribe responsible for its creation being hailed as dream weavers as they once believe that the patterns they wove were visions they saw in their dreams which are said to be from the spirit of abaca, Fu Dalu. These weaved garments are also key components to rituals and are also traded for other supplies.