Piña is a traditional Philippine fiber made from pineapple leaves. Pineapples were widely cultivated in the Philippines since the 17th century for weaving lustrous lace-like luxury textiles known as nipis fabric. The name is derived from Spanish piña, meaning "pineapple". In February 2018, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, along with the government of Aklan, began the process of nominating Kalibo piña weaving in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
■National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) of the Philippines
ICHCAP
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Script
This textile is almost as light and fine as gossamer. Delicate yet durable, the pineapple fabric, commonly called pina, is a product of patience and perseverance, of knowledge transferred among communities and from generation to generation.
The journey starts from the earth, goes through many adept hands, and culminates into a graceful swath of fabric, which will go through another journey as it is transformed by the imagination, celebrated as a heritage of creativity and identity of a community and of the country.
The weaving of textiles is one of the ancient crafts of humanity, using a wide range of materials sourced from the environment.
It is also one of the most fascinating elements of our intangible cultural heritage, which comprises traditions and living expressions inherited from ancestors and passed on to descendants.
In the Philippines, different indigenous peoples possess different weaving traditions, which use a variety of plant fibers.
In central Philippines, the Akeanon people of the province of Aklan on the northwest part of Panay Island is known for weaving a distinctive fabric using an unusual material-fibers extracted from pineapple leaves.
Considered the finest among hand-woven textiles, the piña is known for its exquisite beauty.
Because of its quality, relative rarity and value, Filipinos take pride in the piña textile which are used in fashion and finery, and passed down as heirlooms.
The piña textile is the most preferred material for Philippine formal attires.
This epitome of Akeanon traditional craftsmanship and ingenuity has become one of the markers of ethnic, community and national identity of the Filipinos.
Majority of the Akeanon, especially in rural areas, are into agriculture.
In coastal communities, fishing is also a primary livelihood. Over the years, Aklanon are in diverse occupations.
But for more than a century, several communities are engaged in making the piña textile.
Historically, piña weaving was concentrated in the provincial capital town of Kalibo, particularly in the villages of Old Buswang and New Buswang, but it can also be found in the municipalities of Makato, Tangalan, Balete, Banga and Lezo. Until today, piña weaving is alive in these places, considered as a family and community heritage.
Weavers are traditionally women of the community, often the wives and daughters of farmers and fishers.
But other members of the family or community are also engaged in other aspects in the production of the textile.
Master weavers in the communities, usually elders who have inherited the skills from their forbears, pass on the knowledge and skills to the younger generations.
Other components of the pina-making process are also usually similarly passed on. The whole process of making it remains almost unchanged since it began.
The process of producing the piña textile is arduous-beginning with the cultivation of the pineapple to the weaving itself.
The whole process involves different communities and different people and sectors of the community-farmers, scrapers, knotters, warpers, weavers, traders and designers.
The pinya Bisaya or Anonas comosus is the pineapple variety specifically used for the handloom weaving.
The fibers are extracted from the mature leaves, a procedure delicate and tedious.
The leaves provide two kinds of fibers-the rough fiber called bastos, and the fine fiber called liniwan.
Using a shard of porcelain, the stripper removes the epidermis of the leaf, extracting the bastos.
After stripping the rough fibers, a coconut shell is run over the inner layer to extract the more valued liniwan.
The degumming process entails repeated washing in running water, usually in rivers.
The fibers are then hung out to dry.
Dried and bundled, the fibers are ready to be sold.
It will be weighed and priced according to a local system, which uses old coins of different denominations and ‘sikapat,’ a local unit of measurement.
Before weaving, the fibers are knotted together to form long, continuous strands, coiled in a clay pot to prevent tangling and spooled around bobbins.
Threads are then put into a sab-ongan, or warp wheel, for desired dimensions.
After all these, the weaving begins.