Mindanao's Designing women, Maricris Floirendo-Brias & Anne Pamintuan ~ D' Durian Daily

Mindanao’s designing women, Ann Tiukinhoy Pamintuan & Maricris Floirendo Brias

Bountiful harvest, a myriad of exotic blooms, bursts of colors across the city and a multitude of revelers came out to celebrate, these was what the recent Kadayawan was all about.

From the city streets to the indoor pocket events, there was no shortage of activities. There is one or more that enticed you to check out—the cultural highlights of the 11 tribes, music fests, food fairs, fashion and the arts.

On a rare occurrence, two of the most successful designing women simultaneously held their exhibits, Ann Tiukinhoy Pamintuan and Maricris Floirendo-Brias. It was indeed a happy Kadayawan for the art and design lovers.

Maricris and Ann are Davao-based and are highly respected in their fields of design. Both of them are members of the Movement 8, the elite group of Filipino designers that lists Kenneth Cobunpue, Milo Naval, Tes Pasola, Tony Gonzales, and Budji Layug as some of its members.

Brias and Pamintuan marked Davao in the global design map with their striking products and designs.

The women are the founding members of the Mindanao Trade Exhibition (MTE), too. With them on the helm of the exhibition that became annual and likened to Manila Fame, MTE became one of the most anticipated events in the Southern part of the country. No less than the Central Bank convention center was utilized as venue to accommodate exhibitors from the Bimp-Eaga and the Mindanao regions.

MTE, back then, was grand and graced by national and international dignitaries, the who’s who in the field of industrial and interior design and even foreign buyers came to take part. It would be fabulous to regain the glamour of MTE’s past today.

This Kadayawan, it was great to see Maricris and Ann in Davao.

Simultaneously, each held their own exhibits in Abreeza featuring the new collection of the products that earned them their respective fame-Pamintuan and her wrought iron sculptures and Brias and her T’nalak Home wares.

Woven Dreams.

In “Woven Dream”, Brias presented several vignettes spread across the large space on the mall’s second level. The pocket displays, set before a backdrop of the new t’nalak textile, showed how the products could be infused into any home design theme with ease, and mixed and matched with her other collections.

“Woven Dreams” revisits & reinvents the past. Maricris with her new interpretation of the the tranditional tnalak pattern

“For this collection, I am paying tribute to the roots of the t’nalak weavers’ designs. Tadeco Livelihood and I have been working together with the Mindanao weavers for more than two decades now and this year marks the 21st year of the collaboration,” shared Maricris.

Contrasting & compleemnting. Two new fabrics on a coral basket made of metal wrapped with abaca fibers

“The new series of t’nalak fabrics features the traditional pattern we are familiar with, but interpreted in a new way. The bed klagan, bed dounblata, bed manual and bed sinamon patterns in [their] original sizes and enlarged versions were set against brightly-colored dyed fibers as contrast.”

A lounging room vignette. A mix & match of various collections

A dining room vignette with the new t’nalak cloth as backdrop

The look is contemporary Mindanao, very exciting and truly eye-catching in its array of vibrant colors. The fabric and its transformation into home accessories is another set of conversation pieces for T’nalak Home.

The new collection of T’nalak Home throw pillows

Bounty.

For the Kadayawan, Pamintuan debuts two new designs in her Bounty exhibition-the “Flower” and the “Carabao”. The metal opuses symbolize the bounty of Mindanao and the rural life of the South.

Ann & the Carabao, a debuting piece in her Kadayawan “Bounty” exhibition

The Flower, just like the other pieces of Ann, is a functional art piece. The huge blooms were presented as a sculpture and fruit basket.

The sculptural bloom is also a fruit basket. It signifies the bounties of Davao

“Overnight,” replied the artist, when asked how long it took her to come up with the flowers from conceptualization to the finish pieces. It may sound unreal but with determination and strong work force, nothing is impossible.

The Carabao, on the other hand, wasn’t conceived overnight. This new piece joins the family of iron animals that the artist has created and displayed at the gardens of Manila’s premier malls.

Meek and muscular, Ann once again captures and interprets the essence of man’s dedicated companion in the countryside in her art piece. I see a Kalabaw collection ahead.

With the new pieces, the exhibition also presented select pieces of metal sculptures from the artist’s previous collection and accessories, which included a new line of handbags made of crocheted copper wires with gilded twig as handle. It was awarded “Best Product Design” in the recent Manila Fame.