THE T'NALAK: A Showcase of Colorful Traditional Clothing Of T'boli Tribe In Southern Mindanao, fashionable designers' creation, crafts and other products

The Philippines is rich in culture and we have a colorful costumes that Filipinos are proud to wear on SPECIAL OCCASIONS to showcase our great heritage. Among many other costumes, T'NALAK is one of them. Handwoven by one of our minority tribes, the T'boli, located in Lake Sebu, in the Southern Mindanao region of the Philippines. T'nalak a traditional clothing and eventually became their way of livelihood that range from different varieties of artistic design that reflect ones rich and colorful culture. The weavers, who are called DREAM WEAVERS do not have drawn patterns or guides to follow

*T'nalak is handwoven made of alpaca fibers which traditionally has three primary colors, red, black and the original color of the alpaca leaves. The colorant of the materials is natural dyed boiled in with bark, roots and leaves of plants. It is a heritage and believed that the intricate and creative patterns of the Tinalak were seen in their dreams and made it on to work. *

T'bolis are famous for their dream-inspired and spirit infused T'nalak weavings, but also for their embroidery, brass casting and other crafts. T'nalak weaving is an art form perfected over decades of practice by T'boli women, and only a handful of master weavers can be considered true 'dream weavers', the works of whom are highly valued. The T'nalak Dream Weavers are a traditional art of the T'boli Tribe. (SOURCE: globalmatters.com)

• Filipino Designers Creation

Filipino designers are famous throughout the world to be very creative and talented. They use indigenous fiber from the Philippines to create clothes. There's abaca, banana, salago, maguey, and buri, among others. T'nalak which is made of abaca, together with other kinds of fabric that the result of an excellent combination of their designs. Below are some their beautiful masterpieces.

The T’nalak fabric holds a special and prominent place in T’boli's culture. It is ever present in significant turning points in a Tboli's life, such as birth, marriage, and death. It is the medium which sanctifies these rites, enveloping them in the length of its fabric like a benediction. In a culture which didn’t have a form of writing, the T’nalak served as both Literature and Art. The T’boli's expressed everything they are in the T’nalak: their dreams, beliefs, myths and even their religion.

• Typical T'boli Family

Making use of the various geometrical patterns and the trademark red, black and white colors, the T’bolis weave the natural and the supernatural in the abaca strands of the T’nalak. Furthermore, the weaving process integrates the personal, the social and the cultural. After a weaver reaches a certain degree of expertise, she becomes a “master weaver” – someone who can interpret and take inspiration from dreams, hence the term “dreamweavers”. By all accounts, this seems to be an intense personal experience for the weaver, and the moment she succeeds in doing this is the moment she becomes an artist. It is also social because the T’nalak binds together all that the T’boli people believe in. The skill of the weaver gathers in the T’nalak all the elements that make the T’boli's social life. It is cultural in that it is the means through which other tribes identify the T’bolis since the T’nalak is uniquely and distinctly T’boli. (SOURCE: Gida Ofong (T'boli tribeswoman and dreamweaver)

• T'nalak Dream Weavers Without Using Any Guide Pattern

T'nalak are also their prized possession at marriage, even the covering for childbirth for ensuring safe delivery and for trading. Whenever they sell their work, they put a brass ring around it as for the spirits to allow them or to please. They're not even allowed to cut the T'nalak because of what they believe it would deliver them sickness.

• NOTE FROM T'BOLI TRIBE

SOURCES:

https://www.southcotabato.org
https://www.slideshare.com
https://www.myrefrigeratordoor.blogspot.com
https://www.agimat.net
https://www.gintoseeds.com
https://www.cmcrafts.org
https://www.pinterest.com
https://www.craftymomma-ph.blogspot.com
https://www.choosephilippines.com

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