WEAVING PROWESS. A young weaver shows her prowess during the opening of the Davao Region Weaving Congress on Monday (Oct. 9, 2023) at the Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City. The event puts a spotlight on the local traditional pieces and woven fabrics in the region. (PNA photo by Robinson Niñal Jr.)
DAVAO CITY – After 22 years, the Davao Region Weaving Congress is back, highlighting the local traditional pieces and woven fabrics in the area.
Launched on Monday, the two-day Weaving Congress is organized by the Department of Trade and Industry in Davao Region (DTI-11) in partnership with the Mindanao Trade Expo Foundation, Inc. (MTEFI), the Davao Fashion Designers Council Foundation, Inc. (DFDCFI) and the Philippine Women’s College of Davao Creative Hub for Innovation (CHI+).
‘We will be showing you all the potential in the region. We hope that this can be a venue where we can establish networks as well as showcase the weaving industry in the region,” DTI-11 director Maria Belenda Ambi said in a press briefing here.
The congress is named Kawankawan after a Visayan term that means handloom and holds a significant position in the local artisanal weaving community.
Ambi said its goal is to empower and elevate the weaving knowledge systems and practices unique to Davao, which serve as distinguishing features of their homestyle and wearable products and services.
“We are pushing our weaving industry to grow because we recognize that there are a lot of weaving communities all over the region. We have several trade fairs where we showcased the weaving industry in the Davao region,” she said.
Ambi said the event also draws inspiration from the Tagalog term Kawan, referring to a group of like-minded individuals connoting the synergy of creative advocates toward the overall development of the fashion and weaving industry.
Ambi said it helped connect the weavers with designers for a better market.
“Our weaving communities are closely related to the designers here in Davao City,” she said, adding that they are focusing on the plight of the weaving communities and mainstreaming them both in the domestic and international markets.
Meanwhile, Dr. Rafaelita Aldaba, the DTI Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Innovation, said the congress still forms part of the Philippine Creative Industry Month.
“Hopefully next year, we will be able to bring in more participants and partners from abroad for them to see as well what the Philippines has to offer,” she said. (PNA)
