The Hinabi Project: The Art of Philippine Textiles seeks to increase awareness of and appreciation for the exquisite and rich tradition of Philippine weavings and textiles. In addition, we hope to infuse pride among Filipinos and inspire them to rediscover their heritage as well as incorporate aspects of Filipino traditional fabrics in their modern lifestyle. Lastly, the project hopes to encourage weavers, embroiderers, and designers of traditional Filipino textiles to continue working on their crafts and thus maintain these traditions.
For the public to gain a better understanding of the historical, cultural, and economic significance of Philippine textiles, The Hinabi Project Team, in partnership with US and Philippine organizations, have set several goals: the creation of a textile collection, documentation of the fabric production, and public presentations through exhibitions, lectures and workshops of Philippine textiles; work with NGO partners to development sustainable economic programs that support artisan families.
THP's first exhibition, Piña: An Enduring Philippine Fabric, was held at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in 2015 and focused on the Visayas and piña (textiles woven from the leaves of the Red Spanish Pineapple variety. In 2017, the focus will be on Mindanao with Weavers of Peace and Dreams: Textile Arts of Mindanao to be held at the historic Mills Building in San Francisco.
The Project will continue to expand to other types of Filipino textiles and techniques and in 2018 will feature weavings from Northern Luzon and the Cordilleras. In 2020 we hope to culminate the Project with a state-of-the-art exhibit, showcasing antique and vintage heirloom pieces from private collections juxtaposed with revival and contemporary commissioned pieces.
The Hinabi Project is an initiative of the Philippine American Artists and Writers Inc. (
PAWA), a 501c3 San Francisco cultural/education organization. The current The Hinabi Project team: