Manila Shopper: MaArte at Rockwell Tent: Aug 2013

Come celebrate Philippine craftmanship and shop at MaARTe 2013, An Exhibition and Sale by Outstanding Filipino Artisans on August 23 - 25, 2013 from 10am to 10pm at The Rockwell Tent, Makati City. Raffle prizes also await lucky shoppers. Entrance Fee: P100.

Expect topnotch Philippine exquisite designs, decors, traditional clothing, and accessories - such as beautiful inabel fabric blankets from Ilocos, Natalya Lagdameo's reworked traditional jewelry, decorative handmade paper and other interesting, and original handicrafts for the home - under one roof, and PROUDLY PHILIPPINE MADE! Food for take out and quick bites are also available at the Bridgeway.

Natalya Lagdameo earrings

Joey de Castro Pottery

TRYST Cross

Crystal Seas Clutch bag

Tepiña

Tepiña is contemporary Filipino fabric, a blend of silk and pineapple fibers, delicate and sheer but at the same time structured and strong woven by the gentle people of Rurungan Sa Tubod Foundation. The Rurungan sa Tubod Foundation (RSTF), a non-profit organization, is based on the Island of Palawan, located at the southern tip of the Philippines. The Foundation creates an alternative livelihood for women in the more poverty stricken rural areas of Palawan by teaching piña weaving technology. The Foundation also provides the physical and financial infrastructure for these women to engage in this sustainable art form. This endeavor continues to lead to innovations based on the unique looms and weaving methods used on the Island of Palawan.

TADECO

TADECO manufactures handmade scrap books, picture frames, lanterns and other natural paper processed from banana, pineapple or abaca fibers made into stationeries, paper bags, gift-boxes, t’nalak weaves and other environment-friendly novelty items.

TADECO picture frames

TADECO provides livelihood programs helping weavers in Lake Sebu, generating livelihood opportunities to banana workers of TADECO and their families, communities in the Panabo area as well as the squatter areas in Davao City.

Art of Gold Placemat

Art of Gold Enterprises, Inc. is a company engaged in the creation of world-class hand painted interior accents. It was initially established in 1995 by Raffy and Jackie Caballero to manufacture original art on hand painted throw pillows and bedspreads.

Art of Gold throw pillows

With emphasis on consistent quality and tasteful designs, Art of Gold continues to grow and gain many long-time international and local clients. Backed up by many years of experience in painting on fabric, it has since diversified into painting on wood and metal (tole) articles, enabling the creation of complete interior accent ensembles that can accessorize any home.

Gigi Campos Mosaic

In mosaic art there is an exciting interplay between individual pieces (tesserae) and the composition as a whole. For me it is looking at each piece and seeing the whole that makes mosaic art both vibrant and captivating. I am a self-taught mosaic artist who specializes in visual art. I create each hand-crafted original in my Capitoville, Bacolod City studio. My first mosaic works were mainly functional pieces -- table tops, wall hangings and mirror frames, but last year my work took a turn away from purely functional art to fine art. I began to explore the endless possibilities of the medium making use of everything I learned as an interior designer, an off and on painter, and lifelong student of art and history.

- Gigi Campos

Hacienda Floor Lamps

Down-to-earth but imaginative, life in the sugar plantations of Negros Island in central Philippines inspired Hacienda Crafts to produce and export handcrafted furniture and home accessories. Founded in the early 1990s, the vision of Hacienda Crafts is to translate Negros Island design and creativity into distinct products that transcend boundaries, to transform a genteel and artistic lifestyle into unique furniture pieces that appeal to people worldwide.

Hacienda Floor Lamps

Towards that vision, Hacienda Crafts weaves rustic “hacienda” charm into every furniture design, creating high quality, handcrafted pieces that soften contemporary living spaces with aesthetic excitement and practical sense.

Blithe Sanchez bag

Blithe Sanchez is a small, eponymous label by Blithe Sanchez-O’Driscoll, an independent designer-maker from the Philippines. It started in a spare bedroom in her home in Taipei almost three years ago, a hobby that slowly turned into a passion.

Blithe strives to create beautiful, non-traditional bags out of traditional materials found in the Philippines and some parts of Asia. Infused with her modern design aesthetics, these traditional materials transform into contemporary bags with a distinctive Filipino touch. Blithe uses indigenous fibres such as abaca (commonly known as manila hemp), traditional T’nalak fabrics, Ifugao weaves, jute, and canvas (katsa) as the main shell for her bags and accentuates them with natural materials like black lip shells, mother-of-pearl, coconut shells, wooden beads, and carabao horns. She also plays with leather to give the bags a luxurious feel.

Blithe Sanchez bags are meticulously handmade-to-order, except for a few pieces handcrafted for open house events and trade fairs.

Beatriz Accessories

BEATRIZ ACCESSORIES by Carissa Cruz-Evangelista, an upcoming luxury brand of bags and accessories, is presenting two collections at the Maarte Sale. The gold collection, themed as “NATURAL ROMANCE” features 24k gold dipped earrings, cuffs and necklaces with textured details, floral patterns, silk tassels, semi precious stones and crystals. The black collection, themed as “MODERN FEMININITY” uses lucite, acrylic, crystals and black onyx lends high shine and sparkle to earrings, cuffs and neckpieces and in modern shapes bringing an edge to the evolving Beatriz woman.

• Carissa Cruz-Evangelista is one of the featured designers of CITEM’s MANILA WEAR program and has a small firm called BELLA TRADING and SERVICES that works with artisans around the country, supplying bags and accessories to different department stores and boutiques.

Wooden kitchenware and home accessories made from sustainably farmed hardwood trees at the MARSSE Tropical Timber tree farm in Pangasinan, Philippines.

SustainablyMade means that these wooden products are made from trees grown in a sustainable tree farm, and not from natural growth trees from our already diminishing natural forests. Fashioned from branches, stumps and scrap wood so that no wood is wasted at the tree farm. Crafted by local farm workers from premium Honduras Mahogany, Teak and Gmelina, the wood’s natural cut, color, grain, and knots makes these products one-of-a-kind.

MARSSE Tropical Timber is a family-owned and operated sustainable tree farm in Pangasinan, Philippines. Certified by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as a sustainable timber source, it provides tropical hardwood trees, mainly Honduras Mahogany, to local timber markets. It promotes sustainable management of forest plantations as well as promotion of modern forest technology. It has been awarded the DENR Likas Yaman Award for Environmental Protection in 2011 and for Responsible Forestry in 2003.