Module 1: Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Region.

1. Art Forms in
the
Philippines

2. The Philippines is an archipelago
with more than 7,000 islands. These
islands are the home of people with
different languages, beliefs,
cultures, and distinct histories.

3. HISTORY OF ARTS IN THE
PHILIPPINES

4. Pre-Colonial Art
American and Japanese
Colonial Art
Spanish
Colonial Art
American and Japanese
Colonial Art

5. Artistic production in the Philippines started
even before the colonizers reached the
Philippine islands. Art was often used by the
people in their daily living. Our ancestors
weaved fabrics for dresses, made weapons for
battles, and chanted to bring good harvest.
Unlike today, indigenous art are not classified
strictly into disciplines. Art, for them, had social
utility; indigenous people integrated art into
their communal ceremonies. Planting and
harvesting, weddings, funerals, and rites of
passage are examples of communal ceremonies.
Pre-Colonial Art

6. Rituals played a significant role in the
everyday life of Filipino ancestors. The
Kashawing ritual in lake Lanao, for
example, acts as a prayer for
abundance during harvesting season.
It involves a reenactment of a
legendary pact between ancestors and
unseen spirits. A similar type of ritual
for planting rice is performed by the
Tagbanwas of Palawan.
KASHAWING RITUAL
PERFORMED

7. Filipino ancestors harvest and hunt
for a living. Their hunting experience
also served as an inspiration to create
drama, poetry, music, and dance by
imitating the movements of an
animal. This is considered a ritual to
prepare for hunting.

8. To accompany these rituals, the
indigenous peoples also had their
own musical instruments. An
example of this is the agung
ensemble​
. Musical instruments,
when played, are usually
complemented with dances that
imitate the movements of animals.
Higaonon and B’laan have banog-
banog​
, and the Bagobos have the
man-manok dances which imitate
the movement of the birds.
Meanwhile, courtship ritual in Ifugao
is represented through the ​
talip
Talip
Agung ensemble
Banog banog
Man-manok

9. Mostly, indigenous arts were inspired
by animism. Indigenous peoples
created statue and symbols for their
beliefs. The Ifugaos carved the bulul
which they depict as their granary god.
Meanwhile, in the Southern Philippines,
okir, a curvilinear decoration, is an
evidence of Indian and Islamic
influences.
BULUL
OKIR

10. Spanish Colonial Art

11. During the 16th century, upon the arrival of the Spaniards,
indigenous art changed. Spanish colonization brought
Catholicism and imposed their Western culture. This
conversion caused the birth of the religious or Christian
and folk arts. Towns or pueblos were created in a
structure of plaza complex, with the church at the center
of each towns. Churches and government offices were
built, and the rise of Hispanic baroque structures were
built across the Islands.

12. With the rise of Catholicism,
religious icons like the santos,
retablos​
, and others became
essential for religious rituals.
Paintings also focused on visually
representing the writings of the
Bible, and therefore conveyed
religious messages

13. Religious or Christian and folk arts

14. Music, an essential part of worship, thus focused on
liturgical music. Apart from worship music, the pasyon or
pabasa​
, a narration of Christ’s passion portrayed during
Lent season, were also observed in some places. There was
also a massive emergence of secular music in Iloilo,
Pampanga, Ilocos, and Bicol when the Spanish tradition of
awit and korido became popularized. Spanish colonization
also marks the rise of the kundiman and the balitao. This
development in music also affected theatre arts, and soon
the ​
sarsuwela, senakulo,​​
and the ​
komedya ​
were born in
the Philippines.

15. Popular Artworks

16. American
and
Japanese Colonial Art

17. Americans introduced the public
education system in the Philippines.
Their schools, however, required
students to learn English. This brought
forth Philippine Literature in English.
Initially, these pieces are characterized
by a poor use of language as the Filipinos
only mimicked their American teachers.
Soon, in 1925, Paz Marquez Benitez
published the short story Dead Stars​, ​
marking the birth of modern Philippine
Literature in English.

18. The Americans also
popularized secularism, as
evidenced by popular art
forms of the century such as
the vaudeville or bodabil in
theatre

19. Contemporary Arts
in the Philippines

20. When the late former president Ferdinand
Marcos started his administration, the birth
of Contemporary Arts in the Philippines
began. Culture and the arts were given
focused in his vision of the “New Society.”
Cultural Center of the Philippines was then
established and urban planning and
architecture were given more focused
Culture Center of the Philippines

21. Underground cultural circles and
writers hiding in pen names were
popular as censorship was
popular during that time. Literary
arts, visual arts, and performing
arts were used to express dissent.
Prometheus Unbound written by Jose Lacaba

22. When Martial Law was lifted and the Marcos regime ended,
democracy was reintroduced to the Filipino people. This new
found freedom paved the way for a more diverse and more
expressive Filipino artists. No longer did the Filipinos
exclusively made art for or against the government; now, art is
a tool mainly used for self-expression. With the rapid rise of
technology and the popularity of social media, Filipinos find
more platforms and ways to express themselves, thereby
continuously changing the art scene. Contemporary art is
distinct because of how it blurs the lines across artistic
disciplines, and how it integrates various elements and
principles.