SUPPORT local. That’s what us Pinoys are doing now. It may have been a long journey for the Filipino craftsmen to catch the attention of our nation, and they did, but maybe not after it received international recognition.
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| A multi-purpose bowl made of t'nalak. |
Tadeco Livelihood has the same story. The abaca trade has been in this island for decades. With the product design getting an upgrade in the 90’s, the abaca woven into T’nalak fabric has excited the eyes and won the hearts of many, both foreign and local. No sooner, its products have become coveted.
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| The throw pillow designs are one of the best selling products of the company. |
The Christmas collection is no different. At the TADECO Livelihood’s concept store, T’nalak Home, the Yuletide home decors have become must-haves. The parol, Christmas trees and other Holiday trimmings are now styled along with the traditional Western-inspired decorative pieces. The look achieved is striking as it is unique.
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| T'nalak Home is TADECO Livelihood's concept store in Davao City |
On a larger scale, Abreeza Mall and Seda Abreeza Hotel, two properties of the Ayala’s (they have been strong supporters of locally made products long before it became in vogue), commissioned T’nalak Home to create its looks for the Holiday Season.
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| Brightening Abreeza Mall's Yuletide nights with JOY, made from Bago-bago vine. |
For Abreeza Mall, T’nalak Home took the old world sidewalk scene with lit lampposts illuminating cobblestone paths as its inspiration. Picking out the lamp to signify the “Light of Christmas” as the uniting figure, the result was a look and feel of elegance and festivity that merged Continental with Filipino on the most joyous time of the year.
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| Inspired by the gas lamps. |
But it’s at the activity center that best showcases the theme. Large-scale lamps were suspended from the ceiling surrounding the giant Christmas tree, which is embellished with ribbons of handmade paper, balls made from abaca fiber in the season’s hues and abaca twine stars in gold.
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| Large size lamps surround the giant Christmas tree at the Abreeza Mall's activity center |
It’s the second year for T’nalak Home to adorn Seda Abreeza Hotel with its distinctively Davao look. The Yuletide-themed decorative pieces made a perfect fit with the modern and minimalist makeup of the hotel, showing how easily stylishly designed products can fuse with contemporary interior design.
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| Seda Abreeza's unique Christmas tree is made from handmade paper |
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| Exterior Chritmas set-up of Seda Abreeza |
“Angels” is the Seda hotel’s chosen theme to represent “beauty, goodness, protection, faith, hope and love.” The heavenly deity is seen in its many forms—all handcrafted from natural materials—all over the establishment. It adorns tabletops, suspended from ceilings and trims the very impressive Christmas Trees, which were meticulously formed from handcrafted papers folded into cones. Pieced together, the Christmas trees mimic the feathers of angel wings.
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| Layered handmade paper folded into cones mimic the feathers of angel wings |
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| Perfect fit. T'nalak Home's creations blends well with Seda's modern interior |
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| Angels in the hotel. A buffet set-up by Seda |
Truly, this holiday season, Dabawenyo ingenuity in design takes center stage at Abreeza Mall & Seda Abreeza Hotel.
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| Creative tandem - Nieva Rivera of T'nalak Home & Rosevic Cembrano of Maria Vines. |
T’nalak Home is at the second level of Abreeza Mall.
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Email me at jinggoysalvador@yahoo.com. For more lifestyle & travel stories, visit http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/ and http://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on December 12, 2015.
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