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The Depository documents 14 techniques in Philippines; by risk level: 7 critically endangered, 5 endangered, 2 vulnerable. Each record opens with a public summary; the full research record is free to view once registered.
Inabel is the traditional handwoven cotton textile of the Ilocano people of northern Luzon — produced on the pedal loom (tida) in a range of patterns from simple stripes (abel) to the complex pinilian supplementary weft and the highly…
The Itneg (Tinguian) people of Abra province and the Kalinga people of Kalinga province — both in the Cordillera mountains of northern Luzon — produce distinct but related backstrap loom weaving traditions.
Piña is the luxury textile of the Philippines — a lace-like fabric of extraordinary fineness woven from the leaf fibers of the red Spanish pineapple (pinya Bisaya — Ananas comosus var.) grown specifically for fiber in Aklan province,…
T'nalak is the sacred abacá ikat cloth of the T'boli people of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, Mindanao — woven exclusively by women who have received their designs through a kena (dream) in which Fu Dalu, the T'boli goddess of abacá, appears…
The Yakan people of Basilan Island — an indigenous group distinct from both the Muslim Moro communities and the indigenous highland peoples — produce the most complex backstrap loom textile in the Philippines: the pis siyabit (ceremonial…
Baguio City — UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2017 — is the center of Cordillera metalwork tradition, bringing together the silversmithing and jewelry-making traditions of the Ibaloi, Bontoc, Ifugao, and other Cordillera…
The forging of the balisong — a folding pocketknife distinguished by two handles that counter-rotate around the blade's tang, concealing the blade within the handles when closed and permitting rapid one-handed deployment through a…
Okir (or ukkil) is the defining visual language of Maranao culture — an intricate flowing arabesque composed of interlocking naga (serpent), pako rabong (fern frond), and geometric forms carved into wood, incised into metal (brassware),…
The Bulul is the carved wooden rice god of the Ifugao people of the Cordillera mountains — guardians of rice granaries and the most sacred ritual objects in Ifugao culture.
Paete, a small municipality in Laguna province south of Manila, has been the woodcarving capital of the Philippines for over 500 years — a community where over 80% of households are engaged in carving.
Borlas de Pastillas is one of the Philippines' most endangered and least known crafts — the traditional art of cutting and folding the paper wrappers of pastillas de leche (Philippine milk candy) into intricate lace-like designs using only…
Capiz shell (Placuna placenta) is the windowpane oyster of the Philippines — a nearly flat, translucent bivalve up to 15cm across whose shell is uniquely suitable for thin, flat cutting into panel sections that transmit diffused light.
The hand-tapped tattooing tradition of the Butbut people of Kalinga province, northern Luzon, applied by a mambabatok (traditional tattooist) using a thorn from a pomelo or calamansi tree affixed to a bamboo stick, struck rhythmically with…
Burnay is the traditional earthenware pottery of Vigan — the best-preserved Spanish colonial city in Southeast Asia (UNESCO World Heritage).