CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS FROM THE REGIONS WEEK 1

PRE-COLONIAL ARTS

The people made these arts before the foreigners came to colonize our country. These are
expressions integrated within rituals based on the significant moments of the people's lives in
the community like ceremonies, planting, harvesting, and among others. Other forms were
pottery, weaving, carving, metalwork, and jewelry which do exist at present.

Long time ago, our ancestors were hunter gatherers. The ritual of praying forstrength and
feasting on the animal that they caught was involved before. How did the different forms of art
begin from these rituals? Literature started when they told their stories about how they hunted
animals and devised alphabets for them to write their stories down. The theater started when
they imitated how the animals moved. Music and dance started when they added the drum
beating and assigned a beat to their movements.

Cañao in the Cordillera Autonomous Region where animals are sacrificed for these purposes:
healing, an announcement of the birth of a child, or a coming of age during wakes, weddings,
and burial ceremonies.

Kashawing in Lake Lanao in Mindanao involves a re-enactment of the agreement made by the
ancestors of the community and the unseen spirits that dwell in the lake.

The Tagbanwa in Palawan believes that their planting of rice will be blessed by three goddesses
who go down from heaven. The shamans go into spells while ritual chanting and dancing are
going on and they believed that they are taken over by the goddesses.

The people long time ago also possessed a vibrant musical culture. They had instruments such
as pipes, flutes, zithers, drums, various string instruments like the kudyapi, a three stringed
guitar, the kulintang - an array of bossed gongs, the gansa or flat gong, bamboo percussion
instruments and the agong, a large bossed gong.

In terms of dance movements, they mimic movements of the animals, humans, and elements
from nature. To name some, we have the Pangalay from the Sulu archipelago which is imitative
of the movement of the seabirds. We also have the Mandaya's kinabua, the banog-banog of the
Higaonon and of the B'laan communities, and the man-manok of the Bagobos of Mindanao
which copy the movement of the seabirds. In Ifugao, the talip dance which is used in courtship
would mimic the movements of the wild fowls. The funny movements of the monkeys are
likewise imitated by the Matigsalugs in their inamong dance and the T'bolis in their kadaliwas
dance. A popular Tagalog folk dance which is often shown to tourists is the Tinikling which is
similar to the movements of the crane in which the dancers have to be alert always so they
won't be clutched by the bamboo traps.

The Filipinos before colonization carved images like the bulul of the Cordillerans. This image is
a granary god that plays an important role in rituals. You can also see this image in containers,
bowls, and spoons. Another image, a wooden bench produced by the Ifugaos that marks the
socioeconomic status of the owner, is called Hagabi. We also have the sculpture of saints called
Santos which were carved by Christian Communities in Laguna and Pampanga. In Southern
Philippine, there are curvilinear decorations called Okir(Ukkil in Tausug/Samal/Badjao). The
torogan which is the ancestral home of a sultan or the highest titleholder in a Maranao village
has its protruding beams or the panolong designed with okir.

With regards to pottery, there was a jar that was discovered in Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Point,
Palawan which was a secondary burial vessel where buried bones were positioned. This is
named as the Manunggul Jar of the late Neolithic period (890-710 BC). This jar, with reddish
hematite and carved with curvilinear designs and with two anthropomorphic or human forms
atop the lid, was being transported by a paddling man and this is a representation to a travel to
the afterlife. Another burial jar was found in Ayuv Cave in Maitum, Saranggani province during
the Metal Age (5 BC - 225 AD) where the human figure is more noticeable in this jar. Other
forms of pottery used before were the palayok used for cooking, banga and tapayan used for
fermenting food or keeping liquids. In Vigan,one which is valued in Ilocos as part of its creative
industry is the traditional Pagbuburnay.
Textiles are not only useful, they also convey about the belief systems of the people: the respect
for spirits and nature, criteria for the beautiful, and the structure of socio-politics in their society.
In traditional weaving, the people get the fibers from plants like cotton, abaca, and pineapple
leaves and they extract the pigments from clay, roots, and leaves of plants. They use a
backstrap loom or a pedal loom to weave designs that hold special meaning for a particular
cultural group. To name some we have the pis siyabit which is a Tausug headpiece woven in
Sulu. The Malong is a woven textile from Maranao with exquisite tapestry panels called langkit
woven in Lanao del Sur. The colourful double-layered tepo mat in Sama of Tawi-Tawi is made
of pandan leaves. In Itbayat, Batanes, there are baskets which are are made of nito and
bamboo which are used as head sling to carry harvests. They are called the Ovaloid Baskets.
There are sturdy bamboo strips that are woven to create fish traps in Ilocos region and they are
called bubo.

The Filipinos adorned their bodies through tattoos and jewelries. Jewelries were worn by upper
class Tagalogs while tattoos were seen among the Visayans, corroborating early accounts that
referred to the Visayas as "Islas de los Pintados". Aside from the idea that tattooing is an art, a
tattoo was given importance because it was believed to guard the individual from evil spirits,
and in some cases, it was considered as a mark of maturity and bravery. Those who practice
tattooing include Kalinga, Kankanay, Ibalay and Ifugao. With regards to jewelries, it is believed
that the wearer becomes more attractive to the opposite sex in as much as it is considered
pleasing to the gods. The T'boli are known to wear brass chains, bells and colorful beads to
complete their elaborate ensemble.

SPANISH COLONIAL PERIOD

Most of the art forms during this era were religious arts for the purpose of converting the
Filipinos to Catholicism. Churches were a combination of both native and European elements
that is why art historians refer the style as colonial baroque or Phialippine baroque. Inside the
churches were images of saints made out of wood or ivory. They are displayed in decorative
altars called the retablo. They brought western musical instruments like the violin, pipe organ,
the guitar and the piano. They also introduced the pasyon or pabasa which is the biblical
narration of Christ's passion in an improvised melody.

The awit and corrido grew among the lowland Christian communities of Pampanga, Ilocos, Bicol
and Iloilo. These were secular musical forms based from European literature and history that
were chanted stories popular among the peasants. What also evolved during this period are the
kundiman and the balitao. The balitao are sentimental love songs. The kundiman is a song
where the lyrics talks about the love that is not reciprocated. It also spoke of resignation and
fatalism. An example is Kundiman ni Abdon, a kundiman which is a protest against the Martial
Law in the seventees and the song Bayan Ko which became popular during the EDSA
Revolution.

Doctrina Christiana was the first printed book in the Philippines containing song lyrics,
commandments, sacraments and other catechetical materials.

ISLAMIC COLONIAL

In Islamic art, the artists were influenced by the doctrine of Tawhid or unity of God. This belief
emphasizes the greatness of the divine being. Through the abstract forms of patterns in the
interior of the mosques, the believers can concentrate mentally, thus divine unity is achieved. In
regards to architecture, all Islamic buildings are required to follow Tawhid and other Islamic
beliefs. Some parts of the mosque like the niche or mirhab must face the west, must be oriented
toward Mecca to show oneness with other Islamic communities. Okir decorations can be seen in
Tausug and Sama houses, traditional boats, weapons, musical instruments, and in textiles. It
has been observed that Islamic arts are in upward orientation like the panolong in torogan, the
royal shelter of Maranao,with the regard for heaven and in turning away from the "material
earth."

JAPANESE COLONIZATION

The Japanese led the propaganda movement that would reject the Western traditions. Art
production was under the scrutiny of the Japanese government. Expressions which were
subversive by nature or anti-Japanese would tantamount to torture and even death. Felipe de
Leon wrote Awit sa Paglikha ng Bagong Pilipinas, the anthem which spoke of the loyalty to the
nation reared in East Asia where Japan was actively asserting its political power. It was said
that he had been "commanded at the point of the gun" in writing this anthem.

When Martial Law was declared during the time of former President Ferdinand Marcos, there
was a rebirth of a long lost civilization and aspiration to modernization and development. The
vision was to propagate and implement an art and culture program that combined fine arts,
architecture, interior design, tourism, convention city building, engineering, urban planning,
health and among others. This optimism and rebirth was observed in the composition of Bagong
Pagsilang by Levi Celerio and Felipe de Leon Padilla.

This is the period of the 70s and 80s in which the art form was a protest art that exposed the
socio-political issues and struggles at this time. The focus was on the oppressed, marginalized
and under represented people who experienced inequality and forms of repression. Art was not
only expressed through painting but also posters and murals in the streets.