Lifestyle
These locally made playing cards present a vision of a sustainable Philippines
These locally made playing cards present a vision of a sustainable Philippines
By John Legaspi
Lokal Lab collaborates with 57 Filipino artists to craft a deck for a cause
Before Solitaire made its way to the digital world through early computer models, playing card decks have long been a favorite Filipino pastime. They are present in many households, used for street magic during inuman sessions, and also during funerals. This time, the playing cards become canvases for Filipino artists as they share their vision of a green Philippines.
Lokal Lab, a registered Siargao-based NGO, releases a deck, dubbed “Sustainable Island Playing Cards,” in partnership with 57 local visual artists, wherein through each card they “share and depict their unique vision of what a sustainable island in the Philippines could and would look like.”
“Each card shares an artist's unique, alternative, and creative vision of sustainable islands in the Philippines, inspired by our islands' ways of living, knowledge, and cultures– with a completely different outcome for each,” the social enterprise says. “With a suit dedicated to each of Lokal’s pillars; education, livelihood, and culture, and the last suit dedicated to Lokal's origin island of Siargao.”
Believing in the power of creative collaborations, Lokal Lab has been working on the ground with the communities to make impactful changes since 2017. That mission continues with the creation of the “Sustainable Island Playing Cards” as it is a fundraiser, with 100 percent of the profits of this product will be used to fund Lokal Lab's ongoing projects.
These initiatives include the Lokal Tabo, a slow marketplace designed to make natural produce and sustainable options more accessible and affordable; Pasalo News Club, a journalism club for Siargao youth; Demo Farm, a training site of ecological agriculture primarily for Siargaonons farmers from Lokal's farm network; and CocoLab, a research and development arm that spearheads finding innovative uses and applications for all parts of the coconut to augment coconut farmers.
The deck is priced at P850 and can be preordered until Dec. 12, 2021 here. Check out more of the design @lokallab on Instagram.