The [re]frame concept aims to help rural embroiderers in the Philippines develop new ways of working and managing their business to ultimately provide a more safe and stable living.
For the last 2 years the Omnium Research Group has been extending its activities to include Omnium Outreach Projects to aid other creative people around the world in less fortunate situations than ourselves. To date hey have been involved in pro-bono projects in Sri Lanka, East Timor, Kenya and now most recently the Philippines.
[re]frame • manila is a large design installation produced to support the traditional techniques of Filipino embroiderers, while at the same time bringing their practice into more modern and sustainable contexts. The [re]frame • manila project has been ongoing for over a year and in the last six months provided consistent employment for numerous people in the Philippine province of Laguna at a time of year where normally commissions are few and far between.
[re]frame • manila is a major wall installation within the foyer of one of the major art & design colleges in the Philippines - the De La Salle College of Saint-Benilde • School of Design and Art in Manila. The work is 4.8 metres wide by 11 metres high and consists of over 2,500 embroidery pieces, each framed with recycled timber, all produced locally in the provinces. The installation aims to be the first of a series of new commissions for placement in other contexts such as; hotels; cafes & bars; corporate buildings; offices; museums/galleries, etc., as well as additional education institutions and faculties.
The installation was unveiled on May 15th, 2008, at the DLS-CSB • School of Design & Art in Manila and is a collaboration between:
• De La Salle College of Saint-Benilde (Manila, Philippines)
• Pinagkaisang Magbuburda ng Lumban • PML (Lumban, Philippines)
• The Omnium Research Group
College of Fine Arts, The University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia)
