TAKA MUNA... TAKA LOOK AT THIS!

My friend Mitzie is president of an NGO called Manlilikha.org. A not-for-profit organization that supports heritage preservation, local artisans, crafts promotion, and the appreciation of local Philippine crafts culture. As part of their fundraising efforts they are doing a project called 100 Taka, 100 Katao - a project where artists, artisans, and semi/legitimate celebrities take a "Taka", which is a traditional Paete papier mache figurine and dress it up to publish in a book and sell at a fundraising auction.

The above taka is my contribution to the project. It's called "Fashion Victim - Mura Kami". I took a traditional Taka maiden and collaged "Louie Butiong" logos all over it. If you look at it closely, I've switched all the LVs to FVs. Wala lang. It's just a statement about today's culture of blind consumerism and the cult that it can create. Do the clothes wear us or do we wear the clothes? I'm sure some fashionista friends of mine out there can relate. I'm sure they all know some brand-conscious parvenu out there who has clawed their way into the latest must-haves of the season only to render it lifeless once they wear it.

Close-ups below:

My friend Cathy Young, who designed my logo, helped me out with this Taka.

Check out Manlilikha's website here. Check out their cool crafts tours and the other Takas. Some of them done by artists like Lena Cobangbang, Elmer Borlongan, MM Yu, and Louie Cordero. Writers and musicians like Bayang Barrios, Jessica Zafra, and Lourd De Veyra have also designed takas for them, as well as fashion folk like Kate Torralba and random politicians like Loren Legarda (wha?).

Be sure to attend their fundraiser and buy a taka for charity too.

Exhibition opening and book launching
Friday, 5 September 2008, 4pm

Exhibition and auction closing
Saturday, 20 September 2008, 4pm

Sala'am Conference Room, Romulo Hall of the Asian Center
R. Magsaysay corner Guerrero Road, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

Call/Text: 927 8749098 if you have any inquiries.