Hello lovelies,

the last time I travelled to the Philippines I went to the Baguio Musuem. The city of Baguio is located in the mountains and the temperatures were really cool compared to Manila. 

All in all, it was a long drive, more than four hours along a windy path up the mountain (I felt sick a few times), and due to a traffic jam, almost 6 hours for the drive back.

There is an entrance fee of 100 PHP (about 1.70€) and many rooms. The museum is about the history of Bagui but also a lot of textiles on display. I didn't take a lot of pictures, so I borrowed all of the pictures from my SO. 

The entrance looks unassuming and rather matter of fact. Once I stepped inside of the building, I could already see all the folk dresses and textiles on display. My cousin and her husband paid our entrance fee, even though we protested. 

Donated by Rhey and Divina Bautista and Family

This wooden plaque was hanging outside of the museum and probably shows scenes from pre-colonial Philippines (can anyone confirm my theory?).

Left and right from the entrance were lit showcases with textiles, ceramics and other household items. (The museum was recently renovated and there is more information on the items now than there was in 2018 when I visited.)

Here is a picture of the six regions this museum covered

 

Benguet

The colours of the textiles and clothings were mostly really bright. The weaving is intricate and must have taken so much time. 

Next are items from the mountain province

Mountain province

Kalinga has some bright orange coloured textiles, rather than red like the other regions. I wonder which dye they use for this wonderful orange and yellow.

Kalinga

Taken from the cultural centre of the Philippines website:

"The karaweweng, a form of necklace worn with the large elaborate section at the woman’s back, and the single beadwork row at the front, is unique to the Ga’dang-speaking people of Paracelis, Mountain Province, in the northern Luzon Cordillera. [...] The small sizes and colors of the beads—red, yellow, blue, white—are ubiquitous in the Ga’dang and neighboring Kalinga areas, and there is substantial overlap in Ga’dang and Kalinga beadwork compositions."

Karaweweng (Necklace of beads and cowries)

I wasn't sure if these were earrings as they looked really huge and googled it but yes, Buraway are earrings.

Buraway (Kalinga and Gaddang)

Next are the Ifugao.

Ifuago

This is from Abra, the clothes surprised me as they were both very plain. 

Abra

 

Again this textile is very intricate woven with small diamonds and stripes.

These amazing dark blue and purples were made by the Apayao.

I am no expert for these textiles so I will let the pictures do their job. If you are around Baguio, go and visit the museum!

All the best,

Auris Lothol