MODULE 3: Rediscovering Philippine Art
Topic Outline
● Lesson 1: Philippine Art: Is it Filipino enough?
● Lesson 2: The Shape of Philippine Art and Culture
● Lesson 3: The Philippines:One Archipelago, One Voice
Ligawan by Fernando Amorsolo
Introduction
As we apply the lessons that we learned from the previous modules. We can see in
Amorsolo’s artwork the a reflection of the functions of art that we tackled. Its subject, context,
imagery and the use of light obviously signifies something local, thus presenting itself as a
reminder of our culture and our sense of identity.
Honestly, we have our own identity. We can’t deny the fact that we are art lovers. We love
grandiose and colorful things that can be seen in our jeepneys, our colorful decorations during
fiestas, our native pigments and colors and even our traditional clothes. There are times that we
lose our sense of color harmony because of our love and passion for colorful things. Our diversity
and creativity is clearly seen in our works. Thus, it makes us unique and united.
Discussion
How much “Filipino-ness” is in our Philippine art? What makes it Filipino? Are the
landscape paintings of Fernando Amorsolo and the historical depictions of Carlos Botong
Francisco genuinely Filipino? Are the stories and poems written in English by N.V Gonzales and
Edith Tiempo considered Filipino?
The Philippine Art is greatly influenced by our colonial history. We have Spanish-inspired
architectures and also American influenced poetry and music. With the realms of globalization,
Filipinos adapted to foreign culture easily.
Among all of the Filipino artists, Fernando Amorsolo’s works is considered as the most
expressive of the ethos of the race and the predominantly agricultural countryside. He portrayed
men and women as hardworking with smiles on their faces and most landscapes in his paintings
are rural lands in its vegetation and nature.
There are doubts how Filipino the artworks are being produced by our Filipino artists.
Tradition where works and artists came from makes one to question its authenticity. In example,
our painters learned Western painting tradition and it blemishes the authenticity of the Filipino
works. In Philippine literature written in English, the language itself doubt the Filipino-ness of the
literary work. Many regarded the works written in Filipino or regional languages more Filipino than
in English.
According to Leo Benesa, the idea was that the depiction of scenes everyday life and the
surroundings without idealizing them was closest in spirit to the Filipino soul and native soil. A
Philippine art is considered Filipino if it shows our own spirit and our culture.
Lesson 2: Our Own Forms of Philippine Art
INTRODUCTION
Filipinos are good at imitation. When we see or hear something that catches our attention,
we tend to do and learn something what we can call our own. Let us take an example our talent
for singing. Other nationalities often expected something great coming from us if we do perform
onstage. Aside from our singing prowess, we also have strong adaptation skills that we used to
make our talents more exceptional.
DISCUSSION
Different forms of local art: Our country is rich in resources and materials. The
materials that we can use are readily available and sometimes it needs to be
processed.
Forms of Philippine Art
Graphic Arts Assemblage
Bamboo Art Food art
Basketry Furniture
Book Design Installation and Site-specific Art
Dress Komiks and Editorial Cartoon
Embroidery Leaf Art
Effigies Printmaking
Mat Weaving Photography
Metalcraft Pottery
Multimedia Sculpture
Painting and Related Forms Sound Art
Paper Art Tattoo Art
Performance Art Video Art
Personal Ornaments
Philippine Materials
1. Clay- earthware, red clay called terracota, stoneware and porcelain
2. Wood- wood carving used in bululs, sundul (grave markers), panolong (house beams), santos
(graven images)
3. Tools- paet (carving tool), hiwas (skew), landay (shallow gauge), lukob (deep gauge), trespico
or tatlong kanto (parting tool), encarnacion or encarnado santos- rendering of flesh tones
4. Furniture- floral and curving vine designs in Pampanga
5. Sculpture of toothpick trees, fantasy birds and fans in Paete Laguna
6. Taka or papier Mache in Paete and creating higantes in Angono, Rizal
7. Papel de hapon for the pabalat wrapper tradition of paper cutting in Bulacan
8. Philippine hardwood- warmth of tone and natural coloration that ranges from dark brown to
yellow to reddish hues, as well as fine grain texture
9. Retablos by Napoleon Abueva for chapels
10. Weathered wood- artitsts like Jerusalino Araos and Rey Paz Contreras used old rairoad
tracks or stairs and beams of demolished houses
11. Bamboo and rattan: Kenneth Cobonpue
12. Mindanao wood- tail ends of houses
13. Basketry- buri, rattan, pandan, bamboo spits, ibus, nipa palm, saha (banana pulp), hut
making
14. Food- kiping (rice wafer for the pahiyas decoration); dayap food wood carving in Bulacan
15. Metal- bronze o brass using ciere perdue or lost wax method. Using wax for mold. Spaghetti
strips of wax is placed on outer layer of brass to create the designs. Pukpuk method.
16. Stones and precious stones
17. Fiber, dyes and pigments
Colors and their local names
English Name Filipino Counterpart English Name Filipino Counterpart
Red Labaga (Ilokano) Pink Kalimbahin or Rosas
Kanaway (Maranao)
Mabaya (Batanes)
Orange Kahel or Dalandan Brown Kayumanggi
Yellow Dilaw, Kunig (Iloko), Gray Malamaya
Amarilyo
Green Lungti White Puraw (Iloko)
Blue Bughaw Ivory Garing
Purple Purpura or Morado Emerald Esmeralda
Violet Lila Black Dagtum (Cebuano) or
Itim
Summary
We have the resources and materials that can help us make our talents exceptional. We
are good in adapting skills that’s why a lot of people look into us with amazement in their eyes.
We never stopped learning for us to be better at our own talents. Currently, our arts and culture
easily adapt to what is the trend. To be honest, not all of us know how rich our culture is. We have
forgotten all about it because of more foreign artists that we prefer to idolize. Frankly speaking,
we only support artists who have been exposed to the international scene. We are known as a
people with world-renowned talents but we can’t recognize our own. It is about time that we start
a trend to appreciate more of our art and culture that the future generations will never cease to
be forgotten.
Lesson 3: The Philippines: One Archipelago, One Voice
Our country, the Philippines, consists of more than 7,100 islands. As an archipelago, we
have different musical cultures and styles. Every region has its own songs, traditions, chants,
nuances, instruments, artists, compositions and musical attitudes. Our variety of musical
collection is rarely seen and performed in media. We usually hear and know is mostly commercial
pop music. But as rich as our culture and music may be, we never had the opportunity to listen
and appreciate our heritage.
There are two salient vocal idioms of Philippine art music are Kundiman and Kumintang.
Kundiman is a type of Filipino art song that is written in triple time and usually
begins in a minor key. This is described as a signature love song of the country. Generally,
the theme it portrays is the faithful and true but often forlom pleadings of a lover who
knows nothing but sacrifice in behalf of his beloved. According to Raymundo Banas, there
are three theories as where the word Kundiman originally began and these are:
1. A contraction of the phrase “kung hindi man.”
2. A derivation from the verse “hele, hele ng kundiman”
3. The red cloth worn by men and male dancers in the countryside
These are the notable Kundiman writers: Nicanor Abelardo, Santiago Suarez, Antonio
Molina, Lucrecia Kasilag, Felipe de Leon and Bonifacio Abdon.
Kumingtang is referred as the national song and dance of the Philippines during the 1800s.
This is originally a war song that inflamed combatants to action. Kumintang is originally from
Batangas where it developed a song-dance form. When written in triple time, it is a love dance
performed to a sad song and is usually accompanied by a guitar or a double bass.
There are different musical performing groups in the country. These are a few examples
of groups:
1. Choral Groups
2. Bands
3. Musikong Bumbong
4. Orchestras
5. Rondalla
We have different musical styles but we can create one music that can make us
listen. Filipinos love music. We create music that signifies and depicts our
everyday life. It is one of our ways to show our Filipino spirit.
