Baguio City will host the World Ikat Textiles Symposium (WITS) in December this year, as part of the Ibagiw Creative Festival, City Tourism Operations Officer Aloysius Mapalo announced.
This will be the annual WITS festival’s first staging since the lull brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mapalo said its inaugural edition was held in London, England in 2016 and since then was staged in Delhi, India and Kuching, Malaysia in 2017, Khon Kaen, Thailand in 2018, and Jakarta, Indonesia in 2019.
With its comeback edition, the organizers invited the Philippines to host this year’s festival and Baguio City, with its status as a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art, and home of the world famous ikat textiles of Narda’s Handwoven Arts and Crafts was deemed as the perfect host to this world-renowned textile event, Mapalo said.
Mapalo said to prepare for the event, he visited Narda’s recently to gain an experiential learning of the ikat process.
“It takes such a painstaking and detailed work done by hand for each ikat textile, a mesh of hard work and creativity. We are excited to see more of the industry in the WITS festival. See you in December!,” he said.
To participate, interested parties may visit https://witsbaguioph.com/. **Aileen P. Refuerzo
