UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

ART APPRECIATION
SUBJECT CODE: GEC 006
TOPIC OR LESSON: Textile Art
WEEK: 15
SUB-TOPIC/S: T’nalak

INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

Have you ever wondered how the clothes we wear are made and how baskets,
mats, blankets, pouches, and other fabrics are produced? These items we keep asking
are products of human hands through the art of weaving, before the industries
produced these in greater volume through the aid of machines. Why do we need to
learn the art of weaving, despite the technological gadgets that we have? Many
especially the young, find this art of weaving archaic and unnecessary. Despite this
art’s unattractive notion, we need to assert its relevance for a cultural value that our
past generation held on to recognize our identity as Filipinos.

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)

At the end of this module, the students are expected to

1. Draw out metaphors from local myths so student will value cultural roots;
2. Deepen students’ understanding of imagination

LEARNING OBJECTIVE(S)

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to describe some textile art in the
Philippines.

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 ENGAGE

Identify who are shown in the pictures below.

(Tagalog, Igorot, Aeta) (Tagalog, Igorot, Aeta) (Tagalog, Igorot, Aeta)

EXPLORE

Textile art is one of the oldest forms of art in

human civilization. At its inception, it was not
focused on looks, but for practical purposes—such
as clothing or blankets to keep warm. This dates all
the way back to prehistoric times, and
anthropologists estimate that this is
between 100,000 to 500,000 years ago. These goods
were made from animal skins, furs, leaves, and more.
As the Neolithic cultures settled, textiles
become increasingly complex. Many early pieces were
made with felting, which agitates animal fibers (like
wool) to interlock them in a strong bond. Beyond that, though, humans also spun fibers
to create strands of thread. They were woven together and resemble more of what we’re
used to today.
Creating clothing and other textiles was laborious—everything had to be done by
hand. This included gathering fibers from plants or animals and then twisting them to
make it into yarn. In addition to being a tedious process, making an article of clothing
was expensive; tailors and seamstresses altered garments to ensure that they lasted a
long time. Depending on how wealthy someone was, they could get imported fabrics and
colorful dyes. The Silk Road trade routes brought Chinese silk to India, Africa, and
Europe. While clothing was still the dominant type of fiber art, the aristocracy could
also afford to decorate the walls, floors, and furniture of their palaces in lush and vibrant
pieces.
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 The Industrial Revolution was a turning point
for textiles. With the invention of the cotton gin,
spinning jenny, and power loom, creating fabric was
now automated and could be produced on a massive
scale. Textiles were not just for the wealthy anymore;
as prices dropped, they were available to more of
society. It also meant that these materials were not
as precious, and creative people could experiment
with them in previously unseen ways.

The rich history of textiles has laid the groundwork for contemporary creatives.
In modern times, the terms fiber art or textile art generally describe textile-based objects
that have no intended use. Although this realm has previously been seen as “women’s
work,” artists—particularly female artists in the 1960s and 70s—started to reclaim the
field and elevate it into high art.

EXPLAIN

Common Techniques in Textile Art

It is impossible to produce a textile without the use of thread or yarn. Threads
are produced from fibrous materials ranging from wool, silk, and cotton. In the
Philippines, hemp – a fiber from abaca, pineapple leaves, and grass are processed to
produce a fabric. The most expensive Barong Tagalog, a National Costume for men in
the Philippines, is made from the finest pineapple fiber. The Mestiza or Balintawak
Gown is also made from abaca fiber or other indigenous materials. After the fiber is
processed, it undergoes a spinning process to produce thread, before it is used for
crochet, embroidery, knitting, and weaving process.

Crocheting. It is Embroidery. It is Knitting. It is using Weaving. It is

using a single using a thread to a pair of long needles creating or
hook to hook the stitch the to form the loops, producing fabric by
loops together decorative designs moving a set of loops interlacing threads.
directly on the onto the fabric. from one after the
piece of fabric. other; the stitches
are held on the
needle.

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The Textile Process

Step 1 Fiber production

All textiles are made up of fibers that are arranged in different ways to create the
desired strength, durability, appearance, and texture. The fibers can be of countless
origins, but can be grouped into four main categories. Natural fibers, except for silk,
have a relatively short fiber length, measured in centimeters. Silk and man-made fibers
have on the other hand very long fiber lengths (filaments) ranging from hundreds of
meters to kilometers long.
Plant fibers consists of cellulosic material, normally derived from cotton, linen,
hemp, or bamboo, but more or less any plant with extractable cellulose can be used.
Cotton is by far the most used plant fiber and the cultivation of cotton is enormously
resource-intensive, with high inputs of water, pesticides, insecticides and fertilizers
leaving a large toxic footprint where grown, if not cultivated organically or under specific
sustainable conditions.
Animal fibers consist of proteins. Wool and silk are the most used fibers from this
group, but the wool can come from a number of different animals. To make animals
grow faster and produce higher yields of wool, pesticides and insecticides are used to
prevent disease. Dipping is a common practice to control parasites in sheep farming,
making use of both organic phosphates as well as synthetic pyrethroid. After the wool
fibers have been sheared, they are treated with chemicals during the scouring and
washing process.
Man-made fibers such as viscose (rayon) or lyocell are based on cellulosic raw
material, normally from wood pulp. They are heavily treated with chemicals before the
new fiber is spun. The whole process of producing fibers from wood pulp is very
resource-intensive, involving the use of several hazardous substances.
Synthetic fibers are made from monomers sourced from fossil oil feedstocks,
which are subsequently polymerized into different fibers. Given all the possible
monomers that can be made from a synthetic feedstock, the possible combinations are
endless. However, the most common synthetic fiber is polyester, followed by polyamide,
polyacrylic and aramide. Depending on the monomer used to produce the fiber, an
endless number of chemicals may be used in the process. For some of the synthetic
fibers such as polyester, dyeing can be accomplished already when the fiber is
manufactured.

Step 2 Yarn production

When the fiber has been harvested or produced the next step is to spin the fibers
into a yarn. It is easy to believe that this step, which is a mechanical one, uses no
chemicals. But in order to increase the strength of the fiber, increase fiber cohesion and
reduce friction during the spinning process, spinning oils are added.

Step 3 Fabric production

The core of textile manufacture is fabric production. Fabrics can be created in
many ways, the most common being weaving, knitting or through production of non-
woven fabrics. To prevent the yarn from breaking during these processes, it is important
to strengthen the yarn and reduce friction. Sizing chemicals and lubricants are therefore
added.

Step 4 Pre-treatment
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 Pre-treatment processes can be carried out with fibers, yarns, or fabrics. It
enables subsequent processing of the material, which needs to be prepared to accept
dyes and functional chemicals. This is done in a multi-step process. Exactly which steps
the fabric goes through depends on the type, or blend of fiber, and how it will be treated
afterwards. In some cases, pre-treated fabrics are manufactured for later garment
dyeing.
The most common steps involving chemicals for a fabric are:
➢ Washing, general cleaning of the fabric following previous steps and treatments.
➢ De-sizing removes the sizing chemicals from the warp yarns in the woven fabric.
➢ Scouring removes fatty waxes and greases from natural fibers, cotton seed and
husk.
➢ Bleaching makes the fibers whiter and facilitates the dyeing process. It also
makes the fibers more absorbent.
➢ Mercerizing makes cellulosic fibers swell and get stronger, more lustrous and a
greater capacity to accept dye. By doing so one can reduce the amount of dyes
needed.
➢ Carbonizing removes vegetable residues such as seed pods from the wool.

Step 5 Dyeing and printing

During dyeing and printing both hazardous chemicals and dyestuffs are used.
Dyes used for dyeing, can also be used for printing, but must then undergo the same
fixation and washings steps as after the dyeing process. The most common way to print
a fabric in full width is to use pigment prints, where the pigments stick to a surface
using polymeric resin or a binder. No washing processes are needed. For garment
printing , plastisol printing is very common. The PVC-based paste often contains
hazardous chemicals, such as phthalates, but there are also alternatives based on
acrylate or polyurethane.
Dyeing can take place in several steps when processing the textile. It can be done
when spinning the synthetic or man-made fibers, as loose natural or regenerated fibers
and in the form of yarns or fabrics. Garment dyeing is also common.
For fiber blends, two types of dyed fibers can be spunned together e.g., viscose
and wool.
Full-width printing is carried out on pre-treated fabrics, but it is also possible to
put a print on a garment or manufactured textile product by screen or transfer printing.
Digital printing is another method.
There are other printing techniques as discharge and resist print using dyes and
chemicals. This includes washing to get rid of surplus dyes and residues.

Step 6 Finishing treatments

This step of the process is all about adding special technical properties or an
aesthetic appeal to the finished fabric. Depending on the properties desired, such as
flame retardance, enhanced water resistance, antibacterial treatment, protective
coatings or specific fashion treatments, a diverse range of chemicals are used.

Step 7 Manufacturing, transport, sales, and retail

When the fabric has the desired color and properties, it is made into finished
products such as sweaters, jeans, shoes or other special items like carpets, furniture,
or car seats. This step includes processes such as cutting, sewing and the addition of
buttons and zippers, for example. In some cases, dyeing and printing of the finished
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garments, with the fabric only pre-treated, occurs at this step. In garment dyeing there
are a lot of dyestuff and chemicals used (showed in step 5). Sometimes dyestuff with
quite bad wash permanence are chosen to give the clothing in fashion a worn outlook.
For garment printing, Plastisol prints (PVC) are very common, but there are other types
available for example based on acrylate or polyurethane.

Manufacturing,
Fiber Yarn Fabric Pre- Dyeing and Finishing
transport,
production production production treatment printing treatments
sales, retail

ELABORATE

The T'boli indigenous people of the vast

Lake Sebu in South Cotabato, Mindanao,
believe that the patterns of the t'nalak are
bestowed upon chosen women by Fu Dalu, the
goddess of abaca. These women, often led by
their ancestors, dream of the sacred patterns
that they then transform into the textile.
While the t'nalak starts with the dreams
of one woman, it takes a whole community of
artisans to produce. Initially, men do the
farming and harvesting.
First, T'boli men use a mounted blade to strip the abaca into fine fibers. They are
then hung to dry. Once ready, the t'nalak strings are strung on a loom and they are
prepared for the ikat (dye-resist) technique, based on the pattern taught by the
dreamweaver.
The pattern for the white or natural color is tied. The abaca is then submerged
in a vat of boiling water with natural dyes, coloring the strings red. The pattern meant
to be left red is then tied tightly. Again, the abaca undergoes dyeing, this time turning
the remaining untied portions black. The traditional colors of the t'nalak hold symbolic
meaning for the T'bolis. The white or natural color of the abaca stands for purity. Red
is for the blood of their ancestors, while black symbolizes the soil from which they came.
When the dyed abaca is completely dried, the ties are removed, revealing the tri-
colored pattern. It is an intricate and complex process, one that requires the weaver to
envision the pattern on a blank canvas of strings.
The dyed strings are then strung onto a backstrap loom to finally be woven into
textile. The loom, as its name suggests, is anchored on the weaving hut's ceiling and
held taut around the back of the weaver—the woman becoming part of the loom herself.
Traditionally, only women are allowed to weave the t'nalak. The weaving is
usually done in the early morning or at night to prevent the abaca from becoming brittle
in the harsh sunlight during the day. There are several superstitions surrounding the
weaving of t'nalak, such as never stepping over the loom. The weaving process is always
done in reverence to Fu Dalu, the goddess of abaca.
Finally, the woven textile is rubbed with a large cowrie shell to make it shine.

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 One of the most well-known dreamweavers is Lang Dulay. A
Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan (National Living Treasure) awardee, Lang
Dulay started dreaming of patterns when she was just 12 years old.
Since then, she dedicated her life to passing on the craft of weaving to
a younger generation of weavers.
In an interview in 2013, Lang Dulay said it was her dream for
the women of Lake Sebu to never tire of weaving t'nalak, a source of
pride of her people. Having met hundreds of local and foreign tourists
who visit her weaving hut, Lang Dulay said that though she is not able
to travel, the t'nalak is what will bring the dreams of the T'boli women
around the world.
Lang Dulay passed away in 2015, leaving her family with the Lang Dulay Weaving
Center, from which they keep her legacy alive. They continue to receive visitors at the
weaving center and weave the patterns that Lang Dulay originated.

REFERENCE(S)

Inocian, R. B. et. al. (2021). Modular Approach to Art Appreciation. Lorimar Publishing, Inc. Quezon
City
Retrieved from: https://mymodernmet.com/contemporary-textile-art-history/
Retrieved from: https://textileguide.chemsec.org/find/get-familiar-with-your-textile-
production-processes/
Retrieved from: https://fameplus.com/touchpoint/how-the-tboli-women-weave-their-
dreams

Prepared by:

BINGO L. ALIGO

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