loading image
Maria Beatriz “Patis” Pamintuan Tesoro (b. 1950) has devoted over thirty years to preserving ethnic Filipino clothing and reviving the piña fabric industry, introducing Philippine textiles and fashion to an international audience. In the 1980s, she successfully campaigned the Philippine government to revive piña production and fund training programs for new artisans. Although the Philippine Textile Research Institute began exploring ways to mechanize piña with machine-assisted fiber extraction as early as the 1970s, hand production by small enterprises still predominates. Contemporary piña is often combined with other fibers, primarily silk (piña seda). In addition to embroidery, fabric may instead have painted or printed designs. The production of piña is naturally “green,” with farmers and artisans crafting this Philippine national treasure from a sustainable resource that is free of pesticides and produced in a chemical-free process. See "From Pineapple to Piña: A Philippine Textile Treasure on display, post-security, in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 and online at: https://bit.ly/PineappletoPina
This image was posted on September 13, 2022.