With ArteFino 2024 in full swing, here are some exhibitors offering handcrafted, proudly-local products that embody quality and creativity; many of them also support meaningful advocacies for local communities and the environment.
The highly-anticipated ArteFino 2024 has finally launched, giving Filipinos the chance to support homegrown brands across the arts and fashion industries from August 22 to 25, 2024 at The Fifth at Rockwell. There’s a wealth of products to admire and take home, ranging from fragrant toiletries to beautiful clothing pieces. If you want a head start looking for great booths to visit, Lifestyle Asia has collated a list of exhibitors offering creative, handcrafted products. Many of them also support meaningful advocacies for local communities and the environment.
Likha + Mundo
Likha + Mundo sells handcrafted, paper mache pieces using discarded paper and textbooks. This creates whimsical and unique pieces that make for great home statement decor. Its ArteFino 2024 collection draws inspiration from the beauty of nature.
This year’s latest collection proudly features the work of Nanay Cresencia, a 94-year-old artisan from Batangas who’s among the country’s oldest potters. The Likha + Mundo team gathered and purchased pieces of her clay masterpieces that weren’t saleable—either because they’re broken, damaged, or too worn out. Then, they repurpose them into new pieces with paper mache modifications to ensure none of her work wouldn’t go to waste. As such, Cresencia receives portions of the proceeds as part of her royalties, ensuring that her beautiful craft lives on and enhances people’s homes for years to come.
Cornerstone Pottery
Cornerstone Pottery sells elegant, one-of-a-kind stoneware pottery pieces that have a cozy, soulful look to them. All products are handmade by potter and founder EJ Espiritu, with some wonderful pieces by his son Angelo Espiritu. Included in their roster of works are charming mugs in unique shapes with eye-catching, dynamic splotches and patterns of paint. Equally whimsical crockery and decorative figures like fishes and bulls are also available.
Trademark Kapweng Designs
Cat parents rejoice, as Trademark Kapweng Designs offers luxury cat trees that have a natural, refined charm to them. Handmade by a small team of artisans, including co-founder Matti Kapweng, they make their products using the salvaged wood of fallen trees or source them from local farms.
The cat trees on display for ArteFino 2024 are, quite literally, made from coffee trees like arabica, and feature soft, plush cushions. The brand specializes in bespoke furniture, with samples of different woods available as reference for customers who want to order their pieces. They also offer refurbishing and upcycling services for things like vintage furniture.
Art of Gold Enterprises
If you’re looking for pretty, hand-painted home textiles, as well as wood and tin interior accents, Art of Gold Enterprises is worth a visit. Their products feature verdant designs of local flora, as well as traditional Philippine motifs, which will give a touch of artistry to any dining or living room space.
Charming Baldemor Studios
Charming Baldemor Studios sells intricately-carved wooden sculptures and bags made by its namesake founder, Charming Baldermor. She also works with partner communities, selling their colorful sculptural pieces that exemplify Filipino culture and daily life. In doing so, she hopes to train the next generation of young artisans who’ll keep the traditional craft of woodcarving alive through their talents.
Sustainably Made by Marsse
Searching for a new charcuterie board or a functional piece for hosting parties at home? Sustainably Made by Marsse offers all that and more, with a range of wooden kitchenware, home accessories, and furniture that feature elegant finishes.
The business kiln-dried each piece to help protect the wood from weather and temperature changes and parasitic attacks. They then mill and sand the products down very finely, going as far as to buff and wipe them by hand. They are, as the name implies, also sustainably-sourced from their farm in Pangasinan, so customers can rest easy knowing their products are not only well-made, but also better for the environment.
Project Nova
Project Nova offers practical and sleek bags, as well as accessories like wallets. Hailing from Bohol, the company uses old kayak (yes, the boat) materials to create the sturdy bags. They also incorporate other upcycled materials like car seat belts for elements like the straps. The brand offers everything from messenger bags to gym bags, even giving their products names that take inspiration from local heroes like Andres Bonifacio.
Follow Your Heart
Follow Your Heart’s selection of cute, captivating bags are all handmade, featuring a range of local fabrics like ynabel and binakol. Even the lovely embroidered details—which include local motifs like sorbetes [ice cream] carts—are made by hand, either through hand-guided machine stitching or traditional stitching. Founder Anna Catanghal works alongside a community of young mothers in Pasig, who can comfortably work from home as they raise their children while earning from every stitch of their handiwork. Each bag goes through a meticulous design process to ensure they’re as sturdy and appealing as can be.
For ArteFino 2024, the brand features 400 exclusive and unique designs—which means each piece is one of a kind. They offer roomy overnight bags, small sling bags, handbags with carved wooden handles (made by a separate team of artisans), and even laptop bags, which all feel durable and lovingly-crafted.
Dwellbeing
Dwellbeing is another brand with meaningful advocacies to back their range of natural, quality products. The business offers mainly fragrant toiletries like olive-scented body soaps, oatmeal-based bar soaps, multi-purpose hand sanitizers, and even natural “toilet cleaning bombs.”
These handy toilet cleaning bombs are made from baking soda (a deodorizer), citric acid (which disinfects and removes limescale), 70% Saponified used cooking (palm) oil, and 30% Saponified coconut oil, and feature a pleasant smell that makes a good alternative to the stronger, more dizzying chemical smells of regular toilet cleaning products.
Also available are dish soap trays made from cement and recycled glass bottles. Dwellbeing also uses upcycled packaging which is more beneficial to the environment, and partners with the non-government organization Project PEARLS, donating proceeds of their products to help communities in Smoky Mountain. Dwellbeing’s founder and president Che Secillano is also proud to say that a majority of the business’ employees are members of the deaf community, each one given the opportunity to work towards something that’s good for local communities and the planet.
Photos by Pilar Gonzalez.
