Hibla ng Lahing Filipino Traveling Exhibition Opens in Hawai’i

The Hibla ng Lahing Filipino Traveling Exhibition featuring Piña-Seda: Pineapple and Silk Cloths from the Tropics is now open at the Bridge Gallery of the Hamilton Library, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Senator Loren Legarda announced.

The Hibla Traveling Exhibition in Hawai’i, organized by the National Museum of the Philippines, the Office of Senator Loren Legarda, Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu and the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, will run from September 17 to November 17, 2018.

Legarda said that the traveling exhibition is an offshoot of the Hibla ng Lahing Filipino: The Artistry of Philippine Textiles permanent gallery at the National Museum of Anthropology, which is her brainchild. The first Hibla ng Lahing Filipino Traveling Exhibition was held in London in October 2017, and was incorporated in the Cultural Diplomacy Program of the different Philippine Service Posts in Europe and United States of America, namely: Lisbon, Portugal; Madrid, Spain; Washington, D.C.; and New York City.

“We have a very rich weaving heritage which we are able to show through the Hibla gallery and the weaving lectures and demonstrations at the National Museum, but we also want to bring it to a wider audience and to Filipinos living abroad,” she said.

Part of the exhibition are lectures, weaving and embroidery demonstrations and workshops by Ursulita Dela Cruz and Libradita Domondon, piña- seda weavers from Kalibo, Aklan; and Lilian Teresita del Valle and Joan Monedo, piña-seda embroiderers from Lumban, Laguna.

“The Hibla gallery at the National Museum, the weaving lectures and demonstrations, and this Hibla travelling exhibit are efforts to celebrate indigenous artistry through textiles, provide more Filipinos the opportunity to discover priceless information about our heritage, and bring the challenge of nurturing our weaving traditions into the national stage, to a wider audience,” said Legarda.

About Hibla Textile Gallery



The Hibla ng Lahing Filipino: The Artistry of Philippine Textiles at the National Museum of Anthropology in Manila is the country’s first permanent textile gallery. It is a project spearheaded by Senator Loren Legarda.

During the soft opening of the gallery in March 2012, the National Museum also launched the Senator Loren Legarda Lecture Series on Philippine Traditional Textiles and Indigenous Knowledge, which explores the aesthetics, material culture and processes of ethnic identity along with skills and information-generation through fabric. It later evolved into interactive lectures and demonstrations featuring weavers and embroiderers from different parts of the country.

In July 2017, the National Museum launched the first Hibla regional gallery, the Abel Iloko at the Ilocos Regional Museum and Satellite Office in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, which was also supported by Legarda.

In October 2017, the first Hibla ng Lahing Filipino Traveling Exhibition was held at the Philippine Embassy in London and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

“We will have more Hibla traveling exhibitions and many more Hibla regional galleries will soon rise in our country, and we hope that someday we will have not only galleries, but one whole Hibla Museum. Through these we hope to promote greater support for cultural enterprises and creative industries of our indigenous peoples and deeper appreciation of our heritage,” said Legarda.