CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS FROM THE REGIONS

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Human expression through the arts may
be take several forms depending on the talent
and creativity of the artist. Artistic abilities may
be an inborn talent or may have resulted from
inspiration and years of training from an art
master. Whatever is the source of the artist’s
creativity, he may express it through his chosen
art form.
Art is basically expressed through the
following art forms:

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Painting Tab 3 Tab 4
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PA I N T I N G
• This is best described as
the application of
pigment to a surface.
The various ways in
which the paint is
applied to create
beautiful effects would
depend on the unique
technique employed by
the artist and the kind
of medium that was
used. Painting is a two-
dimensional art form.

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Sculpture
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S C U L P T U R E
• This is an art form that
is best described as
three-dimensional.
The Sculptor creates a
solid form using
molding, carving,
welding, casting and
assembling. Some of
the popular medium
are clay, wood, stone,
metal, ice, glass, and
plastic.

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Architecture
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ARCHITECTURE
• This is the most functional of all the
art forms. It involves creating designs
for buildings and infrastructures.
Architecture to be functional involves
using the design to build the structure
through the help of engineers,
contractors and skilled workers. It is
only after the structure is built will the
art form be fully appreciated.

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Music
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M U S I C
• This is the art of sound expressed
through song, through the use of
instruments or a combination of
both. It should express rhythm,
harmony, and melody that is
soothing or appeals to the taste of its
audience. Examples are Philippine’s
Kundiman and Beethoven’s
Symphony No.5.

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Dance
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D A N C E
• The art of body
movements that is
attuned to a musical
piece. Body
movements should
be graceful and in
rhythm with the
accompanying
musical piece. In
the ancient times,
dance is used as a
form of worship.

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Literature
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L I T E R A T U R E
• The art of using words to express
thoughts, ideas, and feelings.
Literature make take the form of
poetry, novel, short story, essay,
epic and legends to mention a few.
Examples are Homer’s Iliad and
Nick Joaquin’s Woman Had Two
Navels.

9. Theatre
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T H E A T R E
• The performance of drama. Typically,
actors perform on stage in front of a live
audience. Dialogues may be recited,
sang or eliminated (pantomimes).
Theatre may be referred to as combined
or performing arts. It may include
music, dance, and literature. Examples
are Phantom of the Opera and Noli Me
Tangere.

10. The art forms may be further
classified into the visual arts and the
performing arts.
Visual arts include painting,
sculpture, and architecture while music,
dance, and theatre are considered as
performing arts. Literature may be
included under performing arts especially
when stories and poems are converted
into scripts for a drama or a play.

12. a. Painting and Sculpture
• Artistic paintings were introduced to the Filipinos
in the 16th century when the Spaniards arrived in
the Philippines. During this time, the Spaniards
used paintings as religious propaganda to spread
Catholicism throughout the Philippines.
• In the early 19th century, wealthier, educated
Filipinos introduced more secular Filipino art,
causing art in the Philippines to deviate from
religious motifs.

13. • The use of watercolor paintings increased and
the subject matter of paintings began to
include landscapes, Filipino inhabitants,
Philippine fashion, and government officials.
• The first art school was established by Damian
Domingo in 1802. In the 1800’s Filipino
painters won recognition abroad, when
Mariano won King Alfonso XII’s gold medal
and diploma of honor in the Amsterdam
International Exposition of 1884, and Juan
Luna’s Spoliarium was awarded first prize at
an art competition in Madrid.

14. • The University of the Philippines and
University of Santo Tomas, among others have
done much in providing formal education in
fine arts.
• There are several museums and permanent
galleries located in Manila, among them the
National Museum, the Luz Gallery, and
Solidaridad Gallery. The Art Association of the
Philippines is an active organization and holds
annual exhibits. Other well known groups are
the Association of Printmakers.

15. b. Weaving
• Philippine weaving involves many
threads beings measured, cut and
mounted on a wooden platform. The
threads are dyed and weaved on a loom.
• Before Spanish colonization, native
Filipinos weaved using fibers from abaca,
pineapple, cotton, and bark cloth.

16. • Textiles, clothes, rugs, and hats were
weaved. Baskets were also weaved
and used as vessels of transport and
storage, and for hunting. These
baskets were used to transport grain,
store food, and catching fish. They
also used weaving to make just
about all of the clothing that was
worn.

17. c. Architecture
• The basic forms of architecture in the
Philippines before the Spanish came was
governed by the building’s functional uses as
shelter and by the materials available. The
builders had no formal training in the basic
forms of design and yet were able to create
something valid and functional, a style which
exists to this day.

18. • The Bahay Kubo, or Nipa Hut,
another architectural form made of
impermanent materials, has a style
that has lasted through the years. In
the 1500’s the Spaniards introduced
masonry in the Philippines, yet the
nipa hut’s basic form of structure,
the high roof, and rectangular plan,
were retained.

19. d. Archeology
• Diggings in many parts of the
Philippines have yielded rich
artifacts. Battings has unearthed
enormous amounts of Philippine and
Asian pottery and porcelain. The
Calatagan excavations alone
represent a milestone in the history
of Philippine archeology.

20. • Other parts of the country have yielded as
many treasures and well-preserved artifacts,
like iron tools and household articles. Some of
the most outstanding were those found in the
caves of Lipoon Point, also known as Albion
head, in Quezon, Palawan. Dr. Robert Fox, the
senior archeologist of the National Museum,
discovered a fossilized skull cap at the Tabon
Cave. Together with the skull cap, other stone
tools, pottery and various artifacts estimated
to be between 15,000 to 25,000 years old
were discovered.

21. e. Pottery
• Native Filipinos created pottery since 3500
years ago. They used these ceramic jars to
hold the deceased. Other pottery used to hold
remains of the deceased were decorated with
anthropomorphic designs. These
anthropomorphic earthenware pots date back
to 5 BC – 225 A.D and had pot covers shaped
like human heads.

22. • Traditional pot-making in certain areas of
the Philippines would use clay found
near the Sibalom River. Molding the clay
required the use of wooden paddles and
the clay had to be kept away from
sunlight.
• Filipino pottery had other uses as well.
During the Neolithic period of the
Philippines, pottery was made for water
vessels, plates, cups, and for many other
uses.

23. f. Music
• Philippine tribal music antedates the first
Filipino musicians trained in western music,
most probably in the 17th century.
• A type of contemporary music that relates to
the tribal music with its stringed instruments,
and to Western music as well, is the Rondalla,
a native string band which again best typifies
the blending of many influences that go into
the cultivation of an indigenous art form.

24. • Great Philippine Classics is a
collection of Philippine classical
music published by the National
Philharmonic Society of the
Philippines through the initiative
of its founder Redentor L.
Romero.

25. g. Literature and Theater
• Philippine literature includes the
legends of prehistory and the
colonial legacy of the Philippines.
Pre-Hispanic Philippine literature
were actually epics passed on from
generation to generation originally
through oral tradition.

26. • A rich body of unwritten literature
existed in the Philippines before the
arrival of the Spaniards. The first printed
book was the Doctrina Cristiana (1593).
Other works written and printed at the
time were mostly religious in nature.
Francisco Balagtas wrote Florate at
Laura, a metrical romance which earned
him the title of prince of Philippine
poets.

27. • Most of the notable literature of the
Philippines was written during the Spanish
period and the first half of the 20th century in
the Spanish language. Philippine literature is
written in Spanish, English, or any indigenous
Philippine languages.
• Some of the notable writer of the Spanish
period was also to become the country’s
national hero, Jose Rizal, whose Noli Me
Tangere and El Filibusterismo party inspired
the Philippine Revolution.

28. • Contemporary theater makes up the greater part
of Philippine theater fare. Most of the plays are
from European and American dramas, although
more and more Filipino playwrights are being
produced.
DRAMAS
• Moriones – refers to the helmets of participants
dressed as Roman soldiers, their identities hidden
behind colorful, sometimes grotesque, wooden
masks. Found only on the island of Marinduque,
it is down during Holy Week, culminating in a
Passion play that adds the scene of Saint
Longinus’ conversion and martyrdom.

29. • Panunuluyan – the Tagalog version of the
Mexican Las Posadas, and literally means
“seeking passage”. Held during Christmastime
but especially on Christmas Eve, it depicts
Joseph and Mary’s search for a room at the
inn in Bethlehem.
• Pangangaluluwa – a practice formerly
widespread during All Saints’ Day which
literally means for the souls, it is analogous to
the English custom of Souling.

30. • Salubong – a ritual performed in the early
morning of Easter Sunday a few hours after
the Easter Vigil and before the Easter Mass,
dramatizing the meeting between the
resurrected Jesus and his mother.
• Seńakulo – essentially a Passion play, which
depicts the passion and death of Jesus Christ.
• Santacruzan – performed during the month of
May, which reenacts Saints Helena’s finding of
the True Cross and serves as an expression of
devotion to the Virgin Mary.

31. • Comedia – it is about courtly love between, a
prince and a princess of different religions,
and highlights concepts of colonial attitudes
to Christian-Muslim relations.
• Duplo – a forerunner of the balagtasan.
• Karagatan – comes from legendary practice of
testing the mettle of young men vying for a
maiden’s hand. The maiden’s ring would be
dropped into the sea and whoever retrieves it
would have the girl’s hand in marriage.

32. h. Dance
• There are many different types of Filipino
dances varying in influence and region. Types
of Filipino dance include Cordillera, Muslim,
Tribal, Rural, and Spanish style dances.
• Within the cordillera dances, there is Banga,
Bendayan, Lumagen/Tachok, Manmanok,
Ragragsakan, Salisid, Talip, Tarektek, and
Uyaoy/Uyauy.

33. • Tribal dances include Malakas at
Maganda, Kadal Blelah, Kadal
Tahaw, Binaylan, Bagobo Rice
Cycle, and Dugso.
• Two examples of traditional
Filipino dances are Tinikling and
Binasuan and much more.

35. Region I
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Region III Region IV - A
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Region V
CAR
NCR
Region VI
Region VII
Region VIII
Region IX
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Region XII
Region XIII
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