REVIVAL + SURVIVAL
Quennie Jayne Dagmang
Advisor Kathleen Morris
MAAD4C02 Thesis III: Project Development
Monday, March 23rd, 2015
Table
of Contents:
Page
3… Introduction
Page
5… Inspirations
Page 5… Jose Rizal
and Noli Me Tangere
Page
5… Maria Clara Gown and the Terno
Page
5… The Philippine Revolution
Page 6… The Native
Canadians
Page
7… An In-Class Discussion with Gerald McMaster
Page
7… Terrence Houle
Page
9… Inuit Play Dolls vs. Collector Dolls
Page
11… Materials/Techniques/Processes
Page 11… Mahatma
Ghandi and Khadi Cloth and the Importance of Being Self-Sufficient Through Cloth
Page 12… The Arts
and Crafts Movement and The Mingei Movement
Page 13… Pina Cloth Productions Decline
and Status as a “Souvenir”
Page
15… Conclusion
Page
16… Work Cited
Page
17… Bibliography
Introduction:
This project had
began as a way for me to help revive Filipino materials and traditions, and to
help revive the culture within myself. However, throughout the process of
creating and making, more specifically in the process of weaving, I realized
that I am not a
traditional Filipina, nor
am I a traditional
Canadian. I sought to replicate and try to create my own version of a
traditional Filipino woven textile, in order to keep the traditional alive, even if it is
just keeping my culture alive in myself. What I had learnt from this thesis experience was, there are different
ways of keeping a tradition and culture alive. Making and upholding traditions
is one way, but another is just having the knowledge and awareness of said
traditions and culture, and most importantly, to fully recognize the importance
of traditions and the people who created these traditions.
A
statement that had stayed with me during my thesis year was a statement made by
Senator Nikki M.L. Coseteng from the
Philippines, which was,
“In this world, only those who have a strong sense of who
they are can insist on their own terms. Only those that can value their real
nature can exercise power over global forces” (Pastor-Roces, 3).
I
admire what my ancestors of the Philippines has done and created. However, I
know that I am not a traditional Filipina textile artist. I feel
that what is important is that I discover my own aesthetic and weaving
technique while keeping in mind the traditional weaving techniques that were
created in the Philippines. With my final dress collection, I attempted with
create a collection that is mixture of both my Philippine culture and
my Canadian culture. The
Philippine culture comes from using materials, such as pina cloth, pineapple
yarn, and dyestuff from the Philippines. I created a collection of Ternos
with the materials commonly and traditionally used for creating Barong
Tagalogs, pina cloth, which are both the national garment of the Philippines
for women and men, respectively. The Canadian aspect will come from the type of weaving,
summer and winter, which I had discovered had been utilized here in Canada in
the early history of this country. Also, summer and winter weave was similar to
my grandmother’s weave, and similar to my previous woven work, which I found to
be very inspirational throughout my process and made me question why I enjoy
weaving and why I had chosen to use weaving as my platform. This collection was
and is still to serve as a means of expressing my views of who I am.
I
believe that ones heritage can greatly influence and mold a person, and I
personally believe in the saying, “Ang paglisan sa tahanang sinilangan at nilakihan ay higit pa kaysa kung
malawa ang kalahati ng sariling pagkatao” (Rizal) by Jose Rizal, which can be
translated to where we come from is what forms our being. That has become the
basis of my discovery of myself, I wished to explore whether heritage has
formed who I am, even if it is just a small piece of my being.
Inspirations:
Jose Rizal and
Noli Me Tangere
The Maria Clara Gown takes its name from the female protagonist, Maria Clara de los Santos y Alba, of the national Filipino epic, Noli Me Tangere, written by Jose Rizal in 1887. This gown was named after her, based on how delicate and feminine the dress is, similar to how she was described and referred to in the novel (Rizal). There are 4 traditional components of the Maria Clara dress; the camisa, panuelo, saya, and tapis. The camia is
 |
| Figure 1 Terno and Saya |
The
importance of Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and Jose Rizal in general, to
Philippine history is, it jump started the Philippine revolution against the
Spanish government. He was still seen as a hero even before his death (“Jose
Rizal”). This novel essentially portrays the story of Juan Crisostomo Ibarra y
Magsalin, a young Filipino man who was studying abroad in Europe, when he
returns home to the Philippines; he sees the corruption and abuse by the
Spanish government, and the Spanish Catholic clergy (Rizal). Rizal did support
peaceful reforms in the Philippines; he had practiced civil disobedience. Rizal
faced charges of rebellion because of his reported association with the
revolutionary movement. Rizal was then found guilty for rebellion, sedition and
conspiracy, and sentenced to death. He was executed by a firing squad on
December 30, 1896 (“Jose Rizal”).
Native Canadians
Jose Rizal said, “Ang paglisan sa tahanang sinilangan at nilakihan ay
higit pa kaysa kung malawa ang kalahati ng sariling pagkatao” (Rizal), which
basically means, where we come from is what forms our being. I
believe it is very important for one to have a sense of pride in who they are,
where their ancestors come from, and how they pass down their knowledge,
traditions and other important aspects of their culture, especially in a
country such as Canada, where there is a mix of different people coming from
different countries and cultures. Unfortunately, many people, such as myself,
may not even know anything about their ancestral or cultural history. As I was
born in the Philippines, but had come here to Canada at a very young age, I did
not really have the opportunity to grow up in the Philippine culture. I was so
immersed in the Canadian culture, that I did not realize how detached I was
from my culture in terms of not knowing the history, and language. In my
opinion, your culture should play a very important role in who you are, and who
you become. Who you surround yourself with will eventually influence who you
become and essentially who you are as a person. The only connection I had to my
Philippine heritage was through my family; I did not get an education about my
Philippine heritage at school, or outside of my family, and I did not ever
think to learn anything about my homeland. My parents did not really teach me
anything about my heritage either; most of the knowledge I have about the
Philippines was all gain and taught to by myself through research.
In Lynne Heller’s class, Cross Cultural
Issues in Craft, the most memorable class I had attended was Gerald McMaster’s
discussion on the cultural appropriation of the First Nations people.
Throughout the whole discussion, the aspect that resounded in my mind was the
history behind the name. The First Nations people had been labeled with many
names, such as, “Indians”, “First Nations”, and “Aboriginals”. This was such a
small part of their history, and can sometimes be over looked, and seen as not
as important. However, I believe knowing parts of a people and their history,
even something as small as a name, helps to keep a culture alive. One can lose
their ancestral history quite easily; similar to how there is a belief that
people die twice; the first time when their physical body dies, and the second
being when the memory of them dies. Although, a person or group of people may
stop physically participating in traditions, if they still have the knowledge
of the traditions and understand the importance of these traditions to their
culture, it is still alive. However, once this knowledge has stopped being
passed down, the existence of these traditions become obsolete, which will
create a loss of culture and a forgotten history. This is what Gerald McMaster
is doing; he is trying to help save his culture by passing down knowledge to
the younger generation and to who we can consider “outsiders,” those who are
not of the same culture. He had provided us with knowledge of a culture that is
not our own, even if it was as simple as a name.
Terrance Houle, a Blood Indian from Southern Alberta,
has inspired me to think about how Filipino people here in Canada are viewed by
each other and by those of different cultures. When I first saw this work in
the McCord museum, I began to consciously think about my thesis and began to
formulate a possible thesis.
Growing up, Houle’s parents tried to keep their children connected to
their Blood and Blackfoot traditions. However, Houle and his sibling’s were
sent to public schools, where he was able to see the divide between his culture
and the mainstream culture (Whyte). Similarly, the only way my culture survived
in myself was through my parents, and family. The school system didn’t teach me anything
about my culture.
Therefore, I know I would have to do a lot of research about traditional
Filipino textiles on my own because my family and parents don’t actually know
anything about traditional weaving, or traditional Philippine textiles in
general.
In the first grade, for an Indians and Pilgrims pageant for
Thanksgiving, Terrance Houle and his classmates were required to make costumes
out of paper bags. Houle, however, had been reprimanded by his teacher when he
had pointed out the inaccuracy of the costumes, and had even offered to bring
in the traditional garments to show his peers. In the piece Remember in Grade…
Houle is shown pouting, and wearing a paper bag costume (Houle). This piece shows a loss of culture due to
the external influences of his teacher not allowing him to show and teach
others about his culture. Aside from being an
example of prevention and disregarding of a culture, this work also raises the
question of how others of a different culture, views Filipino-Canadians,
their cultures traditions, garments, and essentially the people.
 |
|
Figure 2 Houle, Terrance. Remember in Grade…. n.d.
Photo and
Statement. McCord Museum, Montreal.
|
Similar
to the children in Terrance Houle’s class, which had inspired Remember in
Grade…“Too many Filipinos have become incapable of refined craftsmanship,
simply because too few of us have seen or heard of the extraordinary qualities
of Philippine antiques kept in local and foreign private and public
collections” (Pastor-Roces, 3). The traditions and ultimately the culture will
become forgotten simply because many Filipinos do not know about the traditional
artifacts created by our ancestors. When these traditional textiles begin to be
forgotten or extinct they begin to be seen as something precious, and the
reasons to why the medium of textiles are chosen to conserve the culture as
Philippines is because “our ancestors, being non-monumentally inclined people,
had developed and chose the form of a textile to show their love for the
smallest detail, the most elusive motifs, the most nuanced aesthetics. This is
our heritage. We must value it for its intrinsic qualities, instead of pining
for the measure of excellence of other societies” (Pastor-Roces, 3).
Eskimo doll making historically came
in two forms, a parental offering that could be abstract, faceless, and
unclothed, and a teaching device to initiate young girls into the art of
stitchery and tribal design. These dolls were very important to Inuit girls,
because these girls were taught the traditional sewing skills and techniques in
order to create their own dolls. However, as the play dolls disappeared,
collector dolls developed. The collector dolls were made only for people from
the south of Canada. They would be bought for their children, or would
be bought as souvenirs; Inuit girls, never played with these dolls. As people
began moving out of the settlements, this kind way of playing died out, and as
these girls grew up, they had lost interest in them because the way of learning
and playing changed. In the Spence bay area, the last generation of women who
grew up with these dolls was the little girls in the early 1950s. The
practice of a girl creating her own play dolls had completely been forgotten. A
piece of Inuit tradition, and culture had been lost forever (Strickler, and
Anaoyok). I do not want that to happen with my own Filipino culture here in
Canada, or even within the very country of the Philippines. During the
nineteenth-century Philippines history pina cloth, which is woven from the fibres
extracted from pineapple leaves, was seen as the embodiment of luxury,
refinement and prosperity.
However, by the twentieth century, “pina production had declined so much that
it had to be systematically revived and sponsored” (Roces, 364). The rarity and
declining of pina cloth weavers and fabric in the Philippines can be a parallel
the loss of the practice of Inuit dolls in Canada creating a loss of a
tradition therefore possibly leading to a loss of a culture. From the
perspective of foreigners, pina cloth is identified “… as a souvenir rather
than as dress… today’s foreigners see it as a curiosity, as exotic textile”
(Roces, 366). Foreigners see pina cloth as a souvenir, rather than its use to
Philippine fashion and the symbolism it has in Philippine history, similar to
Inuit collector dolls, and how they lack the symbolism of knowledge and
independence of a young woman in the Inuit community in the traditional, yet
obsolete Inuit play dolls.
Terrance
Houle’s Remember in Grade… and the extinction of the practice of creating Inuit
play dolls provides two examples of the ways in which a loss of culture in the
Western world can occur. The first being, a tradition or aspect of a culture
being overlooked or forgotten, and the second being, preventing or disregarding
of the teaching or practicing of these traditions and culture.
Materials/Techniques/Processes:
Mahatma Gandhi began a movement in
1918 with Khadi cloth, where this cloth would become a relief to
the poor
masses living in Indian villages. The ideology for being self-reliant and
self-governed was practiced through spinning and weaving khadi cloth. In his 1909 manuscript, Hind Swaraj, Gandhi had urged India’s
intellectuals to “take up the handloom” (Ghandi, 211). Gandhi and his
associates had decided to wear only hand-woven cloth, Khadi, made from Indian
yarns, and to only make as much cloth as they needed. Gandhi had also began to
spin his own yarns after the Indian spinning mills decided to turn all their
yarns into mill-made cloth, instead of selling it to hand-weavers (Ghandi,
212). Gandhi believed that the way for his people to become self-sufficient and
in turn independent from British rule was for himself and the citizens of India
to spin their own yarn and to weave their own fabric. I think it is amazing
that an independence and self-reliance can be establish through fibre and
cloth.
 |
| Figure 3 Setting up a loom |
My involvement in every aspect of
the collection is vital to the concept; the materials, techniques and processes
must be as sustainable and ethical as possible. This collection, and more
importantly the concept and processes used is not only about researching and
honouring my Filipino heritage, but it is also about finding out who I am as a
designer and the priorities that I have in the design process. With weaving and
dyeing my own fabrics, I am aware of how the fabrics were made, without having
to worry about whether the fabrics were unethically, or unsustainably made, I
believe that this knowledge will always be my top priority. Also, I tried to
keep in mind some of the
principles in which the Art and Crafts Movement embodied, “joy in labor,”
“truth to materials,” and “honesty in construction.” Although,
during the Arts and Crafts Movement, Britain was the center of the Industrial
Revolution, it was also the center “for designers most opposed to the
dehumanizing consequences of factory production… Without joy in labor,
production would have neither merit nor value” (Kaplan, 12). I strongly believe that the process of
making by hand is important, as one should always enjoy what they are doing and
creating. Similar to what the Mingei Movement in Japan believed, in a world
where digital technology is becoming the way of creating, there is an absence of “warmth, intimacy, and
idiosyncrasies of hand craftsmanship…” (Rawsthron). I believe that there is
nothing wrong with machinery and using it as a tool and as a way to help the
design process, however I do also believe in the importance of working with the
materials with your hands every chance the designer gets. This belief of “joy
in labor” will then lead to “honesty in construction,” and “truth to
materials,” where it is “not what the objects look like, but the spirit in
which they were made” (Crawford, 59). It all goes back to being true to the
materials, and being true to the process being done. These are the main reasons
to why I know it is very important for me to be the one to dye and weave my own
fabric for the collection, I wanted the fabric to hold the essence of myself.
 |
|
Figure 4 Process Photo, Silk
Warp, Pineapple Ramie weft
dyed with an Avocado Leaves and Alum Dyebath
|
Materials played a very important part in
my thesis work, as I knew it would be important to utilize traditional
materials in the final collection in order to display the beauty within the
materials and why these materials are important to the Philippine culture. I
have decided that it would be very important to my concept to use the materials
that would be considered traditional in the history of the Philippines, and to
also use dyestuff that could be easily attainable in the Philippines. I had
done dye experiments with leaves that I know I would be able to attain from my
family’s lands in the Philippines, mango, avocado and banana leaves, and I knew
that sourcing my dye stuff from my familial home was very appropriate for this
project, as I strongly believe my family has helped me become who I am. I
wished for this project to not only have a connection to my culture, but to my
family. Weaving was also an important aspect to me in terms of familial ties;
my late grandmother, whom I never had the opportunity to meet, was also a
weaver.
Learning
to weave was an important part of the “cultural definition of womanhood in
Southeast Asia” (Roces, 343). During the nineteenth-century, pina cloth was
seen to be the epitome of luxury, refinement and wealth in the Philippines.
Pina cloth is woven from the fibres of pineapple leaves and thus can be seen as
a waste fibre as it comes from the part of the plant that would otherwise just
be thrown out. However, by the twentieth-century, “pina production had declined
so much that it had to be systematically revived and sponsored” (Roces, 364).
The declining and the rarity of pina production in the Philippines can be seen
as a reflection to the loss of the practice of creating Inuit dolls in Canada.
Pina cloth was seen as, “… a souvenir rather than a dress…” (Roces, 366),
similar to how Inuit dolls became souvenirs for Canadians of the South, pina
was seen as a souvenir, rather than its use in Philippine fashion and the
symbolism it had in Philippine history.
I
knew an integral part of my concept was to find a way to revitalize and use the
otherwise declining material of pina fibre in my woven collection. A way to do
this was to introduce the plant fibre to a wider audience outside of the
community of Filipinos. I was not that surprised that many of my peers, and
even some teachers were not aware that this type of fibre or textile existed. I
was able to source a pineapple ramie blend from Habu Textiles to use as my
weft, and a Tussah Silk from Treenway Silks as my warp. I decided to use silk
as the warp as a personal choice, as I know it is important for me to find out
the materials I am comfortable working with as this project is also a way to
find out what preferences I have in terms of materials and design choices.
I
did however receive as gift from my aunt’s mother-in-law, actual pina fabric
used for the traditional Barong Tagalogs from the Philippines. I knew that the
only out sourced fabric that I would use would be the traditional pina fabric,
because I knew it would have been very difficult and very time consuming for me
to weave traditional pina fabric.
Conclusion:
Through
modernizing the traditional Filipino garments, the Barong Tagalog, the Maria
Clara dress, and the Terno, I wish to teach and celebrate my culture, the
Philippines. I also used this project as not only a learning and teaching tool
of the Philippine culture, but also as a learning tool of who I am as not only
a designer, but as a person. A question that I have been asked frequently
throughout my thesis process has been, why dresses and why fashion? I still do
not have an answer for it. After reflecting, I do not think I need to have an
answer for it, not right now anyways. What I have learnt through this
experience is I still have a lot to learn about myself, and that is okay
because like design, people change and change is inescapable. History however,
does not change, and the people from the past and what they have done will
always be there, just as long as the people of the present wish to acknowledge
and learn from and about them.
 |
|
Figure 5
Woven Detail
of my
Grandmothers
hand woven blanket
|
I
had just begun to open up to my mother and her sisters about their mother, my
grandmother. My aunt, Janet Guzman recently praised me and compared me to my
grandmother by saying, “So now it is obvious – you are the one who inherited
the talents and interests of your late Inang Binang!” (Guzman). I am very proud
and honoured to be considered to have inherited my late grandmothers interests
and more importantly her talents. After weaving all my samples, I began to
realize that the process of weaving is not only a reflection of self-reliance
and independence how I initially saw it, but it is the essence of who I am. It
was the first thing I learnt in OCAD that made me confident as a textile
designer. I have always felt very disconnected from myself, meaning I did not
know who I was, however, after learning about my late grandmother, I feel as if
I have uncovered a tiny piece of who I am; that piece being, I am a weaver, I
am Ludivina Apostol Guzman’s granddaughter, and for now, that is okay with me.
Work Cited:
“Jose Rizal.” Jose Rizal. n.p, 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
Crawford, Alan. “United Kingdon:
Origins and First Flowering.” The Arts
& Crafts Movement in Europe & America: Design for the Modern World. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2004. 20-67.
Print.
Gandhi,
Rajmohan. Gandhi: The Man, His People,
and the Empire. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 2007. Print
Houle, Terrance. Remember in Grade…. n.d. Photo and Statement. McCord Museum, Montreal.
Kaplan, Wendy. “Design for the Modern
World.” The Arts & Crafts Movement in
Europe &
America: Design for the Modern World. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2004. 10-19. Print.
Pastor-Roces, Marian. Sinaunang Habi: Philippine Ancestral Weave.
Nikki Books, 1991. Print.
Rawthorn, Alice. “’Mokujiki Fever’
Endures.” The New York Times. New
York: New York Times Company,
2013. Print.
Rizal, Jose. Noli Me Tangere. Honolulu: School of Hawaiian, Asian & Pacific Studies, 1997. Print.
Roces, Mina. Dress, Status, and Identity in the Philippines: Pineapple Fibre Cloth and Ilustrado Fashion. The Berg Fashion Library, 2013.
Web. 27 Jan. 2013.
Strickler, Eva, and Anaoyok Alookee, Inuit Dolls:
Reminders of a Heritage. Canadian
Stage and Arts Publications, 1988. Print.
Whyte, Murray. “Terrance Houle: Givn’r
as good as he gets.” The Star. Toronto
Star Newspaper Ltd. 17 Sep. 2010.
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3. Print.
Crawford, Alan. “United Kingdon:
Origins and First Flowering.” The Arts
& Crafts Movement in Europe & America: Design for the Modern World. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2004. 20-67.
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Fogg, Marnie. Vintage
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Photo and Statement. McCord Museum,
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York: New York Times Company,
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Jose. Noli Me Tangere. Honolulu:
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