| Photo Screenshot Yaman NYC
NEW YORK — When YAMAN NYC 2025 opens on October 31, five Filipino master weavers will present the nation’s living textile traditions in New York. Their works—T’nalak from Lake Sebu, Piña from Aklan, Laga from Kalinga, Abel from Abra, and contemporary hybrid weaving from Brooklyn—show how accurate fiber preparation, dye formulation, and loom discipline sustain Philippine craftsmanship across generations.
Cynthia Alberto, The Global Weaver from Brooklyn
At her Brooklyn studio, Weaving Hand, artist and designer Cynthia Alberto integrates traditional loom systems with contemporary textile design. She applies backstrap and floor-loom methods developed in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Europe.
Cynthia’s work emphasizes warp-density calibration, fiber recovery, and waste-free workflow. She experiments with recycled cellulose, bast fibers, and hand-spun cotton, adjusting reed spacing to achieve uniform sett. Each panel is dyed with plant-based colorants, using controlled mordanting and water-conservation techniques.
For YAMAN NYC, Alberto will exhibit woven panels that demonstrate natural-dye chemistry, recycled-fiber integration, and measured loom tension—clear evidence of how structure, material, and sustainability coexist in textile engineering.
Raquel Reporen Eliserio, The Piña Weaver of Aklan
Raquel Reporen Eliserio brings Piña cloth, a fabric woven from pineapple leaf fiber manually extracted through pagkudkud and softened by paghilot. Each filament is spliced into continuous threads before being warped on treadle looms.
Her enterprise, Raquel’s Piña Cloth Product in Balete, manages every stage of production: fiber extraction, scouring, weaving, bleaching, and calendering. She maintains stable humidity levels to prevent filament breakage and trains new weavers to standardize warp spacing and selvage tension.
At YAMAN NYC, she will demonstrate the final calendering stage, showing how controlled heat and compression align fibers and produce the signature gloss of authentic Piña. Each textile reflects uniform pick count, consistent warp density, and precise manual control.
Jenny Bawer Young, The Kalinga Laga Weaver
Jenny Bawer Young, a Kalinga master weaver based in California, represents the Laga tradition—warp-faced weaving executed on body-tension looms. The warp is anchored to a beam and balanced by the weaver’s posture, allowing complete manual control of thread tension and alignment.
Through her collective Kalingafornia Laga, Jenny documents traditional weave drafts, heddle sequences, and dye formulas. She uses Indigofera tinctoria for blue and Morinda citrifolia for red, performing multiple immersion cycles to improve color stability. Each textile maintains clean selvedges, symmetrical motifs, and balanced tension—qualities recognized as technical standards in highland weaving.
At YAMAN NYC, she will conduct a demonstration on loom ergonomics, explaining how body alignment governs warp control, fabric stability, and overall accuracy.
Estrellita “Jie” Godwino, The T’boli Weaver of Lake Sebu
From South Cotabato, Estrellita “Jie” Godwino directs Gono Mo Kem Betek (Jie Tboli Design Inc.), a workshop producing T’nalak, the abacá-based textile of the T’boli people. Her method follows the ikat resist-dye process, in which warp yarns are bound at pre-measured intervals before immersion in natural dyes.
Her palette comes from loko root for red and knalum leaves for black. Each warp is spliced and arranged by hand, maintaining pattern registration through counting and visual alignment. After weaving, men press the fabric with cowrie-shell tools mounted on lever poles, flattening the surface to enhance sheen and tensile strength.
At YAMAN NYC, Jie will display bolts of T’nalak with pattern samples illustrating tie placement and control of dye penetration. Each textile demonstrates consistent warp tension and stable geometry, achieved through repetition and precise handling.
Maria Elena Mina Balbas, The Weaver of Abra’s Looms
In Abra, Maria Elena Mina Balbas continues the Tinguian weaving and embroidery traditions at Namarabar Ethnic Products. Her team works on upright looms with cotton-silk blends, using warp-faced plain weave and supplementary-weft structures.
Her dye system uses annatto, turmeric, and indigo, fixed with alum for color retention. Each fabric is brushed and pressed to level the warp surface and achieve a smooth texture. Her workshop monitors yarn twist, beam tension, and thread spacing to ensure dimensional stability.
The Fabric of Continuity
These five weavers operate in distinct environments yet follow the same principles of precision. Their work relies on accurate thread count, measured warp tension, and balanced weave density. Each textile represents manual discipline supported by material understanding.
At YAMAN NYC, Maria Elena will present Abra’s panagabel textiles alongside tailored prototypes, showing how traditional weave drafts support modern apparel applications.
Their looms will run together, producing cloth from abacá, piña, cotton, and silk. Each fiber type will display its measurable qualities: the high tensile strength of abacá, the translucence of piña, the elasticity of cotton, and the sheen of silk.
Their participation documents Philippine weaving as a living technical system. Every heddle, warp beam, and shuttle movement carries inherited instruction. The work of these women keeps the process exact, the methods continuous, and the tradition verifiable through the precision of their hands.
