BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—A woodcraft industry is sustaining both the Ifugao people’s innate talent in recreating something out of wood and their entrepreneurial or business skills.
Known for their woodcarving skills, Ifugaos can carve from wood almost anything they can visualize—from American Indians they see in Western movies and lions and other animals whose images they come across in magazines or photographs.
But wood is getting harder to get as trees are being harvested faster than they are being replenished. So the creative Ifugao folk have resorted in recent years to an alternative—developing woodcraft from used, recycled, and “condemned” wood or timber.
“We buy old [pieces of] wood from condemned houses, collect driftwood washed to the sea after a storm or hire some people to dig the roots of felled trees,” says Christopher Macalanda.
The 27-year-old woodcraft apprentice is talking about the raw materials used for the different driftwood furniture, which are on display at the “Market Encounter” exhibit at Burnham Park.
The woodcraft display is one of 235 stalls at the Market Encounter, one of the features of the monthlong Panagbenga (Baguio Flower Festival).
The driftwood furniture pieces on display are from the shop of Donato Tamingo, a native of Hungduan, Ifugao, who, together with his family, settled and established a woodcraft business in Sison, Pangasinan.
Macalanda, a trainee and nephew of Tamingo, says his uncle moved to Pangasinan for better business opportunities. He says there are more sources of old wood there as old wooden houses are transformed into concrete structures.
Macalanda says sunnier Pangasinan is more ideal for drying wood than the uplands.
And in the driftwood business, the Ifugao’s woodcarving skills always come into play.
“Driftwood pieces have various natural designs so the result is a creative piece of furniture following Mother Nature’s designs enhanced by the Ifugao craftsman’s imagination and creativity,” says Macalanda.
He says his uncle’s clients include antique furniture dealers in Metro Manila and “walk-in” clients. “So we always join business exhibits [like the Market Encounter] to promote our products,” he says.
A garden set on display at a stall Macalanda is supervising costs P25,000. Made of hardwood, which termites cannot destroy, the set can be used for generations, says Macalanda.
As trees are getting scarcer, more and more Ifugao woodcarvers are combining driftwood furniture-making with purely woodcarving activities, says Macalanda.
As long as there are old, used and recycled wood available, he says the age-old skill of the Ifugaos will continue for a long time.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquir
No comments:
Post a Comment