This document provides an overview of various contemporary art forms and their practices in the Philippines. It discusses 7 major contemporary art forms: music, dance, theater, visual arts, literature, film/broadcast arts, and architecture/design. For each art form, it describes elements and some typical forms practiced in the Philippines. It provides examples of traditional and contemporary music styles as well as dances like Tinikling and Cariñosa. The theater section outlines elements of performance and some Philippine theater forms. The visual arts section defines visual art and notes the introduction of modern art to the Philippines. It also describes different forms of painting like easel, murals, and mentions a restored mural by Carlos Botong Francisco.

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Contemporary Philippine Arts from the
Regions
Quarter 1 – Lesson 1:
Various Contemporary Art Forms and Their Practices
from the Various Regions
What is contemporary Art?
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced by artists
who are living in the twenty-first century may combine
elements of performance, painting, sculpture, dance, and
many other media.
Art plays a significant part in the rich cultural identity of
the Philippines. It mirrors the Filipino people, its history,
its tradition, and the country as a whole.
The 7 Major Contemporary Art Forms in the
Philippines:
A. Music
B. Dance
C. Theater
D. Visual Arts
E. Literature
F. Film and Broadcast Arts
G. Architecture, Design and Allied Arts
A. MUSIC - art form that appeals to the sense of hearing,
composed by combining notes into harmony.
-It is an arrangement of sounds to create a continuous
and unified compositions.
Elements of Music:
Melody. This is succession of consecutive notes or tones
changing in pitch and duration.
Rhythm. It has three qualities: tempo which describes
how fast or slow is the music; meter which refers to the
unit of time that is made up of beats or pulses; and
rhythmic pattern.
Harmony. This is a combination of different tones or
pitches played sung together at the same time.
Texture. This is the relationship of melodic and harmonic
lines in music.
Dynamics. This is the degree of softness and loudness of
music.
LESSON 1: Various Contemporary Art forms and
Their Practices from the Various Regions

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Timbre. Also known as tone color which is the quality of
sound generated by the instrument or voice.
Form. This refers to how the elements of music are
organized.
Forms and Types of Philippine Music:
Ethnic traditional music
Ballad. A song that explains an event occurring in a
community.
Chant. A song with an unaccompanied melody and
variable rhythm.
Song debate. A song involving male and female singers
who try to outsmart each other about a certain topic.
European-influenced Religious and Secular music.
Art song. A composition characterized by merging the
voice part, lyrics, and the accompaniment together to
achieve an artistic musical whole.
Pasyon chant. Refers to the various styles used
throughout the country for the singing of the pasyon.
American-inspired music
•Classical music. This music includes classical music
from the western world; and classical and modern music
composed by Filipinos.
•Semi-classical music. These includes band and rondalla
music, hymns and marches, sarswela music, and stylized
folk songs.
•Popular music. This includes original music composed
by Filipinos which utilizes Western and local musical
influences.
Philippine music continuously evolved Pinoy pop covers
different forms like jazz, dance hits, folksong, revival, rock
and roll, rap, etc. With the development of Pinoy pop,
Manila sound was born. This music is Western derived
with English lyrics but with pure Filipino spirit. Later, the
Original Pilipino Music (OPM) became popular. Followed
by another form of popular music called “alternative
music” influenced by folk balladeers.
There were provincial councils established which preserve
the traditional music and innovate Philippine music.
Indigenous music continuously thrives and spread in
different localities. Local composers continuously create
vernacular songs. Moreover, local festivals like the Las
Pinas Bamboo organ was established.
B. DANCE
-art of the human form, body is used, mobilized and
choreographed in a specific time, form and space.
-It is an art of involving a series a rhythmic human
movement that are purposely selected and involves a
mindful effort to combine movements together.
Elements of Dance:
▪Body element. This is how the body of the dancer
moves, what part of the body moves, what actions are
performed, and how the body support itself.
▪Space. This focuses on the area where the dance is
performed.
Time. This is the accent, beat, duration, meter, rhythm,
and acceleration.
Energy. This is referred to as dynamics. This element
describes how energy is directed through the body, and
how the body releases it.
▪Relationship. This is how the person relates to the stage
and to production elements.
Forms and types of dances in the Philippines:
1. Folk dance. This is a dance that are developed and
performed together by ordinary people. This includes
ceremonial, combative, courtship, exorcism, funeral,
game, torture, comic, and religious dances.
2. Ballet. This is a theatrical dance presentation in which
a plot is integrated with dancing, music, and stage
design.
3. Modern dance. A dance form that emerged during the
20th century and still considered theatrical, but it veers
away from the technique and style of ballet.
Other forms of dance
1. Aerobic dance. Dancing to the tune of popular music
with the purpose of increasing consumption of oxygen
over a period of time.
2. Bodabil dancing. This is used to be popular during the
American period.
3. Jazz dance. This uses African dance techniques like
isolation of individual human body parts, rhythm, and
polycentrism.

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4. Polynesian and Tahitian dance. These dances began
from the people living in the Polynesian chain.
5. Tap dance. A dance which entails tapping with toes
and heels to generate rhythmic patterns.
Tinikling- is a traditional Philippine folk dance which
originated during the Spanish colonial era. The dance
involves two people beating, tapping, and sliding bamboo
poles on the ground and against each other in
coordination with one or more dancers who step over and
in between the poles in a dance.
Cariñosa- is a Philippine dance of colonial era origin from
the Maria Clara suite of Philippine folk dances, where the
fan or handkerchief plays an instrumental role as it
places the couple in romance scenario.
Habanera/Danza. This is a social dance in duple time.
•Liturgical music. This is a vocal and instrumental
compositions that go together with the official rites of
Christian churches.
•Kumintang. This is a dance of love accompanied by a
guitar and a string bass and documented as a war song.
C. THEATER
-Art form of performance. Dramatic text is portrayed on
stage by actors and actresses and are enhanced by props,
lights and sounds. It is a form of art in which artists use
their voices and/or their bodies, often in relation to other
objects, to convey artistic expression.
-It is an art form that involves performing carefully
planned actions and emotions in front of an audience.
Philippine theater is described as a wide range of mimetic
performances that were created and presented during
occasions.
-Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing
art that uses live performers, typically actors or actresses,
to present the experience of a real or imagined event
before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage.
Elements of theater:
1. Performers. These are the persons who are on stage
and portray their characters for the audience.
2. Audience. They serve as the witness of the
performance and energy given by the performers.
3. Director. Serves as an overseer to the entire
production and ensures that the performers do their job
well and the design works well.
4. Performance space. This refers to the space in which
the actors can perform and space for the audience to
stand.
5. Design. This is essential in placing the overall feel of
the production which includes lighting, set, costumes,
and sound.
6. Text. This is the script to be presented in a play or
production.
Form and types of Philippine theater:
1. Dulang Pahiyang. Theater is not viewed as a separate
activity, but as part of life.
2. Dulambayan. Also known as people’s theater and
considered “theater in the context of social movements”
3. Teatrong Pansimbahan. This is concerned with
spirituality and usually performed depending on the
events in the church calendar.
D. Visual Art
-A work, such as painting, photography, or sculpture,
that appeals primarily to the visual sense and typically
exists in permanent form.
The Visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing,
printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video,
filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many
artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual
art, textile arts also involve aspects of visual arts as well
as arts of other types. In the American period, education
was introduced to the Philippines. There were Filipinos
who studied abroad and influenced the art making in the
country. Juan Arellano, Diosdado Lorenzo, and Victorio
Edades were among those who studied outside the
Philippines. These three artists went back and
introduced the concept of modern art in the country.
Painting
is the practice of applying pigment suspended in a carrier
(or medium) and a binding agent (a glue) to a surface
(support) such as paper, canvass, or wall.
-refers to the process of applying color on a flat surface.
Forms can be created using a wide variety of materials
such as watercolor, acrylic, ink, oil, pastel, and charcoal.

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Surfaces for painting include wood, canvas, cardboard,
and paper. Painting is considered two-dimensional,
meaning it only has height and width.
FORMS OF PAINTING:
Easel Painting
The easel painting is perhaps the most
common.form.of.painting which involves applying color to
a board…or .canvas that is.fixed on an upright support
called an easel. These are.... meant to.be framed and
hanged on a wall after creating them.
Murals
A mural is described as a huge wall-sized painting used to
impart messages to the public. A new form of mural which
is a portable mural, was developed in order.to prevent the
mural from being erased from the wall which
was.created.by using bold strokes in applying bright
colors on pieces of cheeseclothor canvas.
Another one of Carlos “Botong” Francisco great artwork is
“The Filipino Struggles Through History” that has recently
been unveiled for public viewing, after four years of
restoration. This artwork hailed him the “greatest
muralist” of our country.
Telon
A telon is describes as a backdrop or background. For the
stage which are used for komedya, sarswela, and
sinakulo,.the popular forms of theater in the country.
Jeepney and Calesa Painting
The calesa is typically painted using one color.
The.borders of the calesa are decorated with geometric.
Patterns. repetitive patterns, and/or thin lines.
Jeepney painting evolved from calesa painting.
In.a.typical jeepney, a logo, number, or painting is
covered. Near the driver’s seat, as well as near the seats
adjacent.to it.
Collage
This refers to a form of painting that involves combine.
images in a single artwork. This entails cutting and
pasting materials such as paper, fabric, tin foil and other
relatively flat materials onto a board or canvas.
“Bigas”
is an artwork of Nestor Leynes. Magic realism refers to
the style in a painting showing minute details of the
subjects and highlighting their texture and color. Genre
painting is showing the lives of town folks, legends, and
traditions that stayed in the Philippines contemporary
period.
THEMES OF PAINTING:
1. Genre painting portrays people in daily activities.
During the contemporary period, genre painting took.
Several directions. One of these new approaches is folk
Genre, which. mainly focuses on the everyday activities of
.the folk. Another approach is using the style of cubism.in
depicting folk or urban subjects. On the other hand, folk-
naive is another style wherein it uses a lot of color .and
spontaneity.
2. Historical Painting
The historical painting depicts a scene from the past. It
often has a lesson concerning national values.
“Bayanihan”
is a masterpiece of Carlos “Botong” Francisco. It depicted
the resilience of the Filipino people in times of need,
adversity, and disaster. It showed the true character of
the Philippine folks as a distinct human race.
3. Interiors
This refers to painting of the space inside of a part of a
house or a building. This usually reveals the social class
of the family living in that particular house, as well as the
traits of the people living in it.
4. Landscapes
These painting portrays natural scenery or urban scenes.
Mixed media is now used in creating landscape paintings.
Closely related to landscapes are seascapes, which focus
on large bodies of water, particularly the ocean or the sea.
5. Portraits
This refers to a painting portraying one or more specific
individuals. This usually portrays the physical
characteristics of the subject and seeks to show an
understanding of that person’s character.
6. Nudes
These are paintings that portray the unclothed human
figure. Nowadays, a wide variety of materials and styles
can be used in painting nudes. Nude painting sessions

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are conducted in galleries.
7. Religious Painting
Common subjects of religious painting include a lone.
Religious image, lives of the saints, and scenes based on
the Scriptures like the Nativity scene, and the Station of
the Cross.
8. Still Life
This refers to a painting that depicts natural or man-
made objects that form a composition in a natural
setting. A lot of styles can be used by artists in painting,
ranging from Baroque and Rococo, to impressionism,
expressionism, and abstract.
Sculpture
is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three
dimensions. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable
sculptural processes originally used carving and
modelling; in stones, metals, ceramics, woods and other
materials but, since Modernism, there has been an
almost complete freedom of materials and process. In
contrast to painting, sculpture has three dimensions –
height, width, and depth. It is created by either carving,
modelling, or assembling parts together.
GENERAL KINDS OF SCULPTURE:
Free-standing
This is a kind of sculpture that can independently stand
in space. It has a flat horizontal base. All its sides
contribute to the overall form of the sculpture.
Relief
This kind of sculpture does not have a flat horizontal base
The form is projected from a flat surface. There are two
types of relief – low relief or bas-relief which is slightly
from the flat surface; and high relief. Cagayan de Oro’s
Legendary. River Monster is an example of relief
sculpture.
The Higantes of Angono.
The
Higantes of Angono. The “Higantes” is a sculpture made
of paper-mache. This paper-mache, in our native town
in Paete, Laguna calls it “taka.” The “Higantes”
measures four to five feet in diameter and ten to twelve
feet in height. The “Higantes” represents “mag-anak”
(family) in the Filipino culture; a father, a mother, and
the children.
The “Higantes” is one of the main attraction in the annual
festival in Angono, Rizal in honor of St. Clement, patron
saint of the fisher folks held every 23rd of November. This
art form may have started during the Spanish colonial
time, but, the love of family among Filipinos have made this
art form a part of the Filipino tradition and a distinct
Philippine contemporary arts.
Sculpture as defined and as practiced in the Philippine
Contemporary arts made use of different materials like the
variety of woods, metals, and stones. Some produced
creative works using plastics, jade, brass, and other
materials.

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The Manunggul Jar
It is a secondary burial jar
excavated from a Neolithic burial
site in Tabon Caves at Lipuun Point
in Palawan. The Manunggul Jar is
widely acknowledged to be one of
the finest Philippine pre-colonial
artworks ever produced and is
considered a masterpiece of
Philippine ceramics. The two
prominent figures at the top handle
of its cover represent the journey of the soul to the afterlife.
It is made from clay with some sand soil. Pottery stands
among one of the most ancient arts in the Philippines.
The Bohol Blood Compact Sculpture
The sculpture was
made by the
National Artist,
Napoleon Abueva, a
Boholano himself.
This Sikatuna-
Legaspi blood
compact is
considered as the
First Treaty of
Friendship between
two different races,
religions, cultures and civilizations. It was a treaty of
friendship based on respect and equality. This event is
commonly known as “Sandugo”. Today, tourists can reach
and view Bohol Blood Compact site in Barangay Bool,
Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines. This particular site
was made in honor of a very important event in the
Philippine history done between Miguel Lopez de Legazpi
of Spain and Rajah Sikatuna of Bohol.
In the history of painting in the Philippines, Fernando
Amorsolo y Cueto was one of the most important artists.
Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine
landscapes. He is popularly known for his craftsmanship
and mastery in the use of light.
and traditions that stayed in the Philippines contemporary
period.
The Decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the
design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful
and functional. It includes interior design, but not usually
architecture.
Cloth weaving - One of the most valuable living traditions
that are still preserved until this day is the cloth weaving.
Beginning in the pre-colonial era, the art of cloth weaving,
particularly of the Cordillera tribes in the North, still lives
notwithstanding the threat of the more practical
production of fabrics today. The natives practice
blackstrap loom to create blankets and pieces of clothing.
T'nalak, a deep brown
abaca-based cloth tie-dyed
with intricate designs.
T'nalak, is a weaving
tradition of the T'boli
people of South Cotabato,
Philippines. One of the
best Filipino
craftsmanship that lives
until this present-day. The traditional female weavers are
known as dream weavers, because the pattern of the
t'nalak cloth are inspired by their dreams.
The Piña cloth is also
created through looms
everywhere in the
province of Antique. It is
a fine and elegant
handwoven fabric that is
produced from the fibers
of pineapple plants. It is
commonly used in the
wellknown Barong

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Tagalog, the traditional Philippine clothes for Filipino men.
Barong Tagalog has become a popular formal attire not
only in the Philippines but even across different regions.
Jewelry making is another demonstration of the skilled
craftsmanship of Filipinos
that dates back during the
precolonial period. This is
evident in the pictures of our
great ancestors in our
history. Even then, it is
presumed that jewelry
making in the country
already exists. The use of
gold or
silver in the forms of
earrings, bracelets, rings,
brooches, necklaces, tie
pins, pendants, and cuff
links.
E. LITERATURE
art form of language through the combined use of words,
creating meaning and experience.
Amado V. Hernandez introduced another form of poetry
inserting national consciousness to bagay poetry through
his work “Ang Bayang Malaya.”
In the 21st century, a modern poetry from unknown
writers use tagalog language and become popular in the
social media, it is called “spoken word poetry.”
Types and elements of literature:
Prose and Poetry
Prose is a literature that is not poetry with two categories:
informative and persuasive, just like an essay.
Poetry refers to expressing of feeling or idea with the use of
figurative or symbolic language.
Prose
Theme or content. This is the general thought or idea of the
composition.
▪Style. This refers to the choices of words and sentence structures
used to convey the message.
▪Form and structure. This is the sequence of topic and transitions that
make the whole essay.
Plot or story line. This is the sequence of events in the story that gives
the flow of the narrative.
▪Characters. This can be a person, an animal or even thing who takes
part in the story.
▪Setting. This is the time and place where the story happened.
▪Theme. This is the central thought of the story.
Language and style. Style is the choices of words which includes the
sentence structures and figurative language that affect the mood of
the story.
▪Point of view. The narrator may present the author himself for the
third-person point of view. The narrator can also be one of the
characters in the story for the first-person point of view.
ex. prose writing, as is most human conversation, textbooks, lectures,
novels, short stories, fairy tales, newspaper articles, and essays.
Poetry
Meaning. A writer can use idioms, new words, allusion,
and connotations in expressing his feelings or ideas.
▪Figurative language. A writer may use of simile,
metaphor, and other figures of speech in expressing
something in a different way aside from its literal
meaning.
Imagery. This consists of descriptions and details that
can trigger the readers’ senses.
▪Sound and Rhythm. Sound is the emphasis on certain
words while rhythm is the position of beats or the sound
pattern of the work.
Traditions and Forms of Philippine Poetry:
Ethnic Tradition
Epic. This relates adventures of a superhero with powers
and serves as a code of values of a particular ethnic
group.
Folk song. A song that is transmitted orally from one

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generation to another and known as awiting bayan in
Tagalog.
Example.
Magtanim ay Di Biro
Paruparong Bukid
Bahay Kubo
Sitsiritsit, Alibangbang.
Proverbs. A concise statement that teaches morality and
tradition and usually expressed as rhyming pair of lines
that depict two different elements.
Proverb Meaning
Enough is as good as a feast Moderation is
more satisfying than
excess.
Every dog has its day Everyone will have good
luck
or success at some point
in their lives.
Faint heart never won fair lady Timidity will prevent you
from achieving your
objective
Riddles. This describes an object in a different manner or
in a way that is not easily understood and may be a
question for someone to discover the meaning.
Short poems. This usually has four lines, with 5-12
syllables per line.
Poetic jousts. This may involve marriage negotiations
between two families in which every region has their own
version.
Spanish Colonial Tradition
Metrical romance. This focuses on chivalric, folkloric,
legendary, and religious themes.
Pasyon. This is written in a stanza with 5 lines with

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8 syllables per line which recounts the life of Jesus Christ.
This is useful as a source of images, stories of Jesus Christ.
Forms of Contemporary Prose in The Philippines:
Folk narrative. Any story based on real or fictional events
in the past told among the people in a community.
Myth. This is a story that explains the origin of the world
and its first inhabitants.
Legend. Heroic and historical legend tackles episodes in
the lives of great men and women. Religious legend
narrates display of miracles of God and of the saints.
Supernatural legend focuses on the existence of beings
from the underworld. Toponymical legend explains why a
certain place has this name.
Folktales. These are classified into animal tales or fables,
magic tales, humorous tales, novelistic tales, religious and
didactic tales.
Essay. This explains the insights or information using
description, narration, and humor.
Novel. This defined as the lengthy and complex narrative
of events based on the author’s imagination.
Short story. This is a concise secular narrative with
romantic, realistic and radical tradition.
Ang Kalupi” by Benjamin Pascual. ...
“Sandaang Damit” by Fanny Garcia. ...
“Dead Stars” by Paz Marquez Benitez. ...
“Ang Pamana” by Lamberto Gabriel.
Komiks. This is a special form of contemporary literature
which involves drawing frames showing a set of characters
with their actions and usually contains a balloons enclosed
with words or dialogue.
Spoken word
is a poetic performance art that is word-based. It is an oral
art that focuses on the aesthetics of word play such as
intonation and voice inflection.
F. FILM
a technological translation of theater, special effects are
utilized to enhance the story telling.
Film industry in the Philippines started in 1897 through
the initiatives of foreign businessmen.
The Film became popular in 1912 when foreigner Edward
Gross and Harry Brown produced the film about the life of
Dr. Jose Rizal. This started filmmaking in the country and
each art forms have significant developments in the
contemporary period.
FILM
This refers to a sequence of moving pictures shown on
television or in cinema. Film making became an industry
in the Philippines during the 1950’s.

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Elements of Film:
Time. This is considered as the most significant element
of cinema.
Techniques of cinema.
Cutting or editing. Involves one shot with another,
making sure that these two shot are connected.
Camera movement. This is done in order to have a
smoother change of view.
Framing. This helps bringing balance to the film as it is
being viewed.
Forms and types of Film:
1. Aksyon (Action). This uses conflict as emphasis based
on real-life stories or actual experiences of persons and
based from the tradition of metrical romance or literary
komedya.
2. Animation. A film that involves creating illustrations or
inanimate images and bringing them to life.
3. Bomba. A film that depicts nudity and sex but is
different from X-rated pornography.
4. Dokyu (documentary). This is a motion picture that
narrates news events or explain other subject matter based
on facts.
5. Drama. This is a motion picture that dwells on personal
problems and conflicts which draws sentiment and
emotion.
6. Experimental. This attempts to create something
innovative or that is never done before with the camera.
7. Fantasy. This depicts scenes in an imaginary world.
8. Historical. This shows actual events that occurred in
the past.
9. Horror. This is shown to bring fear to the audience.
10. Komedi (Comedy). This is to introduce or bring
laughter to the audience.
G. Architecture, Designs and Allied Arts
structure that meant to be used as shelter, its art relies on
the design and purpose of the structure.
The Philippine
architecture adopted the
modern western
architectural style while
taking into consideration
of the physical and socio-
cultural situation of the
country. The Philippine
architecture was
characterized as simple,
rational, and functional
in the early 20th century
of the young Filipinos
who studied in American
universities and institutes were back to the country and
brought changes in the Philippine architecture. Among
them were Juan Arellano, Carlos Barreto, and Antonio
Toledo. And one of the structures built during this period
was the Metropolitan Theater.
In the American Colonial and Contemporary Period, the
Philippine architecture adopted the modern Western
architectural style while taking into consideration the
physical and socio-cultural situation of the country.
The Philippine architecture was characterized as simple,
rational, and functional.
The “tsalet” is a type of
house developed in the
early 2oth century
designed with a front
porch made of wood and
concrete. During this
time, steel was used in
buildings as protection
for calamities like
earthquake.
During the Marcos era, there had been construction of
expressways, convention centers, hospitals, hotels, malls,
high-rise buildings, amusement centers, etc. All these

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comes with technological advancements like escalators,
elevators, air-conditioning systems, computers, etc.
In the regional set up, residential houses, churches, public
markets, business space tend to imitate the architectural
styles in the urban. Also, eco-cultural tourism was
introduced. Theme parks and resorts were developed in
tourist spots like Palawan, Davao, Bohol, Batangas, etc.
Given cultural heritage preservation, heritage towns like
Vigan, Intramuros, Dapitan, etc. were given attention.
Filipino artists’ roles and identify their contribution to
contemporary arts.

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