Driven by its advocacy to preserve and promote the local textile industry, HABI: The Philippine Textile Council continues to provide platforms for local weavers to showcase their work to more people. This year, in keeping with the times, the Likhang HABI Market Fair is going online for the first time at www.shophabifair.com from October 21 to 27.
“Since we are not allowed to gather in large groups because of the pandemic, the online edition of the Likhang HABI Market Fair is our way of helping to sustain the local weaving economy,” says HABI president Adelaida Lim. “And we urge our HABI friends to join us in this endeavor.”
Since 2009, HABI has been providing traditional weavers and local weaving communities platforms to further enhance their skills in creative design and modern marketing by exchanging ideas with consumers, designers, and traders. The Likhang HABI Market Fair allows them to innovate and to level up to modern trends.
“There are many beautiful fabrics from the different areas in our country. One of our main goals at HABI is to make sure that our traditional textiles will still be a part of our modern lifestyle as we transition to the new normal,” says HABI chairperson Maribel Ongpin.
Aside from the online trade fair, there will also be a series of webinars and a four-day online summit in line with HABI’s mission to promote Filipino culture and heritage.
For this year, HABI is supporting Nayong Pilipino for Mga Hibla ng Pamana: A Summit on Weaving as Intangible Cultural Heritage. The four-day online summit aims to discuss how different sectors in the country are coming together to protect and conserve traditional weaving practices and traditions.
HABI is also collaborating with CulturAid, Kularts, House of Gongs, and Museo ng Muntinlupa to present the first-ever international Voices from the Field Program that will feature a series of webinars on the topic of Filipino Identity and Contemporary Cultural Practice in the Philippines and the Diaspora. This webinar series aims to bridge interdisciplinary voices and encourage dialogue to better understand how our varied experiences as Filipinos have shaped the way we think, move, and learn.
