Get to know more about Islamic colonial arts

1. CONTEMPORARY
PHILIPPINE ART
FROM THE REGIONS

2. 1. KANYAW
2. KUDYAPI
3. PANGALAY
4. TINIKLING
5. OKIR
 A form of theatre from Cordillera that involves animal
sacrifice where the entrails are read through the process
of divination that is performed either for healing, to
announce the birth of a child and etc.
 An ethnic musical instrument which is a three-stringed
guitar
 A native dance form which is from Sulu archipelago and
is mimetic of the movement of sea birds
 Tagalog folkdance, evocative movements of the crane,
balancing itself on stilt-like legs or flirting away from the
clutches of bamboo traps.
 termed ukkil in Tausug/ Samal/ Badjao, curvilinear
decorations, employed in wood carving.
 can be found in panolong or protruding beams of Sultan’s
house called Torogan, musical instruments, grave markers
called sunduk as well as ceremonial boats

3. ISLAMIC COLONIAL PERIOD
13TH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT

4. How did Islam influence art before the coming of
Spanish Colonizers?
 Islam was already well-entrenched in Southern Philippines where it is
dominant and strong.
 It gained significant grounding in Sulu as 13th century.
 It was the arrival of Sayyid Abbubakar of Arabia who married Princess
Piramisuli, daughter of Rajah Baguinda that led to significant turn of
events.
 Abbubakar succeeded the Sultanate of Sulu after the death of his father-in-
law, he introduces the Quran, build house of prayer and even a religious
school known as madrasa that facilitated the teaching of Arabic writing.
 Natives from Zamboanga, Yakans from Basilan with teachers from Jolo,
Sulu and other practitioners from Brunei were converted to Islam.
 Islam was embraced as a religion and as a way of life in Mindanao which
includes Tausug, Maranao, Maguindanao, Yakan, Samal, Badjao as well as
some areas in Palawan.

5. Influence of Islam on how art is made and interpreted:
 Filipino Muslims belong to an ummah.
 Central to Islamic faith is the doctrine of Tawhid or unity to God.
 This belief emphasizes the impermanence of nature and the
incomprehensible greatness of the divine Being.
 Mosques are covered with elaborate patterning in the form of
reliefs-means toward the contemplation of the Divine.
 In Islam, divine unity is expressed through abstract forms and
patterns to compel the believer to engage in mental concentration.

6. Architecture
 Mihrab or niche and the Qibla- are oriented toward the West
 Bulbous dome- tells us about how the order of the universe is
imagined. It also relates to “all level of cosmic existence”. The
octagonal base symbolizes the spirit, while the four sided main
base refers to the earth or material world.
 Ka’bah- a black shrine believed by prophet Muhammad. It’s the
reference point of the Qiblah- the direction Muslim faced when
praying.
 An area for water supply- a fountain, for ablution or cleansing
before one enters the Mosque.
 Gardens within the Mosque/ outside home- evocative of
paradise.

8.  Islam rejects the copying of images in nature, apparent in the
curvilinear and flowing forms of ukkil/ okir.
 Luhul or canopy- features motifs from the tree of life.
 The forms are so repetitive and elaborate that distract us from
the actual natural elements from which they are derived.
 Sakili observed that many of the Islamic forms are inclined to
project, grow, or an upward orientation in tune with the regard
of heaven to veer from “material earth”, (Eg. Panolong-torogan,
sarimanok, burraq- a horse with the head of a woman, a figure
that carry the Prophet in his ascension to heaven.)
Art of Philippine Muslim

11. QUESTIONS
 1. Why do you think Philippine Muslim art is so
repetitive and elaborate?
 2. Who is the wife of Sayyid Abbubakar?
 3. What do you call the community of the
Muslims?
 4. The center of Islamic faith is the unity to
God or?

12. Thank you for listening