Notes on Philippine Contemporary Arts (Study Guide)

Festivals

  • Festivals as a common collaborative art across Philippine regions; serve as celebrations for patron saints (Catholic Spanish-colonial influence), thanksgiving for harvests, commemorations of events, or tributes to special occasions or local specialties.
  • Festivals showcase collaboration across art forms and styles; a festival may include street dancing, singing competitions, architectural decors like floats, and more.
  • Some festivals have become tourist attractions.
    • Sinulog Festival (Cebu): held every third Sunday of January; honors the image Sto. Niño de Cebu, brought by Spaniards when they landed in Mactan in 1521.
    • Dinagyang Festival (Iloilo): celebrated every fourth Sunday of January; honors Sto. Niño; commemorates the arrival of Malay settlers in Panay and the selling of the island to them by the Atis.
    • Ati-Atihan (Kalibo, Aklan): held on the third Sunday of January; features a parade of drum-beating Ati-Atihan (make-believe Atis) and the cry of "hala bira".
    • Pahiyas Festival (Lucban, Quezon): May 15; in honor of San Isidro Labrador; houses along the procession route decorated with colorful kiping (colored and cooked rice dough) with leaf-shape designs.
    • Moriones Festival (Marinduque): re-enacts the story of Longinus, the centurion who pierced Jesus’ side; held during Holy Week of Lent.
    • Pamulinawen Festival (Laog, Ilocos Norte): honors Our Lady of Peace; held every tenth of February.
    • Sambali festival (Piat, Cagayan): week-long festival in the last week of June; commemorates the Sambali tribe’s conversion to Christianity.
    • Hermosa Festival / Fiesta Pilar (Zamboanga): month-long festival in October; honors the image of Our Lady of the Pilar.
    • Tabako Festival (Candon, Ilocos Sur): last week of March; gratitude for a bountiful harvest.
    • Butanding Festival (Donsol, Sorsogon, Bicol): April 28–30; ushers in the whale shark season; thanksgiving and blessings for the community.
    • Kadayawan Annual Festival (Davao City): held in the third week of August; thanksgiving for gifts of nature and a celebration of life.
    • Panagbenga Festival (Baguio City): festival of flowers; started to revive the city’s industry after the 1990 Luzon earthquake; has become a Baguio trademark.
    • Pattaraday Festival (Santiago City, Cagayan): first week of May; commemorates the founding anniversary of the city; brings together several ethnic groups; ybanag meaning of "pattaraday" is "unity".
    • Maskara Festival (Bacolod City): third week of October; pays tribute to the sugar industry; performers wear smiling masks to symbolize brighter light despite the industry’s decline in the 1970s.
    • F’lomlok Festival (Polomolok, South Cotabato): showcases local products; "F’lomlok" is the B’laan term for "hunting grounds".
    • Gameng Festival (Solsona, Ilocos Norte, January): celebrates food specialties; empanada in Ilocos Norte (December); also features pinakbet, bagnet, tinadok, and other exotic foods in Gameng.
    • Bangus Festival (Dagupan City, Pangasinan): held from April to the first week of May; celebrates the dairy-like harvest and local industry.
  • Fluvial parades are another popular form of festival expression.
    • Our Lady of Penafrancia procession (Naga City, September): millions of pilgrims and visitors participate.
    • Aparri procession of hundred decorated boats (Cagayan) on May 10 honoring St. Peter Thelmo.
  • Some festivals are sponsored by government tourism offices to attract visitors, while others may be politically motivated to push local interests.
  • Overall significance: festivals provide temporary escape and sacred or communal meaning through artistic expression, community bonding, and economic benefit.

Rituals

  • Definition: rituals or rites are a series of ceremonies or prescribed actions performed for a specific purpose; can be ceremonial, religious, betrothal/marriage, rite of passage, and more.
  • Characteristics:
    • Can be simple or complex, private or public, lasting minutes or days.
    • Often accompanied by dancing.
  • Purpose and belief:
    • Rituals arise from needs such as establishing order and harmony within individuals, villages, or communities.
    • Express the interrelationship of humans, nature, and the spirit world; balance must be maintained to achieve order and harmony.
  • Key practitioners:
    • Baylan (priest) or babaylan (priestess) perform rites.
    • Shaman or seer may act as intermediary between humans and the spirit world, sometimes employing magic.
  • Everyday rituals:
    • Rituals extend into ordinary life (e.g., daily routines such as preparing for school, washing hands, combing hair).
    • Family social rituals include beso (greeting among friends) and pagmamano (children showing respect to elders).

Materials and Tools in Filipino Arts

  • Materials enable artists to make thoughts and feelings visible; transform ideas into tangible forms for audiences.
  • Historical/material uses by art form:
    • Literature: paper and pen or a typewriter.
    • Visual arts: paint, paper, canvas.
    • Music: instrument and/or musical sheet.
  • Some Western materials (e.g., oil paints and brushes) remain used for classical forms but are costly; artists develop alternatives.
  • Indigenous tools and found objects:
    • Filipino contemporary artists rediscover indigenous tools and adapt them for new art forms.
    • Two forms of materials: support and medium.
  • Support vs. medium:
    • Support: primary material (e.g., paper, canvas, stone, textile) or secondary material (e.g., paper glued or mounted on cardboard, textile over wood).
    • Medium: the tangible substance used to realize the artwork (e.g., ink in writing and drawing).
  • Choosing materials is flexible; artists draw on surroundings and available resources; experimentation leads to new possibilities.
  • Notable example:
    • Found objects used in assemblage and installation art; found instruments used in performances.
    • Levi Celerio (National Artist for Music) famously used a leaf between his lips to hum tunes; during Christmas, children sing carols using tin cans, sticks, or stones.

Musical Instruments and Traditional/Indigenous Ensembles

  • Rondalla:
    • A string ensemble with roots in Spanish heritage; instruments include banduria, octavina, and laud; picks traditionally made from tortoise shell.
  • Regional traditional instruments:
    • Cordillera (Mt. Province): gangsa (gong), kalaleng or tangali (nose flute) made of bamboo, tongatong (bamboo percussion) used by Kalinga, solibao (Igorot drum with pigskin), ulibaw (jew’s harp).
    • Mindanao: kulintang (set of gongs on a narrow table) played by Maranao and Maguindanao; kutyapi (two-stringed lute) played by Maguindanao.
  • Visual and stage considerations:
    • Lights are needed for performances unless outdoors in daylight; traditional theatres use curtains; modern productions employ alternative lighting effects.
    • Footwear: traditional dancers wore soft shoes; contemporary performances allow various footwear or barefoot dancing; bakya (wooden shoes) have appeared in modern choreography (e.g., bakya dancing in Quezon City under Tony Fabella and Eddie Elejar).

Hybridization of Materials and Practice

  • There is a crossover between local/traditional and contemporary art forms.
  • Historically, materials were restricted to Western mediums; now local, traditional, and alternative materials are used—mixed media has become popular.
  • Filipinos are noted for ingenuity and adaptability in using materials; experimentation and innovation are integral to daily life and artistic practice.

Technique in the Creation of Arts

  • Two broad definitions:
    • Technique as process or method using available materials.
    • Technique as the artist’s skill to execute the work and achieve the intended effect.
  • Applicability across disciplines:
    • Writing technique: arranging words and thoughts to create mood or atmosphere; evoke intended feelings.
    • Musical technique: handling instrument to interpret composition and convey emotion.
    • Visual design technique: approach to using the medium to achieve the desired result.
    • Theatre technique: acting methods using facial expressions, gesture, and movement to portray character.
    • Dance technique: movement to express emotion or a state; involves time, space, shape, and energy in a nonverbal, emotional context.

Choreography Techniques

  • Two fundamental dance methods:
    • Planned choreography: movements and forms prescribed in detail; limits dancer creativity.
    • Improvisation (interpretative dancing): general instructions allow dancers to interpret; enables personal expression.
  • Traditional techniques still in use:
    • Mirroring: dancers face each other and perform same steps.
    • Retrograde: reverse performance of a sequence.
    • Canon: dancers perform similar steps in a staggered, cumulative fashion.
    • Levels: varying dancer positions (height/space).
    • Shadowing: one dancer follows behind another performing same steps.
    • Unison: all dancers perform moves together.
  • Noted Filipino choreographers (for study/watch):
    • Lucrecia R. Urtula (National Artist) – Bayanihan Dance Company.
    • Leonor Orosa Goquingco – Filipinescas Dance Company.
    • Ramon Obusan – Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group.
    • Alice Reyes – Ballet Philippines.
    • Agnes C. Locsin; Shirley Halili-Cruz; Basilio Esteban Villaruz; Tony Fabella (late); Edna Vida – Ballet Philippines.
  • Suggested activity: watch choreography directed by these artists to observe common techniques.

Acting and Theatre Techniques

  • Acting techniques deal with characterizing human experience to create mood and heighten tension.
  • Tools include coordinating facial expressions, gesture, and speech to convey emotion; actors learn rhythms, word stress, and cues; breathing life into a character; adding action to words for meaning.
  • Movement aspects: rhythm, pace, pause, silence, voice, eye contact, physical contact, contrast, positioning, timing.
  • Theatre vs film differences:
    • Theatre actors may exaggerate movements for visibility to live audiences.
    • Film actors’ subtlety is enhanced by close shots and camera work.
  • Notable performers and recognition:
    • National Artists: Daisy Avellana, Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ); Lea Salonga (Tony Award winner); Nora Aunor; Gina Pareño.

Theatre Personalities, Groups, and Regions

  • Directors (noted Philippine theatre practitioners): Onofre Pagsanghan, Jose Estrella, Anton Juan, Maribel Legarda, Nick Lizaso, Soxie Topacio, Behn Cervantes.
  • Playwrights (prized Filipino writers): Nicanor Tiongson (also art critic), Tony Perez, Paul Dumol, Bienvenido Noriega Jr., Alberto S. Florentino, Rody Vera, Jesus T. Peralta.
  • Regional and NCR theatre groups and institutions:
    • National Capital Region (NCR): Dulaang UP, Anak-Tibawan, UP Repertory Company; Tanghalang Ateneo (Ateneo de Manila University); Dulaang Sibol (high school); Ateneo Children’s Theatre; Harlequin Theatre (De La Salle University);
    • Teatro Tomasino (UST); Sining Lahi Polyrepertory (PUP); Adamson University’s Adamson Company of Talents; Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas (Amelia Lapena-Bonifacio) – children’s theatre and puppetry.
    • Regional groups: Teatro Umalohokan (UP Los Baños); Dulaang UP Baguio; Tanghalang-SLU (St. Louis University, Baguio); Dagyaw Dance and Theatre Company (Iloilo); University of San Carlos Theatre Guild (Cebu); Dulaang Atenista (Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro); Integrated Performing Arts Group (Mindanao State University, Iligan); Sining Kambayoka (Marawi).

Activity 4.2: Traditional and Alternative Materials Sampler (Overview)

  • What you need:
    • 6 sheets of bond paper per art form;
    • Cutout images or drawings of materials used in different art forms;
    • Pen, glue, scissors, folder, envelope, box or container.
  • What to do:
    • Look for samples from old newspapers/magazines or print/draw actual samples.
    • Gather at least 6 samples of traditional and alternative materials for each form (visual arts, music, literary composition, and a musical instrument).
    • Use one paper per art form sampler.
  • How to arrange:
    • 4. Formal: neatly arranged in rows and columns.
    • 5. Informal: collage-style arrangement.
    • 6. Label each material and briefly describe its use or treatment (e.g., textured paper for collage, musical instrument).
    • 7. Note materials used particularly in your region’s art form.
    • 8. Place samples in a folder, envelope, box, or container; design the casing creatively.

Rubrics and Assessment (Overview)

  • Criteria:
    • Creativity – how detailed, interesting, and bold the work is; willingness to take creative risks.
    • Use of Elements and Principles – understanding and application of art elements and design principles.
    • Craftsmanship – care, detail, neatness.
    • Understanding, Achievement, & Completion – alignment with project requirements; completion level.
    • Effort – planning, dedication, and pride.
  • Point scale:
    • 20 points: Exceptional in all criteria; highly detailed and creative; excellent understanding.
    • 15 points: Generally unique and detailed; good understanding and execution.
    • 10 points: Basic to moderate detail and understanding; adequate execution.
    • 5 points: Minimal detail; basic understanding and effort.
    • 0 points: No originality or understanding; lacks effort.

Connections and Relevance

  • Interconnections across sections:
    • Festivals embody communal art forms that cross music, dance, visual design, and performance; many are rooted in religious, historical, and social contexts akin to rituals.
    • Rituals provide the framework for ceremonial performance, dance, and music in both daily life and communal events.
    • Materials and techniques influence how heritage is preserved and reinterpreted through modern media and hybrid forms (e.g., mixed media, found-object art, installation, and performance art).
    • Traditional instruments and ensembles anchor regional identities while allowing contemporary experimentation and fusion with Western and global influences.
    • Theatre practice (acting, directing, playwrighting) demonstrates how Filipino cultural memory is expressed, contested, and reimagined on stage.
  • Relevance to real-world contexts:
    • Many festivals are leveraged for tourism and local economic development, illustrating the ethics of cultural promotion and potential political motivations.
    • The blend of traditional and contemporary materials shows resilience and ingenuity in Filipino artistic practice, highlighting practical implications for artists working with limited resources.
    • The chapter emphasizes the value of community-based arts education and the growth of school-based theatre groups as incubators for talent.

Ethical, Philosophical, and Practical Implications

  • Ethical considerations:
    • Tourism-driven promotion must balance authenticity with economic interests; risk of commodification of culture.
    • Political motivations behind some festivals require critical reflection on who benefits and whose voices are represented.
  • Philosophical themes:
    • The idea of harmony between humans, nature, and spirit world; balance as a core principle of rituals and performance.
    • The transition from fixed Western standards to local, adaptive, and hybrid practices reflects a philosophy of resilience and discovery in Filipino art.
  • Practical takeaways for study and practice:
    • Understand how material choice, technique, and choreography methods shape artistic outcomes.
    • Recognize the role of community and place in art forms, from regional festivals to NCR theatre groups.
    • Apply the activity framework (materials sampler) to explore both traditional and contemporary resources in visual design, music, writing, choreography, cinema, and theatre.