The Design Center of the Philippines explores the transformative potential of craft at Manila FAME 2026
At Manila FAME 2026, running from 15 to 17 October 2026 at the World Trade Center, the Design Center of the Philippines (Design Center) will bring together the works of 15 craft and materials producers from across the country in an exhibition that traces the evolution of Filipino creativity through the language of contemporary design. This institutional showcase celebrates how the country’s rich craft traditions continue to evolve, finding new forms of expression in a changing world.
Titled Enchanted, the exhibition reflects the agency’s broader mission as an attached entity of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI): to empower local enterprises and strengthen the country’s craft industries.
Since its establishment in 1973, the Design Center has developed programs and initiatives that enhance the quality and global competitiveness of Filipino products and brands through design-driven value creation, product development, and promotion. Its work continues to connect local makers with new opportunities, helping them respond to changing markets while building on the strengths of the Philippines’ rich material and cultural heritage.
Shifts in the consumer landscape, both locally and internationally, have amplified the Design Center’s role in providing vital support to the country’s craft makers. Constant changes in buyer preferences, economic fluctuations, growing environmental consciousness, and intensifying global competition have reshaped market behaviour. Meanwhile, domestic production across several craft sectors has contracted, presenting challenges not only for producers but also for the wider ecosystem that sustains these industries.
In the past year, however, there have been encouraging signs of progress. In 2025, the Philippine creative economy reached ₱2.12 trillion, up 6.9 per cent from ₱1.98 trillion in 2024, accounting for 7.6 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product at current prices. Against this backdrop, design remains a vital tool for translating the country’s creative resources and cultural heritage into products that resonate with contemporary markets.
The Design Center’s Manila FAME institutional booth is a showcase on how to sustain the momentum, inviting a sense of wonder through material, craftsmanship and the emotions that emerge from their encounter.
Under the guidance of guest creative director Jude Tiotuico, the exhibition reimagines indigenous materials through scale, tiered environments, and sculptural forms. Curves and softened edges meet bold spatial compositions characterised by density and profusion, while monolithic forms lend the installation sculptural presence.
Natural materials—including rattan, abaca, paper, coconut shells, and local textiles—bring these ideas to life, foregrounding the versatility of the Philippines’ material heritage while opening up new possibilities for its use.
More than a presentation of finished products, Enchanted offers a glimpse into the continuing evolution of Filipino craft. It demonstrates how the Design Center works to connect local makers with emerging design directions and foster a culture of innovation to empower them to grow. In doing so, the exhibition positions craft not as a static expression of heritage, but as a living practice that continues to adapt and claim its place in the global stage.
Enchanted also evokes the evolution of Filipino identity itself, rooted in inherited knowledge and cultural memory yet continually reshaped by the realities of the present. While the exhibition draws on global design trends to inform and expand the makers’ creative vocabulary, it makes room for the distinctive Filipino character to shine through – exuberant, extroverted, expressive. As the Philippines navigates an increasingly interconnected world, its crafts embody a nation negotiating continuity and change—preserving distinctive cultural imprints while embracing new ways of making, living, and creating value.
See the exhibition, 15-17 October, World Trade Center, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd., corner Buendia Ave., Pasay City. For updates, follow @DTI.DesignCenterPH on Facebook and @dti.designcenterph on Instagram. For more information, email info@designcenter.gov.ph.
