BEAUTIFUL interior showroom of Far East Furniture at Manila Fame
Filipino arts and crafts have reached incredible heights. Walking through the Philippines International Furniture Show (PIFS) last week was amazing.
ARTIST and book author Ann Pamintuan
PIFS occupied the entire ground floor of the SMX Mall of Asia, with over 100 companies showing their new collections and latest designs. The atmosphere inside the hall was one of celebration, against a backdrop of enormous digitally recreated Juan Luna paintings, lent for the first time ever by the National Museum of the Philippines.
The creative director of the show, J. Anton Mendoza, set out to remind us of our heritage and to instill a justifiable pride in our ability as furniture designers. He presented the show as a world-class venue for the display of world-class product, and a great job he did, as over 10,000 visitors registered at the event.
Christina Gaston, chair of PIFS, and Marcos A.S. Punsalang, head of the Economic Diplomacy Unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs, led the opening ceremonies, accompanied by Mexican Ambassador Julio Camarena-Villaseñor and Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda. They pointed out that our furniture industry is the second largest contributor of export dollars to the Philippine economy.
PACIFIC Carpet by artist Arturo Luz
Exciting exhibitors
Among the exciting exhibitors were Josephine Booth, Myrna Bituin and Betty Cobonpue, who could well be described as the “Mothers of the Industry.” Other designers were Carlo Tanseco of Maze Manufacturing, Daniel Latorre Cruz and Patrick de Lange of Designs Ligna, and Stanley Ruiz and Rommel Viloria of Azcor Lighting and Hacienda Crafts.
I also liked the throwback homage to the Peacock Chair, that ’70s icon that brought our furniture industry worldwide renown. Vito Selma presented the Peacock Chair in an extended form of the original, taking the height from five to seven feet and experimenting with new shapes and colors. Rene Ybañez at Obra Cebuano took an altogether different view of the chair and produced a completely modern take on the old classic.
CREATIVE director J. Anton Mendoza
Awards
Special mention should go to Dodibern Agbo and Anton Saliot from Bohol Islands State University. These two young interns worked with Detalia Aurora and were recognized at the awards ceremony for their Arthur lamp and Octa Collection. They deservedly won the award for the best Student-Designed Accessory piece, and a citation for the Best Product Using Green Process.
Paula Rodriguez of Detaila Aurora won the best Contemporary Furniture Design award for her Café Rattan chair, a clever utilization of bent and split rattan in a simple, contemporary design. The best Transitional Furniture Design was awarded to Rene Ybañez of Obra Cebuana for his Haiyan LC chair, a relaxed interpretation of a rattan lounge chair.
PIFS also saw the launch of two books and an industry magazine. Ann Pamintuan presented her new coffee table book, “Romancing Nature in Metal,” and Al Coron released his offering, “The Material Matters,” a sourcebook on material manipulation for the homestyle industry. The Pampanga Furniture Industries Foundation launched “One Pampanga,” a detailed guide to the industry in their region. The Philippines International Furniture Show this year was by any definition an event for Filipinos to be proud of.
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