Figure 2.11.

Edgar Fernandez,
Kinupot

The format of protest art is not just confined to painting on canvas but also
extends to other more accessible and popular forms like posters and illustrations;
or street art as in collaborative murals in public spaces. Several years after the
declaration of Martial Law, an artist collective committed to the development of
the said art movement was formed. Kaisahan was composed of Antipas Delotavo,
Neil Doloricon, Renato Habulan, Edgar Talusan Hernandez, Al Manrique, Jose Tence
Ruiz, and Pablo Baen Santos. Aside from aesthetic debates, the group constantly
discussed their social and political orientation which strengthened the foundation
of their art practice.
Kaisahan’s influence as a collective reached organizations like the group of UP
Fine Arts Students who eventually became known in the 80s as the Salingpusa. The
group made collaborative murals where the strain of Social Realism could still be
felt. Among its founding members were Elmer Borlongan, Karen Ocampo Flores,
Emmanuel Garibay, Mark Justiniani, Lito Mondejar, and Federico Sievert. Beyond
Manila, the strain of political art could also be observed in Bacolod, where artist
groups such as Pamilya Pintura were formed with Nunelucio Alvarado, Charlie Co,
and Norberto Roldan were members. Most of these artists are now established
as indvidual artists, who continue to pursue projects and perform multiple
functions. Roldan, for example is now based in Manila, and heads and runs the
long running Green Papaya Art Projects. Co runs Orange Gallery in Bacolod;
Ocampo-Flores curates, teaches and organizes, and is known for spearheading,
with other artists, the loose collective Tutok. At present, younger artists have also
organized themselves as loose collectives in order to share common interests or
to create a platform where they can exchange, support each other, and spearhead
collaborative programs. An example is Project Space Pilipinas, based in Lucban,
Quezon and founded by the artist Leslie de Chavez in 2007. Aside from being an
exhibiting artist, he and fellow artists in the collective organize activities that also
reach out to young artists and the communities in Lucban in an effort to broaden
participation in art projects. You will encounter examples of such projects in the
succeeding chapters.
UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING
39
 Varied forms of expression can be observed from the period which spilled over
from the previous decades.

Figure 2.12. Outside Green Papaya Art Projects

Varied forms of expression can be observed from the period which spilled over
from the previous decades. Among these are expressionist works that conveyed
emotional qualities or states, as in the dogfight paintings of National Artist Ang
Kiukok, hinting of conflict and aggression; or the paintings of Onib Olmedo which
feature men with ovoid faces often donning a mysterious expression bordering
on ennui. In sculpture, Eduardo Castrillo’s gigantic metal work Pieta, 1969, evoked
a strong feeling of anguish and loss through the expressive poses of Mary the
mother and the oversized body of Christ which she supports. On the other hand,
the influence of paintings of folk scenes in the manner of Francisco persists, and
is evidenced in the works of the Blanco family and their descendants in Angono,
Rizal. Ethnicity, identity, and alternative historical narratives are explored in the
intermedia works of Santiago Bose, who drew insight from his native Baguio
which was once an American colonial outpost. Roberto Feleo’s installations re-tell
creation stories drawn from indigenous myths and combine them with foreign
interventions such as vitrines or altar niches normally used to house saints. Brenda
Fajardo on the other hand would foreground the histories of ethnic communities
through her tarot card series.

40 Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

 Figure 2.13. Brenda Fajardo, Tulad ng mga nauna, may paninindigan

In other words, the native or the folk, the self, the environment, the nation, the
past, and the various variations of the Modern continue to be revisited by artists
as sources of inspiration in contemporary art. As artists explore processes and
approaches aside from mediums and techniques beyond the so-called Fine Arts,
artistic language becomes more robust. Looking into the possibility of working
beyond the comfort and isolation of the studio and into working in alternative
spaces, artistic communities are becoming engaged and networks formed. One of
the ways this is realized is through the festival, which aside from holding exhibitions
tends to mobilize organizations, spaces, and people who do not normally engage
in the “art world.” In the 90s, when support from the state was practically non-
existent, artists were empowered to initiate projects like regional festivals.
Meanwhile, as galleries began to spring up inside mall spaces, equally intriguing
were the budding of alternative and artist-run spaces that supported experiments
and D-I-Y (Do It Yourself ) projects of young artists. Aside from the aforementioned
currents, also important to consider as we run through the history of Philippine art
are the expatriates or artists who make waves in the international art scene by way
of their participation in exhibitions. They too broaden our knowledge and inspire
us to seek what and how Philippine contemporary art might continue to mean
something to us today.
This varied range of practices demonstrate that making art in the artist’s
studio is inseparable from cultural and research work. The studio extends to
various sites—classrooms, the streets, even cyberspace, among others. Art is
not just a “tool” or handmaiden to a certain ideology, advocacy or purpose, but
a methodology in itself, with specific and independent modes of seeing, doing
and feeling, from where new knowledge springs. The artworks that artists produce
transcend their status as objects or collectors’ items; they are inseparable from
UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING
41
 the artists’ process and practice as cultural workers, a phrase that also implicates
their roles as organizers, collaborators, educators, administrators, writers, theorists,
quasi-ethnographers, healers, curators and in some cases, as owners of galleries
and other spaces.

This lesson gives you a brief overview of the major themes of Philippine art
history, from pre-conquest to conquest on to modern and contemporary periods.
The account puts the practices of contemporary artists in context, thus making us
understand that their practices are influenced by major traditions which we can
trace through our long history of making and making sense of art.
TMLSS

Creation Myth Backstory

With your group from the Creation story, research the historical background
and other information and backstories about the creation myth your teacher
provided in Lesson 1. Ask your elders or appropriate members of community what
D-I-Y the myth means. What lessons can they teach us and how do these lessons apply
to our contemporary lives?
Present your findings creatively. Some options are:
i. a video documentation of not more than three minutes;
ii. a dramatization;
iii. a photo essay presentation in powerpoint presentation or any other
format; and
iv. an illustrated storybook.
v. a dance;
vi. a performed poetry; and
vii. others
Upload to your blog, or your journal. This will form another building block for
your final project.

1. What fiesta traditions do you observe in your hometown or the place where
you currently live? When is the fiesta held and what does it commemorate?
What are its rituals and activities? Choose a form (fiesta décor, culinary arts,
performing arts, etc.), describe, and explain its origins. Interview an older
member of the family for the latter. Share your notes in class. Supplement
PIN IT with pictures if possible.
2. Remnants of the plaza complex still exist. Select an area where you can find
it—near your house, a neighboring city, or a different region from where
you live. If possible, visit the area and observe it. What is the plaza complex

42 Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

 comprised of in this day and age? How is it valued based on the way people
interact with it as a space? Draw a map of the “plaza” and write a short
reflection about your visit.
3. What aspects of the conservative or academic, modern, or the contemporary
are you inclined toward and how would thus be evoked in your work? Make a
self-portrait and explain the medium and techniques you used, as well as the
style you chose. If you cannot draw, take a selfie and retouch according to the
style you prefer. Explain.

Visit any of the following art museums: National Art Gallery, Metropolitan
Museum of Manila, UP Vargas Museum, Ayala Museum, or Lopez Museum. Choose
a permanent art exhibition and reflect about an aspect of art history that it
privileges. How could this relate to the history of the institution and the collection
of art that it houses? What impression does the museum building give you?
LEVEL UP
Watch Dekada ’70, a film adaptation, 2002 of Lualhati Bautista’s novel
about a family’s travails during the Martial Law years. Reflect how the regime
was represented in the film—what was the setting and how did the characters
react to the setting? How do you reconcile what you have seen in the film with
art production during the period? What could this say about art production in
general? Alternatively, you could read the novel and examine how the regime is
woven into the story.
Go back to the Historical, Stylistic and Cultural Overview. With the above
account and additional research of your own, insert your own inputs on Music,
Dance, Literature and Theater

Albano, Raymundo. 1981. “Developmental Art in the Philippines.” Philippine Art

Supplement, Vol 2, No. 4. Cultural Center of the Philippines.
“Anthropomorphic Pots” from the National Museum of the Philippines
website. Accessed 1 July 2015 <http://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/
nationalmuseumbeta/ Collections/ Archaeo/ Pots.html>
TL; DR Fajardo, Brenda V. 1997. “Paete: A Living Fusion of Art and Society.” In Art and
Society, Flaudette May Datuin, et al, University of the Philippines Press.
Flores, Patrick, et al. 2013. Timeline of The Philippine Contemporary: To Scale the
Past and the Possible. Metropolitan Museum of Manila.
Garcia, Leovino Ma., 2015. “Putting ‘The Philippines’ on the Map.” In Tie a String
Around the World. Patrick D. Flores. National Commission for Culture and the
Arts.
Guerrero, Amadis Ma. and Purita Kalaw-Ledesma. 1974. The Struggle for Philippine
Art, Vera-Reyes, Inc. (printer).
Guillermo, Alice. 1997. “Philippine Art in the 19th Century” and “Philippine Art
from 1900 to the Present” in Art and Society, Flaudette May Datuin, et al.,
University of the Philippines Press.
UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING
43
 __________. 2001. “The Kaisahan and Social Realism” Protest/Revolutionary Art
in the Philippines 1970-1990. University of the Philippines Press.
__________. 2010. “History Writ Large.” In Pananaw 7 Philippine Journal of Visual
Arts, Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez. National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Lico, Gerard Rey. 2008. “Vernacular Renaissance and the Architecture of the New
Society.” Arkitekturang Filipino. QC: UP Press, 2008.
Maksym Kozlenko (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
“Manunggul Jar,” National Museum of the Philippines website. Accessed 1 July 2015
<http://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/Collections/
Archaeo/ Manunggul.html>
Mirano, Elena Rivera (ed). 2002. The Life and Times of Marcelo Adonay. University
of the Philippines Press.
Nonoyborbun (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Ramon F. Velasquez (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Respicio, Norma. 2013. “Patterns of Culture in Philippine Traditional Textile.”
Pinagmulan: Enumeration from the Philippine Inventory of Intangible
Cultural Heritage. Edited by Jesus Peralta (ed). Manila/Jeonju: NCCA/The
International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural
Heritage.
__________. 2014. Journey of a Thousand Shuttles: The Philippine Weave.
National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Sakili, Abraham P. 1998. “Finite Infinities.” In Pananaw 2 Philippine Journal of
Visual Art. Edited by Flaudette May Datuin (ed)., National Commission for
Culture and the Arts.
___________. 2003. “Tracing Muslim Roots in the Philippines” and “Filling up
Space,” In Space and Identity. Asian Center, University of the Philippines.
Tiongson, Nicanor, ed. 1991. Tuklas Sining. Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Yu-Rivera, Helen. 2008. “Amorsolo, His Contemporaries and Pictures of the War:
Capturing Anxieties.” In Fernando Amorsolo Seven Museum Exhibition. Art
Post Asia.

44 Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

 LESSON 3: THE CONTEXTS OF ART

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:

• Understand the different contexts by recalling and analyzing how it applies
to a familiar or community-based art form ; and
• Interpret the notions of appropriation and decontextualization through a
group activity.
QUEST

FLAG

mode of production
CHAT ROOM
appropriation

From the brief art historical review, we learn that art does not have one, single
context but multiple and varied contexts. History is one important context and
that was discussed in Lesson 2. In this lesson, you will learn about other contexts. It
is important that we discern various contexts so that we may have a better grasp of
art’s complexity and diversity. By recognizing its many contexts, we acknowledge
THREAD art’s interaction with active forces in the society: social, political, economic,
religious, and historical to name a few. Art draws inspiration from the society
and at the same time, art is honed by the specific conditions that engendered
its production. Analyzing its contexts allows us to establish the synergy of art
and society and recognize the former’s ability to function as an agent of change.
Moreover, it also enables us to critically look at some of the widely held notions on
culture and to reexamine them from a perspective grounded on a diligent study of
specific contexts.

FAQ What is context?

Context refers to settings, conditions, circumstances, and occurrences affecting
production and reception or audience response to an artwork. It is a set of
background information that enables us to formulate meanings about works of
art and note how context affects form.
For example, in the last lesson, you learned about the bulul, an indigenous, pre-
colonial ritual object and motif in the everyday life of the people of the Cordillera
region. A human-like figure made of hardwood, the bulul is believed to be a granary

UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING

45
 god that assures the community of a bountiful harvest. During the dry season, the
ritual specialist or mumbaki would perform a ritual where the figure is drenched in
pig’s blood as a form of offering to the spirits. Although the bulul contains elements
of sculpture, it is not exactly regarded as such by its makers and by the people who
continue to find value in its rich symbolic functions. A remarkable bulul collection
can be viewed in storage at Hiwang Village, Banaue, Ifugao. Tourists and locals can
see examples of the bulul at the H. Otley Beyer Museum located within the vicinity.
The Bencab Museum in Baguio City also has a big collection of bululs. Thus, we
can see that the bulul, though ancient in origin, continues to be contemporary;
it continues to be valued and made by the people of the present. However, its
contemporariness is situated in the domain of everyday life.
On the other hand, Gaston Damag’s context is the exhibition system, either
in the Paris-based artist the gallery or museum context, under the domain of
Contemporary Art in the Fine Arts. His artworks employ the bulul and other
mundane objects from his native Ifugao homeland as subject matter. He would
often utilize industrial materials and processes with traditional bulul imagery to
form installations in museums and galleries in various parts of the world. In these
examples, the bulul crosses over from the everyday to the exhibition system,
either as collections in the gallery or museum context, or as material or subject
matter for a contemporary artist.
What happens to an object when it is removed from its original context and changes
function? For instance, how do meanings change when a bulul is presented in
a museum? Imagine the bulul atop a pedestal, protected by a glass case, labeled,
and enhanced by a spotlight. When a traditional form is combined with machine-
fabricated materials and exhibited in a contemporary art gallery, how does our
perception of the bulul change?

These questions prompt us to think about the origin of objects and their
circulation, as well as the contexts of production. They also hint at the practices
involved in disseminating or exhibiting art, and how these might influence our
reception of the work.
There can therefore be no single narrative and definition of art that applies
universally. The multicultural character of the Philippines entails a broader
understanding of factors that determine art making such as people’s worldviews,
communal structures, and life ways. We could then hopefully avoid evaluating
different forms like oil on canvas paintings as superior as compared to traditional
indigenous forms like bulul carving or textile weaving as these two come from
distinct contexts. In this lesson, we will learn about some of these contexts.

FAQ What are the different contexts of art?

We can learn to look at art in a critical manner by understanding its contexts.
As we saw in the previous lessons, art is anchored in a particular historical moment
and situated within a set of specific conditions. The contexts being discussed
below are some examples that may shape our understanding of works of art. The
contexts affecting production and reception are active (as opposed to single and
definitive) and tend to overlap.

46 Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

 a. Artist’s Background
The artist’s age, gender, culture, economic conditions, social
environment, and disposition affect art production. The mode of production,
which encompasses the kind of materials accessible to the artists as well as
the conditions surrounding labor, also hope the work produced by the artist.
A traditional artist’s resources differ from an artist reared in a highly urbanized
environment like Manila. The artist’s initiation and training in art might be
different, too. For example, the artist my have studied and trained through
formal schooling, or informally through workshops or apprenticeships. In
other cases, they may have studied art by themselves.

Do you know of an artist who is self-taught? If you do, how did s/he learn to make art?
Did s/he read art books? Did s/he closely observe other artists in the area? Did s/he
have any models?

With respect to the traditional arts exemplified by the GAMABA artists, we

will discuss in detail in the next lesson the methods of production are usually
learned from the elders, like the practice of weaving where the knowledge
is passed on to the younger generation of women weavers. In the town of
Betis, Pampanga, sculpture-making is learned through apprenticeship with a
matecanan mandukit or a master sculptor who maintains a workshop where
young people are trained to make santos.
The mediums, techniques, and styles in traditional art are shared
among members of the community, resulting in works that are very similar
in character. The end products are usually sold as unique identity-markers
of a community. For example, we tend to associate the red papier-mâché
sculptures of horses or taka with the town of Paete, Laguna that produces
the said works for export or for local sale.
In the gallery or museum setting, the uniqueness of the art and the
artist’s individual expression is given much importance. Here, the makers are
named; their works are exhibited in exhibitions and sold through galleries,
art fairs, and auctions.
There are some art works that are made in collaboration with carpenters, woodcarvers,
weavers, among others, who assist the artists in underpainting, varnishing, fabricating,
among others. gallery or museum. Although they are paid according to services
rendered, they are hardly credited in museum captions and catalogues except in
some occasional write-ups. Why do you think so?

Some artists deliberately foreground their cultural identity in their

works. The Tausug National Artist Abdulmari Asia Imao (awarded in 2006)
integrated motifs from the culture of Mindanao, like the mythical sarimanok,
a rooster carrying a fish on its beak; and other okir designs in his paintings
and sculptures using modernist styles of figuration. An example is the 1984
stylized S-shaped brass sculpture fronting the Vargas Museum, which
UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING
47
 integrates motifs such as the crescent moon, star, and okir. The Talaandig
artists from Bukidnon on the other hand, express their affinities with their
land by using soil instead of pigments and by painting subject matter that
are grounded on their present concerns as a people.
Julie Lluch, an artist who hails from Iligan City, would often emphasize
her female identity and personal experiences in many of her terracotta works.
In Cutting Onions Always Makes Me Cry, 1988, Lluch’s self-portrait presents
cooking—a role associated with women in the home—as oppressive and
unpleasant.

Figure 3.1. Julie Lluch, Cutting Onions Always Makes me Cry

Travels, training, and professional development broaden the artist’s

horizons. The exposure of the painter and National Artist Victorio Edades
to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art during his study in the
United States in the early 20th century was said to have a profound impact
on his artistic vision and style. Migration provides the artist with a different
set of material conditions and relations of production, thus affecting his/her
artistic disposition. The husband and wife Alfredo Juan and Isabel Aquilizan’s
experience as Filipino migrant artists eking out a living in Australia and in
other parts of the world, has been central to their body of works.
b. Nature
Nature can be seen as a source of inspiration and a wellspring of materials
for art production. The t’nalak for example uses abaca fibers stripped from
the trunk of the banana tree, and colored with red and black dyes naturally
extracted from roots and leaves of plants. Using a backstrap loom, the weaver
produces t’nalak designs including stylized forms inspired by nature: kleng
(crab), gmayaw (bird in flight), tofi (frog), and sawo (snake skin). As with
other traditional textile traditions in the Philippines, the process of making
the t’nalak is evocative of the people’s belief that spirits reside with people

48 Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

 in the natural environment. We may also observe that many of Philippine
indigenous dances involve the imitation of natural elements, such as the
waves of the waters or the movement of animals - from birds to fishes, to
snakes and fireflies, among many others. An example is the famous tinikling,
which imagines the tikling—a local bird—as it tries to escape the field traps
set by farmers.
The ceramist Nelfa Querubin-Tompkins has experimented with iron-rich
San Dionisio clay sourced from her native Iloilo. The coarse clay is prepared by
mixing it with river sand and lead glaze to create elegant black pottery.
While nature is regarded as a provider and as a source of inspiration, it is
also seen as a force that one has to contend with. When it comes to the built
environment, the availability of resources for construction is not the only factor
taken into account but also environmental conditions such as topography
and climate. Traditional Ivatan houses in Batanes are built using stones and
fango for its walls. The latter is a kind of mortar formed by combining cogon
and mud bits. The roof is a pyramidal construction comprised of a thick
cogon thatch fastened by reeds and rattan and sometimes reinforced with a
net as protection from harsh winds. The stone, lime, and cogon construction
protect the dwellers from strong typhoons and earthquakes.
Junyee’s ephemeral installation at the grounds of the CCP titled Angud,
a forest once in 2007 was posed as commentary on the abuse of nature.
It involved 10,000 pieces of gathered tree stumps to recreate a deforested
landscape. Similarly, photographers alert the public about the alarming
effects of climate change, and how it forces people to become “refugees in
their own land.” One such photographer is Veejay Villafranca. His series of
images may be viewed from this website: http://www.veejayvillafranca.com/-
displaced-earth-climate-refugees-in-the-philippines.html. Roy Lagarde’s
black and white photographs documenting the effects of typhoon Yolanda
(Haiyan) one year after it struck the Visayan region in 2013, show melancholic
images suggesting absence or loss caused by natural disaster.
Fernando Amorsolo, the first to be named National Artist (1972), has
painted landscapes as romantic pictures, capturing the warm glow of the sun
on verdant land or clear waters. On the other hand, the modernist painter
Ricarte Purugganan depicted nature as an uncontrollable force in Toilers of
the Sea, 1980, the thick turquoise brushwork suggests the rough rolling of
the waves threatening to engulf anything that comes its way.
c. Everyday Life
Philippine traditional art has always been an integral part of daily life. Its
significance lies not only in its aesthetic appearance but also in its functionality
and its value to the community that produced it. Because traditional forms
may also be used in daily private situations, it is experienced more intimately,
and engages many senses simultaneously. Some examples include the crisp
Ilocano bed cover with dainty ubas designs are the pabalat, delicate pastillas
wrappers from Bulacan with elaborate cutout designs, enveloping an equally
delicate milk-based dessert. The senses of touch, taste, and smell are engaged
along with the visual sense.
UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING
49