CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS OF THE

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CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS OF THE

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1.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.
Diverse art forms in the different parts of the
archipelago, when integrated, will give a clear
picture of what kind of country the Philippines is
and what kind of people the Filipinos are. These art

m
forms developed from the early times continue to
evolve up to the present. From the ethnic tradition,
it continues to progress to contemporary art
tradition.

2. VISUAL ARTS. In the American period,

education was introduced to the Philippines. There

the
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.

vari
3. LITERATURE. In the field of poetry during the
contemporary period, publication of young poets to
campus journals emerged.

4. MUSIC. During the early American period, the

music of the country was mostly classical due to the
influence of the European. This kind of music

ous
continued flourishing until the 19509s. It was in the
1960s that avant-garde music emerged. The
Philippine music at the time evolved into a
combination of classical and
traditional or ethnic music.

5.DANCE. During the first years of the American

Regi
period,
vaudeville or bodabil dancing became popular.
Bodabil is a kind of stage show introduced by the
American Dances like buck-and-wing, tap dancing,
clog, skirt
dancing was among the dances being performed in
the show.

ons
Various Contemporary Art Forms and their
6.ARCHITECTURE. 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,
Practices from the various Regions rational, and functional.
7.FILM. industry in the Philippines started in 1897
through the initiatives of foreign businessmen.
CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS OF THE
-Swiss entrepreneurs were the first to feature film stands among one of the most ancient arts in the
shows in Manila. The Film became popular in 1912 Philippines.
when foreigner Edward Gross and Harry Brown
produced the film about the life of Dr. Jose Rizal. *THE BOHOL BLOOD COMPACT sculpture was made
This started filmmaking in the country and each art by the National Artist, Napoleon Abueva, a
forms have significant developments in the Boholano himself. This Sikatuna-Legaspi blood
contemporary period. The artists thirst for compact is considered as the First Treaty of
innovation, the social, economic, and political Friendship between two different races, religions,
environment, and the emerging new technologies cultures and civilizations. It was a treaty of
are among the factors arts in that influenced the friendship based on respect and equality. This
development of event is commonly known as <Sandugo=. Today,
these contemporary art forms. tourists can reach and view Bohol Blood Compact
site in Barangay Bool, Tagbilaran City, Bohol,
1.THE VISUAL ARTS are art forms such as painting, Philippines. This site was made in honor of a very
drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, important event in the Philippine history done
photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts, and between Miguel Lopez de Legazpi of Spain and
architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as Rajah Sikatuna of Bohol.
performing arts, conceptual art, textile arts also
involve aspects of visual arts as well as arts of other 3.PAINTING is the practice of applying pigment
types. Wikipedia suspended in a carrier (or medium) and a binding
agent (a glue) to a surface (support) such as paper,
*THE HIGANTES OF ANGONO by: Mailah Balde. canvass, or wall. also used to express spiritual
The “Higantes” Is a sculpture made of papier- motifs and ideas; sites of this kind of painting range
mâché. This papier-mâché, in our native town in from artwork depicting mythological figures on
Paete, Laguna calls it “taka” The “Higantes” pottery to The Sistine Chapel and to the human
measures four to five feet in diameter and ten to body itself. = Wikipedia.
twelve feet in height. The “Higantes” represents
“mag-anak” (family) in the Filipino culture, a father, *In the history of painting in the Philippines,
a mother, and the children. The “Higantes’ is one of Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto was one of the most
the main attractions in the annual festival in important artists. Amorsolo was a portraitist and
Angono, Rizal in honor of St. Clement, patron saint painter of rural Philippine landscapes. He is
of the fisher folks held every 23rd of November. This popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery
art form may have started during the Spanish in the use of light, source
colonial time, but the love of family among Filipinos Wikipedia.
have made this art form a part of the Filipino
tradition and a distinct Philippine contemporary art. *Bigas= is an artwork of Nestor Leynes. Magic
realism refers to the style in a painting showing
2. SCULPTURE as defined and as practiced in the minute details of the subjects and highlighting their
Philippine Contemporary arts made use of different texture and color. Genre painting is showing the
materials like the variety of woods, metals, and lives of town folks, legends, and traditions that
stones. Some produced creative works using stayed in the Philippines contemporary period.
plastics, jade, brass, and other materials.
*THE MANUNGGUL Jar by Wikipedia.It is a *<Bayanihan= is a masterpiece of Carlos <Botong=
secondary burial jar excavated from a Neolithic Francisco. It depicted the resilience of the Filipino
burial site in Tabon Caves at Lipuun Point in people in times of need, adversity, and disaster. It
Palawan. The Manunggul Jar is widely showed the true character of the Philippine folks as
acknowledged to be one of the finest Philippine pre- a distinct human race.
colonial artworks ever produced and is considered a
masterpiece of Philippine ceramics. The two *Another one of Carlos <Botong= Francisco great
prominent figures at the top handle of its cover artwork is <The Filipino Struggles Through History=
represent the journey of the soul to the afterlife. It that has recently been unveiled for public viewing,
is made from clay with some sand soil. Pottery
CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS OF THE
after four years of restoration. This artwork hailed one of the structures built during this period was
him the <greatest muralist= of our country. the Metropolitan Theater
4. A MURAL is any piece of artwork painted or
applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other *The <TSALET= is a type of house developed in the
permanent surfaces. A distinguishing characteristic early 20th century designed with a front porch
of mural painting is that the architectural elements made of wood and concrete. During this time, steel
of the given space are harmoniously incorporated was used in buildings as protection for calamities
into the picture. = Wikipedia like earthquake. During the Marcos era, there had
been construction of expressways, convention
5.The DECORATIVE ARTS are arts or crafts whose centers, hospitals, hotels, malls, high-rise buildings,
object is the design and manufacture of objects that amusement centers, etc. All these comes with
are both beautiful and functional. It includes technological advancements like escalators,
interior design, but not usually architecture. elevators, air-conditioning systems, computers, etc.

6.CLOTH WEAVING - One of the most valuable living *In the regional set up, residential houses,
traditions that are still preserved until this day is the churches, public markets, business space tend to
cloth weaving. Beginning in the pre-colonial era, the imitate the architectural styles in the urban. Also,
art of cloth weaving, particularly of the Cordillera eco-cultural tourism was introduced. Theme parks
tribes in the North, still lives notwithstanding the and resorts were developed in tourist spots like
threat of the more practical production of fabrics Palawan, Davao, Bohol, Batangas, etc. Given cultural
today. The natives practice blackstrap loom to heritage preservation, heritage towns like Vigan,
create blankets and pieces of clothing. Intramuros, Dapitan, etc. were given attention.

*T'nalak, a deep brown abaca-based cloth tie-dyed 9. LITERATURE is anybody or collection of written
with intricate designs. T'nalak, is a weaving work. More restrictively, literature refers to writing
tradition of the T'boli people of South Cotabato, considered to be an art form, or any single writing
Philippines. One of the best Filipino craftsmanship deemed to have artistic or intellectual value, and
that lives until this present-day. The traditional sometimes deploys language in ways that differ
female weavers are known as dream weavers, from ordinary usage. Wikipedia
because the pattern of them t’nalak cloth are -Literature in the contemporary period has
inspired by their dreams. Wikipedia oscillated between personal expression and social
commentary. In vernacular poetry, the two
7.JEWELRY MAKING is another demonstration of tendencies can be seen at work.
the skilled craftsmanship of Filipinos that dates back
during the pre- colonial period. This is evident in the *<Bagay= is a form of poetry that uses colloquial
pictures of our great ancestors in our history. Even language and is built on concrete images which tend
then, it is presumed that jewelry making in the to describe tendencies. The <Bagay= movement
country already exists. The use of gold or silver in were group of young poets that emerged during the
the forms of earrings, bracelets, rings, brooches, contemporary period in the publications of campus
necklaces, tie pins, pendants, and cuff links. journals. Poets Jose F. Lacaba, Rolando Tinio,
Bienvenido Lumbera, Antonio Samsaon, and
8. THE PHILIPPINE ARCHITECTURE adopted the Edmundo Martinez started this the Bagay
modern western architectural style while taking into movement.
consideration of the physical and socio-cultural
situation of the country. The Philippine architecture *Valediction sa Hillcrest by Rolando S. Tinio was a
was characterized as simple, rational, and functional poem about a person having a dilemma to decide
in the early 20th century of the young Filipinos who between two places, Tondo and New York and how
studied in American universities and institutes were it affects his whole being
back to the country and brought changes in the
Philippine architecture. Among them were Juan *Amado V. Hernandez introduced another form of
Arellano, Carlos Barreto, and Antonio Toledo. And poetry inserting national consciousness to bagay
poetry through his work <Ang Bayang Malaya. = The
CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS OF THE
poem <Ang Bayang Malaya= is a long narrative piece 12. THEATRE OR THEATER is a collaborative form of
about a peasant leader. Oppression and fighting for performing art that uses live performers, typically
human rights are the main themes of this piece. In actors or actresses, to present the experience of a
the succeeding poems developed by Filipino poets, real or imagined event before a live audience in a
the influence of Amado V. Hernandez was evident. specific place, often a stage.
Social protest and social realism became the theme -The performers may communicate this experience
of the poems. Protest poetry proliferated to the audience through combinations of gesture,
speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art,
10. In the 21st century, a modern poetry from such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as
unknown writers uses tagalog language and become lighting are used to enhance the physicality,
popular in the social media, it is called <SPOKEN presence and immediacy of the experience.
WORD POETRY. = is a poetic performance art that is
word-based. It is an oral art that focuses on the *In the Philippines, the American introduced the
aesthetics of word play such as intonation and voice <bodabil= or stage show, however during that time
inflection. Wikipedia it was composed mainly of songs, dances and skits.
It was only during the Japanese period when
11.MUSIC. During the early American period, the <bodabil= included short melodrama.
music of the country is mostly classical due to the
influence of the European. It was in the 1960 that *Another presentational style of stage plays
avant-garde music emerged into a combination of highlights discussion of social ideas since realistic
classical, traditional or ethnic music. As time goes by portrayal is prohibited during the Marcos regime.
the introduction of radio, film, and other This style made use of dance, song, and mime to
entertainment technology. The theatre music summon the ideas from the audience. An example
gradually declined, however the rondallas or the of this is the <Theater of the Oppression= by
string band remain even up to the present. Augusto Boal. The documentary style followed
-Philippine music continuously evolved, and Pinoy which tend to discuss historical events <Mayo-A-
Pop or Filipino pop music took place. Pinoy pop Beinte Uno= of Al Santos.
covers different forms like jazz, dance hits, folksong,
revival, rock and roll, rap, etc. With the 13. DANCE. Philippine dance has played a
development of Pinoy pop, Manila sound was born. tremendous role in Filipino culture. From one of the
This music is Western derived with English lyrics but oldest dated dances called the Tinikling, to other
with pure Filipino spirit. Later, the Original Pilipino folkloric dances such as the Pandanggo, Cariñosa,
Music (OPM) became popular. and Subli, and even to more modern-day dances like
-The OPM was followed by another form of popular the ballet, it is no doubt that dance in the Philippine
music called <alternative music= influenced by folk setting has integrated itself in society over the
balladeers. This type of music sprouted out of course of many years and is significantly imbedded
protest that later included themes like Filipino in culture. Each of these dances originated in a
values, political and environmental concerns, and unique way and serve a certain purpose,
other societal themes. showcasing how diverse Philippine dances are.
-Some examples of alternative music are: Freddie
Aguilaras <Anak, = Herbert Bautistas <TayoAY Mga *TINIKLING is a traditional Philippine folk dance
Pinoy, = and Florante De Leon9s <Ako ay Pilipno.= which originated during the Spanish colonial era.
In the establishment of Cultural Center of the The dance involves two people beating, tapping,
Philippines (CCP) Filipino music as well as Filipino and sliding bamboo poles on the ground and against
artists were given importance each other in coordination with one or more
-There were provincial councils established which dancers who step over and in between the poles in
preserve the traditional music and innovate a dance.
Philippine music. Indigenous music continuously
thrives and spread in different localities. Local *CARIÑOSA is a Philippine dance of colonial era
composers continuously create vernacular songs. origin from the Maria Clara suite of Philippine folk
Moreover, local festivals like the Las Pinas Bamboo dances, where the fan or handkerchief plays an
organ were established.
CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS OF THE
instrumental role as it places the couple in romance
scenario. Wikipedia