Revived Caddy – set of three. The basket design was taken from the old catalogue of the Nabua Home Industries Center and it was given a bit of a twist. The new (“kitchen”) caddy now features an ear handle convenient for hanging the basket, and some simple striped designs using abaca (Manila hemp). Personally, I think this caddy would be useful in taming our unruly cables and other portables. 😉 Materials: Banban (bamboo strips), Abaca (Manila Hemp), Uwoy (I don’t know the English word for this yet but it’s a local grass), glue, varnish
Bamboo basket makers at our grandparents’ defunct business. Good old times. I remember we use to mock-weave some baskets during the summer. If plastic wares were not so pervasive and if there were still a demand for native crafts, I’d gladly help revive Nabua Home Industries Center, which, according to an article written by Nelly Villafuerte, was one of the biggest suppliers of bamboo crafts in the entire Philippines.
Bamboo Oval Tray. Set of three. The first samples were sold to Marian Brina of the International Montessori School of Beijing.
On-site production. Particular basket designs can be commissioned only from specific barangays/(villages. Round baskets, for example, are the specialty of this particular barangay.
Bamboo Flower Basket – details. Set of three. First buyer of the first samples: Marian Brina for a classroom at the International Montessori School of Beijing
Bamboo Food Bowl – Set of Five.
Round Bamboo Baskets. Set of two.
Square bamboo baskets. Set of three.
Rectangular bamboo baskets -details. Set of three.
Bamboo flower basket. Set of three.
Rectangular bamboo baskets. Set of three.
Moon Hampers – Set of Two Materials: Bamboo Spokes, Manila Hemp, Rattan Design: Lydia Docot This sample’s reserved by Patrick Bilog
Striped Hampers – Set of Three Materials: Bamboo Strips, Manila Hemp, Rattan Design: Lydia Docot The first samples were sold to Ma Sheila Fortuno of Ateneo de Naga University and Bicolano artist Berns Brijuega.
Striped Hampers – Set of Three Materials: Bamboo Strips, Manila Hemp, Rattan
Beauty in simplicity. Bamboo weave.
Bamboo Shoebox/Storage Materials: Bamboo Design: Dada Docot
Bamboo Laundry Hampers – Set of Three. Design: Lydia Docot This first sample’s reserved by Auntie Pancy. Julie Fuentes
Nabua Home Industries’ simple, organic and biodegrable solutions to your clutter. These are the first samples. Any suggestions on how to improve them? 🙂 Visit Nabua Home Industries FB page to view more product samples.
Returning to my hometown, Nabua, in March 2013 for my dissertation fieldwork for my doctoral degree in Anthropology, I took up the challenge to rebuild the bamboo business once operated by my grandparents which I renamed as Nabua Home Industries (NHI). In July 2014, the revived, but much smaller enterprise, was re-introduced at a regional showcase of products called the “Best of Bicol.” The NHI presented some of its “classic” products such food bowls, fruit trays, hampers, as well as a few new ones, such as storage boxes made of bamboo and other indigenous materials like abaca (Manila hemp). At another regional exposition – this time, a fashion show – NHI showcased the flexibility that bamboo is known for through a new line of bags. In February 2014, NHI finally opened a small crafts shop in Manila that featured redesigned baskets used in everyday life such as the bayong (basket for shopping). This time, NHI tried to fuse commonly used weaving patterns (sala-sala or plaiting) with those freshly introduced by the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) such as the islet, the diagonal, and other weaving patterns, and to bring back disappearing complex braids such as the uru-uluypan (caterpillar) that were once the typical lashings using in closing the rims of bilaos (flat round basket for winnowing rice) and other commonly used native woven wares. The kararaw that was resold by NHI transformed into a set of three hamper that uses the DTI-introduced diamond weave. The bamboo strips used for these new kararaw were dyed in electric blue. The finished baskets used as linings bags made of recycled flour sacks. NHI took a step into the field of sustainable home furnishing by incorporating recycled textile in our products. Diverging from the business model that the old family business once undertook, and realizing the associated unsustainability of exportation due to unpredictable market demands and its adverse effects on the environment, the revived NHI took interest in small-scale production which now only targeted a growing local community that followed developments in Philippine hand-crafted products. NHI found clients among local customers who were looking for affordable and Philippine-made alternatives to the imported plastic products that are dominant in the local market.
Visit Bamboo Revival’s Instagram Account Here
