In 2020, we awarded the Woven Networks Toolkit Grant to three Philippine-based trainers and community leaders.
Background
Woven Networks aims to spark exciting collaborative research and development of the weaving sector in the Philippines. It is supported by the British Council’s Crafting Futures global programme. It bridges the rich, but forgotten, heritage of handloom weaving with new ideas, materials and skills, enabling the sector to increase its value and expand relevance.
The Woven Networks Toolkit Grant supported community leaders who have a solid track record working with artisan and craft communities in the Philippines, especially in remote areas of the country. The three grantees used the British Council Digital Craft Toolkit and developed their project proposals to:
- better support local artisans and craft entrepreneurs in their communities and;
- address the need to build the knowledge capacity of local artisans with entrepreneurial skills to enhance the economic sustainability of their craft.
Impact
Reach in numbers
- 288 mixed-age artisans from more than 20 local and indigenous weaving communities participated in the series of face-to-face and online Craft Toolkit workshops from February to March 2021. 86 per cent of the attendees were female.
- The British Council Craft Toolkit reached seven provinces in the Philippines: Ifugao, Abra, Benguet; Iloilo and Siquijor, Lanao del Sur and South Cotabato, located across the three major islands, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Outputs
The three grantees developed workshop modules for the Craft Toolkit sessions that addressed the needs and issues of artisans and makers in the time of Covid-19.
- The module developed can be replicated by future community facilitators. It can be integrated with other tools and topics relevant to the weaving practices and business concerns of makers.
- The module served as a guide on how to navigate the web-based Craft Toolkit. One of the modules was translated to two local Philippine languages to simplify the understanding of content and engagement among the participants.
- The Craft Toolkit module became a resource on crafts appreciation, capacity-building, business management and creative resilience.
Insights
- Despite the restricted mobility brought about by the pandemic, artisans found the Craft Toolkit workshop very useful and significant to their business practices and continuity.
- Costing, marketing and pricing are very relevant to the sustainability of weaving communities. Workshop participants found the modules on these topics beneficial and important.
Meet our grantees and learn more about how they used the British Council Digital Craft Toolkit with their chosen craft communities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
