HABING SILONG- Upcycled, to Weaved and Installed
Written by Roy Ingente
Habing Silong unfolds as a suspended landscape of memory, labor, and transformation—an expansive 12ft x 30ft installation that reimagines the vernacular language of Cebuano banig weaving within a contemporary spatial context. Hovering between shelter and sculpture, the work evokes the idea of a “silong,” a space beneath—both literal and metaphorical—where stories, histories, and lived experiences are held. Through its scale and tactility, the installation invites viewers to step into an environment that is at once intimate and communal, foregrounding the enduring cultural intelligence embedded in traditional weaving practices.
At the heart of this work lies the Cebuano banig, a practice rooted in intergenerational knowledge, rhythm, and resilience. By translating this technique into an architectural, hanging form, the artists challenge the boundaries between craft and contemporary art. The meticulous interlacing of discarded materials—food wrappers, plastic sachets, sacks—does not merely replicate traditional patterns but extends them into a new material vocabulary. These remnants of consumption are recontextualized, shifting from objects of disposability into carriers of meaning, thereby asserting the relevance of indigenous methodologies in addressing present-day ecological urgencies.
The collaborative dimension of Habing Silong is equally vital to its significance. Conceived as a thesis project by Robin Michael Canucot, Frances Clairre Dolar, Kylle Adrianne Llaneta, and Angel Villahermosa - graduating multimedia arts students-and-creatives of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University, with the objectives in developing an installation that emerges from a dynamic exchange between academic inquiry and community knowledge. The involvement of local TLE teachers as subject matter experts grounds the project in pedagogical rigor, while the co-creation with the weavers of the Rise Above Foundation Cebu ensures authenticity and continuity of practice. Based in Guadalupe, Cebu City, these weavers bring not only technical expertise but also lived narratives of adaptation, ingenuity, and survival through upcycling.
Launched on April 23, 2026 at The Kabilin Center under the stewardship of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., Habing Silong finds resonance within a space dedicated to elevating community appreciation through art, design, culture, and heritage. This institutional context deepens the work’s curatorial framing, situating it within broader conversations on cultural preservation and innovation- allowing the weavers themselves in developing an appreciation, not only to the body of work and creative output, but towards themselves and their journey as practitioners of the Sugbuanon Design Culture.
The Habing Silong stands as a compelling testament to the possibilities of convergence—between tradition and innovation, waste and worth, individual authorship and collective making—urging audiences to reconsider not only the materials they discard, but also the cultural knowledge systems that continue to sustain and transform communities.