Piña: From Island Textile to World Treasure
presented by Randy Madrid, Ph.D.
23 February 2025 at 3:30 pm New York time (UTC-5)
An invitation to register for this Zoom webinar will be sent to all current IOLI Members a week before the event.
In a 45-minute journey to the wonderful world of piña, Dr. Randy M. Madrid, a professor of history and social sciences at the University of the Philippines Visayas, Iloilo City, Philippines and author of the book, Piña Futures: Weaving Memories and Innovations, will show us how piña became both an aspirational and inspirational fabric that has woven a rich sartorial history serving as a source of pride and identity among Filipinos. Nevertheless, its creative variations in terms of designs resulted in numerous innovations that even pushed its use from just something wearable to anything functional, artistic and practical.
The lecture-presentation will feature piña, the “Queen of Philippine Fabrics” of its many chapters of development, from island textile to world treasure. In the present world of technology where artifice imitates Nature, it’s amazing how a natural fiber turned into a natural fabric. And, with this the weavers will keep weaving piña.
Randy Madrid
RANDY M. MADRID, PhD is Assistant Professor 7 at the Division of Professional Education, College of Arts and Sciences, U.P. Visayas, Iloilo City, Philippines, where he teaches education, research, and social science courses on top of his post as Graduate Program Coordinator. He also teaches at the Junior and Senior High School at UP High School in Iloilo. He earned his Bachelor of Arts major in History and Community Development and Masters in Education major in Social Studies, both at U.P. Visayas and PhD in History at U.P. Diliman. His most recent publication is co-author of the textbook, Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics for Senior High School, published by Vibal Publishing, Inc. in 2016, and “The Provincial Chinese and the Progress of the Iloilo Textile in Nineteenth-Century Philippines” published in China and Asia: A Journal in Historical Studies in 2023. His advocacies are centered on the preservation, promotion, and popularization of local history in the regions, and cultural heritage conservation and safeguarding. In particular, his interest is zeroed-in on studies of Central Philippine textiles, which is part of his expanded research project Educ CHAT PRIME (Education for Culture, Heritage, Art, and Tourism through Publication, Research, Innovation, Marketing, and Enterprise). In 2013, he wrote an article on Hablon in Habi: A Journey through the Philippine Textiles, which was published by HABI, the Philippine Textile Council. In 2023, he wrote a book, Piña Futures: Weaving Memories and Innovations, which is published by Far Eastern University and HABI: the Philippine Textile Council.
Madrid also served as Director of the Center for West Visayan Studies from 2019 to 2022 and President of the Asosasyon ng mga Dalubhasa, may Hilig at Interes sa Kasaysayan (ADHIKA) from 2020-2022. He is also adviser for the Central Philippine Cluster of the National Youth Forum on Heritage and member of the NCCA-Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan Executive Council. Being a prolific educator and researcher, he was awarded the One UP Faculty Grant for Outstanding Performance in Teaching and Research from 2019 to 2021.