The Manila shawl recalls its historical relationship with flamenco at the Yuchengco Museum in the Philippines

An exhibit narrates the journey of the precious silk shawl from China to Seville

Flamenco-world.com, August 2009

‘Draped in Silk: The Journey of the Manton de Manila’ (‘Envuelto en seda: el viaje del mantón de Manila’) is the title of the star exhibit which the Yuchengco Museum has announced for 2009. The display narrates the history of this precious commodity which, beginning in the 16th century together with other luxurious oriental products, sailed from China to Seville, stopping at the capital of the Philippines, then a Spanish colony, and at the Mexican port of Acapulco. Women workers of the Sevillian state tobacco company, young ladies of the aristocracy and of course, flamenco bailaoras and cantaoras were the targets of these beautiful garments. The pieces on exhibit, most of which belong to private collections, include old-time and modern shawls, paintings of galleons, Chinese fans exported to Spain and even porcelain from the Qing Dynasty.

María Pagés with Manila shawls (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

They were not from Manila, but rather were shipped from there. But it was this port which forever named the shawls which flamenco bailaoras and cantaoras adopted as an indispensable garment in their wardrobe, from La Macarrona to Sara Baras. But their history dates back much further than flamenco, which is a youth ‘just’ two centuries old. The precious silk embroidered shawls streamlined with fringes began to be exported from China to Spain way back in the year 1565. That precious commodity, just like the magnificent porcelain, left in galleons for the port of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, islands which were a Spanish colony back in those times.

And an overseas journey began there which, following a stop in the Mexican city of Acapulco, ended in Seville, then Puerto de Indias (Port of the Indies). The young ladies of high society as well as the women workers in town such as the cigarette girls - among them, the mythical Carmen - wrapped themselves up in the shawls which reached them in galleons from Manila. The Chinese craftsmen even adapted to the fashions and tastes of their Andalusian customers, replacing the pagodas and dragons with roses and birds in the spectacular embroidering.

Manila Galleon

Yuchengco Museum

In short, this is the two-hundred-fifty-year history narrated with all sorts of details by the exhibit ‘Draped in Silk: The Journey of the Manton de Manila’ (‘Envuelto en seda: el viaje del mantón de Manila’), which is being offered from July 1st to December 29th, 2009 by the Yuchengco Museum in the city of Makati in the Philippines. Of course, the main pieces on exhibit are old-time and modern shawls belonging to private collectors, Alfredo Carmelo’s paintings of galleons and other merchant ships, as well as Chinese fans and porcelain. The display also explores the crossings of the galleons between Manila and Acapulco, and the Filipino tradition of embroidery. Moreover, the museum has invited nineteen Filipino artists to create new works inspired by the shawl’s esthetics and history.