Cedie Lopez-Vargas on ArteFino: ‘….so that stories don’t die, traditions don’t die’

Where do you bring the country’s most successful artisanal fair? How do you up the ante?

Thousands of visitors will see—and experience—for themselves just how, when ArteFino Festival 2023 runs August 24 to 27, 2023 at The Fifth at Rockwell and the North Court, both at Powerplant Mall, Makati.

Six years ago, ArteFino started as an artisanal fair which people checked out a few days of the year for good arts and crafts. Today, drawing thousands of visitors a day, it’s become not just an artisanal retail space selling products, but beyond that, its advocacy of Philippine artisanship has become a culture movement that impacts on marginal livelihood communities across the country, to as far as Mindanao. It is a culture movement that answers the era’s call for sustainability and consciousness of the environment.

Its message is loud, clear and focused—reuse, repurpose, and regenerate.

Cedie Lopez-Vargas, the proponent of ArteFino and one of the founders along with Marimel Francisco, Maritess Pineda, Mita Rufino and Susie Quiros, told TheDiarist.ph in an interview: “It deepened the advocacy— before that, we were focused on the products that were being produced by these communities. And then the stories started to come out, the stories of why they were doing what they were doing. That’s always so fascinating. The traditions behind it, or how did they do this? For instance, they dream of these patterns in their sleep. Those are the things you want to capture, not just the products. You want to capture those stories so that they don’t die and those traditions don’t die.”

Indeed the ArteFino is a long, continuing story of so many stories from around the country—which inform you as you pick up, for instance, that blouse from Argao, Cebu, or that pair of sneakers from Negros.

This week’s ArteFino will have over 100 brands encompassing fashion, home, lifestyle, and food. A unique, engrossing story is behind each brand.

ArteFino has become the launch pad for countless local designers, social enterprises, and emerging sustainable brands. And—it also has been drawing a new generation of conscious consumers— like-minded individuals who share a passion for supporting Filipino design and craftsmanship, and are proud of it on the global stage. It’s a growing network that Filipino creators, brand owners, and communities are tapping into.

ArteFino Festival 2023 is called a festival because it is a celebration of that confluence in today’s marketplace—that gives the Filipino the pride of what the Filipino has and what he can do.

Last March, for instance, the ArteFino founders themselves became immersed in the workings of such communities which receive grants from the HeArteFino Foundation when they went to Argao, Cebu, to see how the Anthill led by Anya Lim and the weavers of Argao produce zero-waste textiles for fashion, design and lifestyle.

That visit gave them a glimpse into the possibilities of zero-waste production.

The HeArteFino booth in ArteFino 2023 will showcase the deadstock fabrics from Anthill and Great Women. ArteFino founder Marimel Francisco explained in a press statement:  “We commissioned Carol de Leon of Angkan World to create a collection using fabrics from Anthill and Great Women…. We saw all the inventory that needed to be unloaded so that they could continue working.”

This week, the Fifth at the Rockwell will have interesting spaces.

The Barracks, a dedicated space for men curated by Ram Lopez-Vito Bucoy, will showcase 12 emerging Filipino brands presenting a fresh new take on men’s fashion and lifestyle, highlighting Philippine craftsmanship. Ram says, “The Barracks this year is a world traveler’s closet. When you travel a lot, you want your space to be a place that is relaxing and restful, but with pieces that remind you of your travels. The Barracks will be a place filled with eclectic and colorful memories that remind you of exciting places.”

Hand-picked selections by the ArteFino team will be at ArteFino Finds booth—marked by variety, including 12 homegrown food concepts such as The Seven Pantry and Gourmet Garage.

There will be a Tribute to The Grand Dame Of Piña Fabric and Philippine Fashion, Patis Tesoro. Conceptualized and designed by the Philippines’ foremost scenographer Gino Gonzalez, it will be at the lobby entrance which is transformed into a harvest field that traces the journey of craft—from the time Tesoro paved the way for the preservation of ethnic Filipino clothing up to the present. “It revolves around harvest or a kaban. But instead of ani or agricultural produce, it’s some of the best Philippine crafts gathered by ArteFino in one space.”

Francisco explained, “Patis Tesoro was an impetus and inspiration for our movement and our vendors.”

Fitting forms dressed in iconic, one-of-a-kind pieces by Patis Tesoro will be exhibited with hand-woven hammocks as backdrop. An island of bilao (circular hand woven trays) floats over ricefields containing showcase pieces from the festival.

Proceeds from the ArteFino festival and its ticket sales go to The HeArteFino Foundation and its programs. They are used to fund and invest in chosen communities around the country.

Cedie Lopez Vargas says, “When we partner with communities or makers, our aim is to empower them to run sustainable businesses. Our collaborations run for several years so that we establish long term relationships and create real impact.”

Beneficiaries of HeArteFino’s development program include beaders of the Bagobo Tagabawa community from Davao and fabric weavers of Kabankalan in Negros Occidental.

Output from partnerships forged under the HeArteFino development program are refined and developed into retail pieces that also make their way to the trade fairs. It’s the circular nature of the foundation and its programs that allow and fuel long-term, sustainable partnerships. Susie elaborates, “For the first time, we are immersing deeply in the entire supply chain. This year, we found ourselves working closely with both makers and the designer.”

TELAStory, a design, sourcing and manufacturing collective, was enlisted to create garments for the collection. Susie adds, “We also worked with women artisans of Tondo and makers from Not A Day Dream for the accessories and bags.” For the team, the experience of putting together this year’s HeArteFino collection was a learning experience that allowed them to delve deeper into the process.

Maker’s Lab, an ArteFino initiative that engages and opens the floor for the entire creative community ushers in a new chapter in their on-going upcycle challenge. This year, however, the theme will focus on “The Modern Filipino’s Pamana.” Mounted in partnership with Security Bank, this year’s Maker’s Lab will highlight heritage stories told through craft, design, and use of upcycled materials. “The previous Maker’s Lab resulted in inspired output from our makers. This year, we want to highlight this, especially since the theme pushes our maker’s creativity and vision.”

TheDiarist.ph’s interview with Cedie Lopez Vargas:

Cedie: The heart of it all is HeArtefino, the foundation. Meaning, this is the one that gives the grants to the different communities. It’s the meaning and purpose of Artefino.

How many communities have you given grants to?

We don’t just go and give out grants to different communities. We try to get to know these communities first. Sometimes it can take us two years, like with Zarah Juan…. Now with Anya (Anthill), because we got caught by the pandemic, we’re on our third year. But what it does is it allows you to work closely with them, not just dole-out…. We’ve been able to do small grants all throughout before our sixth year, or small fundraisings also, like during pandemic, we did for UP-PGH, or Tanging Yaman of Fr. Manoling (Francisco).

What do you look for in giving community grants?

The signs that this will be a community that can sustain its work, its traditions, and its culture. One of the first things is the leadership—it has to be very solid.

There are different elements. Number one, the leader probably has to be homegrown or has the passion to do what it is they’re doing as a community. So that you’re more assured of its long-term sustainability as a community and as that particular kind of life…. It helps to economically empower that community at that point in time. But yet you still want a community that can come along with you on this journey of Artefino.

….what’s important is that they’re able to produce products that find their way back into the fair, into the market with us. We sell them and then part of the proceeds go to fund the next grantee. So the foundation itself is self-sustaining.

Sometimes artisan products can be expensive.

In Artefino, we do try to hit all the price points. But what we realized is that the ones that call the most attention are the very exquisitely-produced ones, which are more expensive. And the mid-range and reasonably priced ones do not get as much attention. That’s why I think it seems that way.

Artefino is showing the country that you don’t have to wait for government or big business infrastructure to create products. For instance, unlike in the ‘80s or ‘90s, creators or designers now don’t have to rely fully on a textile industry, because in that, we can’t compete with even Thailand.  

No, it’s not. I used to go a lot to Citem or Manila Fame shows. I realized that, as we developed Artefino—one, a Filipino is better at working with his hands, not mass-producing. So ours is  a different market from mass production. Exporters always run into this cyclical problem.  There are years when nobody comes because it’s so much cheaper to order it from China, all the basketry and all that.

Maybe it’s the positioning. It’s more than just doing baskets. When the Filipinos do something, they can never do it exactly the same because they put their heart, their soul into it. So even if you give them the same materials, the same colors, it could turn out differently because that’s how they style it, how they see it. So it’s that innate artistry of the Filipino that you’re trying to capture.

I felt that it was not really appreciated locally. If you have a strong local market that appreciates all this, it will tide the creators over those cycles when export is down. It’s developing a strong local market and a strong appreciation for the artisanal things. We’re not competing with Citem or Manila FAME, because they are export-oriented, we are developing that local market, and we’ve always been that way.

How do you reinforce or amplify the vision?

Even our messaging has to be responsibly crafted. That’s why we came up with reuse, repurpose, and regenerate. You’re taking all stakeholders in this journey of doing your bit for climate change—so there’s responsible retailing or social-conscious purchasing. We’re constantly asking ourselves, where do we take this?

What’s your answer?

We’re looking… one is the zero waste material. We’re not sure where that will take, where Anya will take it, but we’re willing to be part of her journey….You’re really investing sustainably, I mean in terms of a business model, in terms of how you want to empower social entrepreneurship, how you want to contribute to those sustaining livelihood in this country.

Also, we look at other things. Like Mike Claparols. He was developing with PTRI a new fabric, the pineapple cotton for Lakat. Employing natural fiber. So that you’re not importing so much material and you’re actually highlighting the best of what grows in your country.

Did it ever cross the mind of the founders to bring ArteFino outside of Metro Manila?

We’ve gotten quite a number of offers. It’s just that we have to be very careful. There are also people who wanted it in the Middle East or in California. We’re just the platform. We don’t own the brands. So if we come in, it has to be in a way that is distinctly ArteFino or we don’t come in at all.

So what will be the ArteFino factor?

If we put everything together, we curate it. But you see, the thing is sometimes when we’re being asked to go somewhere, we ask ourselves we don’t know the market there. If we don’t know the market, then we’d rather not do it first.

ArteFino is drawing like-minded consumers, even the younger ones.

Socially conscious. Very aware. They know where to spend their money or how they want to spend. We used to buy endless clothes from fast-fashion stores. It was always so exciting. Now you bring your stakeholders along with you on this journey. It’s not just about selling and shopping. It’s doing so with intention, and with purpose, and being mindful about what it is you’re doing….
Why compete on China’s terms, for instance? Compete, create your own terms.
That’s why you’re seeing there’s more attention being given the creative economy. Because of how the creative economies can actually contribute to the GDP of the country.

But we’re not there yet.

We’re just doing our share. But we’re doing three events a year now— Christmas, Summer, which is a small one in the mall, and then we have this big one.

And the vision remains very unique. It gives the country hope.

We always say it’s so nice to be in this space where passion, social responsibility and business intersect, and actually join hands into something.

ARTEFINO FESTIVAL 2023 runs August 24 to 27 at The Fifth at Rockwell and North Court, PowerPlant Mall. This event, co-presented by Rockwell Land Corporation, will open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Friday) 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Saturday) and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Sunday).