HONORING A NATIONAL ARTIST:
SALINTA MONON
SALINTA MONON (+ 2009)
Textile Weaver
Tagabawa Bagobo
Bansalan, Davao del Sur
1998
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Salinta Monon, a Davao del Sur native, was born on December 12th, 1920, in Bitaug. Because her mother was a weaver, she was exposed to the craft at a young age. To this day, at the tender age of 12, she continues to learn the art of ikat weaving from her mother. Salinta Monon had observed her mother's deft hands weave traditional Bagobo fabrics with her nimble hands. At the age of 12, she presented herself to her mother to learn how to weave.
Her zealous desire to excel in the art of her forefathers enables her to pick up the craft fast. She developed a good eye for traditional designs, and at the age of 65, she can quickly recognize both the design and the author of a woven piece. She has woven continually throughout her life, throughout her marriage and six pregnancies, and even when her husband died 20 years ago. She and her sister are the community's last remaining Bagobo weavers.
Salinta Monon in Action
According to Salinta, a fabric that measures 3.5 meters by 42 centimeters length would take her 3 to 4 months to finish. Within a month, one abaca tube skirt can be completed. "It takes time, but the end product is great," she explained.
The painstaking process begins with the abaca plant being stripped of its fiber for textiles, drying the threads, and hand-tying each strand. The delicate task of placing the strands on the "bed-tying" bamboo frame comes next. The design is defined by the bud, or the tying of abaca fiber, she explained.
TRIVIAS ABOUT THE ARTIST
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When she was a child, she watched her mother weave an ikat. A traditional abaca fabric.
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When she was a teenager, she has developed an excellent eye for traditional designs and can tell the design and author of a woven piece simply by looking at it.
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She met the former American President Bill Clinton at the White House.
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The binuwaya, or crocodile, is her favorite design and it is one of the most difficult to weave.