Philippine delegation presents its ‘Handcrafted for the World’

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

Following a six-year hiatus resulting from the constricting Novel Coronavirus 2020, a delegation of Filipino furniture, furnishings and fashion designers are participating at the ongoing “Index Interior Design & Furniture Exhibition” in Dubai World Trade Centre.

Through the theme “Handcrafted for the World” that pronounces the Philippines as the place to be for the sought-after enduring strength of craftsmanship and quaint-yet-universal creativity of handmade products, the participation of the 10 enterprises, is the answer of the Department of Trade and Industry-Centre for International Trade and Expositions and Missions (DTI-CITEM) to the interest of three of the largest organisations of furniture manufacturers to “return to Index.”

DTI-CITEM-Service Business Department manager Marjo Evio, from the inauguration of the DESIGNPhilippines’ 90-square metre pavilion on Tuesday, told Gulf Today that it was some time in 2024 when the “largest of furniture manufacturers in Manila, Pampanga and Cebu paid a courtesy call” to the then newly-appointed DTI-CITEM executive director Romleah Juliet Pulido Ocampo.

Among the discussed were the international trade fairs the group may participate in. One is the Index; the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) “being lucrative and promising, and all the contract hospitality taking place.”

Second time pavilion curator from 2019, Ito Kish, himself a Metro Manila furniture designer-manufacturer/visual merchandiser since 2012, described the delegation composition - seven in furniture from Manila and the Central Luzon provinces of Tarlac, Bulacan, and Pampanga, two in fashion, one in home accessories, and another in components - as “a mix of different styles. It is important that each company bears its own identity.”

The thrust is for the world to know that as Filipino furniture and furnishing designers, such as Kenneth Cobonpue, have penetrated barriers - having been featured many times over in internationally glossy magazines - the Philippines and Filipino artisans - with the confluence of the diversity of indigenous tribes among Spanish, American, Asian and Arabic persuasions - have been behind numerous aesthetically-designed hand made products.

“These are our two selling points. So every piece is going to be different from the other even if of the same item. We are a hand-crafted country. Our edge is that what we produce is always by hand. Everything that we produce from all the natural and raw materials, including the waters that surround us is special,” said Kish, adding that based on his experience at the “Manila FAME” since 2012, skilled Filipino furniture, furnishings and fashion/accessories workers deliver, as the world demands.

Began in 1983, Manila FAME, the home, fashion, and lifestyle trade show, is one of two oldest trade fairs in Asia.

First-time international trade participant half-Bahraini Arksmith chairwoman Ruwa-ina Al Qaseer-Del Rosario, born-and raised in the Philippines, thought she was a minimalist. Until reading “Maximalist” by Indonesian Lufti Hassan: “I realised that I am not, with my Middle Eastern and Filipino roots. We are a proud nation. We have a very rich culture. Bright and colourful. We are not definitely black and white. Definitely not plain and simple. We are loud and proud. Ornate and detailed.”

Citing that all featured at the pavilion are hand-crafted with Philippine-sourced materials, the licensed interior designer/furniture maker, also said: “With all the issues on tariffs and it is difficult to compete with China in terms of mass production. We cannot commit to mass production. That is not us.”

“What we lack in capacity, we can show with our craftsmanship, with our Filipino identity. Statement pieces,” Al Qaseer-Del Rosario continued.

Total market value of the interior and design and furniture sector in the MENA is projected to be at $10.35 billion by 2029. Philippine Embassy-Abu Dhabi Charge d’ Affaires Arvic Arevalo, Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Marford Angeles, Philippine Consulate General-Assistance-to-Nationals Vice Consul Aleah Marie Gica, and Middle East Trade Attache Vichael Angelo Roaring inaugurated the pavilion.