Fiber Ikat Panel

A ceremonial cloth hanging made of abaca fiber. Traditionally made by the Tboli people of the Island of Mindanao in southern Philippines, these cloths wre especially prominent at betrothal and marriage ceremonies. They are tnalaks and within the narrow range of materials, colors and designs, they still manage to exhibit an amazing variety.The material used was fiber from abaca bark and the colors were derived from natural elements. The designs supposedly came to the weavers in their dreams and that was why they were called dream weavers. The ikat technique used is a method of tie dyeing threads before they get woven, resulting in easily identifiable, fuzzy borders between the colors.