Weavers of Identity
𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐢𝐧̃𝐚 
𝙒𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙮
Piña weaving is deep rooted in the history of the Aklanon, a tradition that has been practiced since the past centuries of the Philippines. This intricate process begins with the meticulous preparation of the fibers by farmers, scrapers, knotters, and warpers. After producing the fine fibers, the "𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙜𝙝𝙖𝙤𝙚" or weavers using her “𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙝𝙖𝙜𝙖” or footloom take over to weave one of the world's rarest handwoven fabrics that was branded as the queen of the Philippine fabrics, the piña.
The initial preparation for weaving involves dressing the loom with the warped pina fiber as vertical fibers of the fabric in a process called "𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙞𝙨." This is followed by the actual weaving process, where the spun piña fibers are used as the weft or horizontal fibers. The next stage sees the knotted fibers being spun on bamboo bobbins in a process called "𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙮𝙖𝙨" to produce spun piña fibers, which serve as the weft or horizontal fibers for weaving. Piña weaving involves several techniques, including plain weave, “𝙨𝙪𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙠” or inlaid design, and “𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙚” or open weave technique. Plain weaving is the basic technique used to produce fabric, but it takes skill and practice to improve and incorporate more complex designs. Suksok involves creating intricate patterns within the fabric using different dyed piña fibers or yarns, while “𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙚” creates an open weave effect using three pedal or threadle.
Weavers started young and exposed to weaving process with their parents, years of curiousity until they able to reach the loom and sneak to weave their mother’s loom until get comfortable do it and perfect their skills. Plain weaving can take one day to produce an approximate length of 1 meter of fabric, while weaving with “𝙨𝙪𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙠” or “𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙚” can only produce a few inches of fabric per day depending on the complexity of the patterns. Despite these challenges, weavers continue to hone their craft and push the boundaries of what is possible in piña weaving. Through the years a so much innovation had been made when Lourdes Montinola started Piña weaving competition with HABI The Philippine Textile Council. This motivation inspires weavers and annually weave a new innovation on pina fabric. One of the consistent winners is our cultural master Raquel where her 2 works championed in the last 5 years, while her other works received special awards. Her exquisitely handwoven Piña liniwan-seda shawl with full “𝙨𝙪𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙠” and ”𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙚” using only piña fibers as embellishment, unanimously won the 2019 Pina competition. While her piece titled “Sintas” won the competition in 2021, our cultural master Raquel walks us through her creative ideas of innovating new embellishing technique in piña fabric. “Sintas” is a local translation for lace and where it is inspired from. Inlaying cotton threads while weaving, pulling the threads out then twisting and lacing it formed a classic Spanish Renaissance-inspired silhouettes. Her son Carlo and Delara also received recognitions from the competition for their piña entry with contemporary approach.
Piña weaving is more than just a craft for the Aklanon people; it is a way of life that has been passed down through generations.
This is a publication series honoring our women of Piña.
Happy National Women’s month to our weavers!