and SINAUNANG HABI
(Reviving the Art of Ancestral Weaving)
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Clothing and costumes resonate the language of a culture that brings together the filaments of history, thus preserving the weavers’ artistry through civilizations.
Sinaunang Habi is a tribute to Philippines’ ancestral weavers, their skills, creativity and artistry. This large book (311 pages) is the first comprehensive book that provides a panoramic view of the history of textiles in the Philippines. The pages explode with a dazzling kaleidoscope of color photographs by ace photographers Dick Baldovina and Wig Tysmans never before seen in one major published collection on weaving. It is a celebration of the weaving tradition, and a tribute to the indigenous women of the Philippines who have lovingly created textiles of refined craftsmanship and distinction.
Former Philippine Congresswoman and two-term Senator Nikki Coseteng debuts in the world of high quality publishing with Sinaunang Habi, authored by Marian Pastor-Roces. This is the first of Coseteng’s Filipiniana Series in progress.
Nikki Coseteng, once a curator and art gallery owner that represented some of the most celebrated artists in the Philippines, has been collecting international textiles for almost fifty years. Inspired and influenced by her parents, former UP Professor, and Ambassador Alice Marquez Lim Coseteng and the late pioneer industrialist Emerson Coseteng, her life has revolved around art, women’s advocacies, concerns for the indigenous people, politics, business and adventures.
Born in Manila on December 18, 1952, Coseteng grew up always trying to find meanings in life and what she can do for other people. She went to the University of the Philippines and attended eight semesters of school. “I was in search of education,” she said, “and that’s what I got. That’s all I needed. I just do what I like to do. That’s the very core of my existence. Life’s too short. I can’t be restricted into doing meaningless things at my own time. When I look back, I feel no regrets but only satisfaction at what I have accomplished in my life.”
Coseteng’s political and social activism was perhaps first fueled by the declaration of Martial Law in 1976 when she joined the UP students in anti-Marcos camps, rallying for the ouster of then President Ferdinand Marcos. She reflected on how the students were driven underground during this incredible period in Philippine history; and how people from all sectors–students, peasants, businessmen and women, politicians, priests and nuns–were united together in a non-violent demonstration of “people power” to remove a very corrupt leader from presidency.
Married for five years and now legally single, Coseteng has two children: Julian 29, a Councilor in Quezon City, and Kimberly, 25, an officer for Pfizer Drugs in the Philippines.
Coseteng’s celebrity status began as a telemagazine host. For nine years, her weekly show Woman Watch became a symbol for women advocacies. “We discussed issues that at the time were not generally discussed on TV.” she said. “We did not restrict ourselves with beauty tips and handicrafts and cooking. Our program transcended all of that. We tackled taxation, commerce, rape and domestic violence. She also co-starred in the movie “Sa Kuko Ng Aguila,” with then Senator, and now former President Joseph Estrada who is in jail while facing trial for graft and corruption. In defense of Estrada, Coseteng denounced the successor and current administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as an illegal government with no regard for due process of law.
Co-founder of the all-woman political party KAIBA (Kababaihan para sa Inang Bayan) , Coseteng began her distinguished record in politics and government when she was elected Representative of the Third District of Quezon City in 1987, and then to the Senate from 1992 through 2001.
“As a legislator,” she said, “I was the first to visit the smallest barrios in the Philippines.” She trekked where no politician has gone before. When asked if any of her visitations had produced any significant contribution to the barrios, she contemplated for a while then said, “No, not really. But to these people, just being visited by a government official is enough. At least they know that their existence is recognized. And they’re satisfied with that.”
Coseteng and Marian Pastor-Roces first met more than ten years ago at a social function in Manila. Their conversation led to a discussion of the author’s fifteen-year research project on Philippine women weavers and Asian textiles, administered by De La Salle University. Roces was astounded when Coseteng proposed to publish the book. “She was concerned about the incredible financial aspect of publishing the book,” Coseteng said. “But I knew that if we didn’t publish it, her paper would just end up in a university archive.”
Sinaunang Habi’s first edition was published in 1991, and reprinted in 2000. It has become a sought-after book in the international circuit of textile connoisseurs of indigenous traditions.
This unique book gives us not only a rich collection of haberdashery imbued with artistry and beauty, but also a rich insight into the different ethnic groups in the Philippines. The extensive and informative essays provide a historical and anthropological background on the indigenous people inhabiting each region. The clothing silently but expressively speaks of a nation’s unique cultures, customs, ceremonial life, rituals, and practical needs, lending beauty to handcrafted objects while continuing age-old traditions.
The weaving techniques used are carefully explained. Many of the stunning photographs are of objects in the major US museums (The Smithsonian Institute and the Natural Science and History Museum in Chicago) and each is carefully documented.
Weaving is the creation of a textile by the interlacing of various fibers with a mechanical device, which facilitates and expands textile production, such as a loom. Sinaunang Habi demonstrates the success of the indigenous women of the Philippines in mastering this art of textile weaving.
All those interested in indigenous costume and its cultural significance will want to add this beautifully illustrated volume to their collections.
Nikki Coseteng grew up with an obsessive fascination with high quality textiles. She also recognized the scarcity of information about her country’s indigenous peoples and their weaving traditions. She wished that a book on the subject would become available someday, not only in the Philippines, but also to the rest of the world–a book not written, photographed and published by foreigners, but by Filipinos. Her dream has come true. And for those who know Coseteng, perhaps it was not surprising that the dream would materialize only if she were to publish the book. Hence, the birth of Sinaunang Habi (Ancestral Weaving).
In the book, the author, Marian Pastor-Roces traces Philippine weaving from its beginning to the present, and breaks the country into geographical areas as she explores the distinguishing characteristics of the woven work of the tribes in each region.
The book depicts the language, culture, social and ceremonial contexts of Philippine textiles and costumes. “Each and every diamond shape, dot and pattern in the designs had a name to it,” Coseteng explains. “The book is not only about the weaving industry by the Igorots, ” Coseteng continues. “In the Cordillera, there are different linguistic groups distinguished from one another by design, language and tradition. The models in the pictures represent their own tribes. Each picture has a story behind it.”
The communicative quality of costume and textiles that are lavishly illustrated in this book provides the viewer a peer into the everyday and ceremonial life of the weavers in the Philippines.
Datu Oscar was initially not willing to wear the old loko and saloa tangkulu, nor, in fact, the tankulu pamudbud that was part of the set. He refused to acknowledge these garment pieces as Bagobo. (The likelihood is that this very rare type of clothing, documented rather thoroughly in the early 20th century, may have been created only within a narrowly-circumscribed sub-area of Bagobo culture, that of the Jangan, and not the Tagabawa, Matigsa-lug or Ubo.) Much later, Datu Oscar let on that he was deeply uncomfortable with the association of these garment pieces with magani activity of earlier times, and in particular, with those activities which he felt are best laid to rest, such as human sacrifice. Documenting his reservations in this book is the author’s way of recognizing the conjoint Christian-and-Bagobo ethnic by which Datu Oscar has lived most of his life. The costume itself has not been worn by the Bagobo since the denouement of the way of the magani, prior to the Second World War. The use of magani garment was a matter decided by convocations of elders, all of whom were magani.
Averin Capian wears an old, blood red saol linombos, which, in traditional B’laan culture, was the exclusive prerogative of men who have taken one or more lives, and have thus ascended to the rank of lebe. It was worn with the plangi-dyed tangkulu. Capian, a young virtuoso with the two-stringed instrument, kudlong, has a gentle mein that is, ironically, at variance with the spirit of the lebe or bagani.
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