TOWNS Awardees

As a designer, Ditta Sandico’s passion for fabrics has transformed itself into a life devoted to promoting the use of these local textiles and supporting communities that produce them. As a young child, she found herself immersed with the Mangyan tribes of Mindoro. They were her first teachers in the art of weaving. These days she finds herself mentoring the younger Mangyans to make use of their traditional skills, in order to maintain sustainable livelihood and support circular-design. Her latest endeavor, which involves the Cultural Heritage Studies Program of the Ateneo, aims to empower local designers in order to revitalize the industry thereby taking pride in Filipino heritage during the new normal.