Dolly good!
FOR JOEY DAVID, GABIE OSORIO AND HANNAH LIONGOREN, THE CREATIVE SPRITES BEHIND DO-IT-YOURSELF BRAND MANIKAKO, LENDING A HELPING HAND IS ALWAYS A DOLL MOMENT, SHARES TARA FT SERING
Mismatched buttons, spools of colorful yarn, and a skirt that no longer fits. Scraps for the trash bin? Not for these three enthusiastic volunteers Joey David and Gabie Osorio, both Manila-based advertising professionals, and Hannah Liongoren, a freelance graphic designer.
All three girls form the core of the movers behind Manikako (which is Tagalog for “my doll”), a company that organizes doll-making workshops using do-it-yourself ragdoll kits in different venues all over Metro Manila. Says Hannah, “We basically assist anyone who wants to make a doll on the spot at our booth.”
A booth touting DIY doll kits at
an event held at The Podium
Mats are rolled out on the venue floor, each peppered with large, comfortable pillows, on which children can spend an afternoon sewing up a bare, cloth doll with features to make it uniquely their own. Materials to make each doll are available in a pre-packed kit that includes a bare doll, lengths of yarn, pieces of colorful cloth, buttons, needle and thread — all for around PHP150.
At a Manikako workshop, buttons become eyes, yarn becomes hair, and a printed piece of clothing, like a skirt, can become limbs. A little handmade doll, each as one-of-a-kind as its maker, then becomes a child’s best friend.
The big idea behind Manikako is an entire network of good intentions: to raise funds to support art workshops for underprivileged kids, to cultivate a culture of creativity among the youth, to promote the habit of recycling, and to feed the fire of volunteerism among, well, anyone who believes that art can transform lives.
I, VOLUNTEER
dolls on display at
one of Manikako’s
exhibitsThe Manikako workshops involve finding a free venue, usually the large exhibition space of a commercial mall. One recent workshop was held in June 2008 at SM Megamall’s Megatrade Hall during the 7th Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention, an annual event in the Philippines.
“We are a volunteer group, so even our workshop venues are made available to us for free,” explains Joey. Similarly, Y&R Creatives (the advertising agency that both Joey and Gabie work at and where Hannah was once an intern), is a corporate volunteer. “Whenever we have a workshop, everyone in the office is in on the action,” says Gabie. Writers write copy, art directors and visualizers make posters by hand, all to promote the doll-making event. Even the boxes used to collect fabric from old clothes are hand-painted by a network of hardworking volunteers who find fulfillment in helping children find a creative way to express themselves.
At the workshops, volunteers act as mentors. “We have adult volunteers who act as ates (older sisters) or kuyas (older brothers) who help the kids with the sewing. Some of the kids are too young to sew, but they do know what they want,” says Joey. “They know what kind of hair their dolls should have, what kind of outfits. And they let their imagination fly.” Think cloth-stuffed Gingerbread boy meets Raggedy Ann.
The power of the volunteers has been phenomenal. In 2007, Joey and Hannah were invited to be concessionaires at the Market of Artists and Designers (MAAD) at the Red Dot Museum in Singapore, a bazaar of original and mostly handmade works by painters, jewelry makers, visual artists, writers, product designers and eco-friendly seamstresses.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
The proceeds of each Manikako workshop go to its beneficiary and inspiration, the Art House of Comfort.
the kids and the dolls they made
Manikako spun off from the Art House of Comfort, or ArtHOC, an advocacy group that helps victims of trauma and abuse find their way back to recovery and healing through art. In March 2007, ArtHOC founder May Datuin, an art studies professor at the University of the Philippines, and her students created dolls alongside out-of-school youths at the Tomasa Community Center in Naga. They later presented these as gifts of hope and goodwill to evacuees of super-typhoon Reming in Albay. During that first workshop, Otap was born, the 12-year-old flying doll named after the flower-shaped biscuit that Cebu, southern gateway to the Philippines, is known for.
Joey David teaching
kids
“[Manikako] started when my mom (one of the founders of ArtHOC) held a mini-exhibit of the dolls made from one of Professor May Datuin’s classes at the Liongoren Gallery,” shares Hannah. “The dolls were made by the children along with Prof May’s students. This was where I found out about the doll-making workshop and decided to get involved. I thought it was a brilliant way to reach out to children.
Gabie Osorio
I contacted Joey and Gabie and we worked on ways to raise funds that not only solicit money outright but that also promote creativity among the youth. Manikako was inspired by ArtHOC’s doll-making workshop, and the result was our DIY doll kits.”
As such, there are two kinds of doll-making workshops: the Manikako workshops and the ArtHOC workshops which are beneficiaries of the funds Manikako raises.
Otap is the poster-doll for the ArtHOC workshops designed for underprivileged children. Part of the otap workshop process includes a presentation portion. “We encourage the kids to create a story behind their dolls and think of all the details with regard to their doll’s looks,” says Hannah.
“Each doll maker gets to introduce his or her doll to everyone else there,” explains Joey. “It’s a great experience for the kids to show what they’ve created.” Not only does it give one child a sense of pride over having made something from scratch, it also helps another recover from pain.
A group of underprivileged children also make the dolls that go into Manikako kits to be sold at the other workshops. This not only provides children who make the dolls a permanent livelihood — a way for them to help augment the family income — it also gives each of the children a genuine sense of accomplishment.
And for Manikako’s organizers, the sense of hope that the children derive from doll making is gift enough.
Joey says, “When we hold the workshops at depressed areas, it’s always an inspiring time when the children present their dolls. It’s almost always a reflection of the kids’ own aspirations, who and what they want to become. They say, this is Gabie, or Joey. She’s an engineer, a doctor or a teacher."
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MANIKAKO
YOUR CASTOFFS, SOMEONE ELSE’S CRAFT
Spring-clean your closet, and then drop off clothes you no longer wear at these points in Metro Manila. Keep your eye out for a large, colorful box, and your old stuff will find a second life as someone else’s prized ragdoll
- The Podium Ground Floor, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
- University of the Philippines, Faculty Center, College of Arts and Letters, UP Diliman, Quezon City
- RCBC Plaza 3rd Floor Podium, Ayala Avenue, Makati City
DOLLS BY HOT NEW ARTISTS
Last February, the country’s emerging art stars were asked to make dolls for charity. These two are statements on Filipino culture
‘Lola Petra’ by Jaypee Samson “I wanted Lola Petra to show how we Filipinos are very loving, deferential and respectful to our parents and our elders”
‘Si Marangal’ by Leo Abaya “This ‘noble one’ is dark-skinned and bedecked in gold jewelry to show how we were historically and culturally rich even before we were colonized”
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