This book presents a critical rethinking of Philippine textiles, foregrounding the richness and complexity of indigenous weaving practices as they intersect with social structures, political histories, and debates around authenticity. Through case studies that trace patterns of precolonial exchange, colonial entanglement, contemporary connoisseurship, and activist expression, the volume locates Philippine textile traditions within broader circuits of transregional material culture. Drawing on approaches from art history, anthropology, and curatorial practice, the contributions undertake ethnographic textile comparative studies, connecting the Philippines to Island Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and global contexts, while interrogating the socio-historical conditions that shape meaning, authorship, and transformation in cloth. It is relevant

Maria Cristina Juan has an M.A. in museum, heritage, and material culture studies from SOAS and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of the Philippines Diliman. She is a member of the research and teaching faculty at the SOAS School of Languages Cultures and Linguistics where she contributes lectures on the Philippines to modules in Southeast Asian studies, Area Studies, and Postcolonial Studies. She is a member of the Editorial Board for South  East Asia Research. In 2017, she spearheaded the creation of Philippine Studies at SOAS (PSS) under the Centre of Southeast Asian Studies. PSS is an interdisciplinary forum for Philippine-related teaching, research, and cultural production in the UK. 

Her digital humanities projects  include Digital Filipiniana and the Mapping Philippine Material Culture Project, a global visual inventory of material culture from the Philippines stored in overseas institutions.