FEATURING. LANG DULAY
Career
OUR SERVICES
Lang Dulay is one of the highly respected weavers of their community as elders referred to her as a “dream weaver” because it is believed that she was able to make her first T'nalak cloth after, their Goddess, Fu Dalu appeared in her dream. After the said dream, Lang Dulay was able to create a hundred designs that showcases her grace and mirror the wisdom and vision of the T’boli tribe. Because of these, the primary theme of her artworks is spirituality since in her dream it is her mother who handed this cloth down to her as bestowed by Goddess Fu Dalu.
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Courtesy of the Image: Crafty momma
However, just like any other artist, Lang Dulay has faced some struggles in her path of pushing for her craft. When the most awaited time of their life of putting this art in a wider platform to reach more people came as establishments of Sta. Cruz gave them a chance to market their product, the problem has arisen. As their work became commercialized, outsiders have been pushing them to put designs that they want on the cloth, which is something insulting for this cloth as a whole, including its design serves as a sacred art for T’bolis. What is even making it more problematic is that it is much pricey than the traditional one. Though offers like that come on their way, Lang Dulay chose to refuse the offer and stick to her very own traditional styles. Additionally, her advocacy which is the preservation of these traditions has also become a challenge for her as younger generations cannot push through this career for they are now busy with their studies.
T'nalak
Process
Process of T’nalak
The process of making T’nalak cloth is very fussy as it is very much into details. Its fibers are harvested from the abaca tree and will be under the process of: