Untitled Flashcards Set

Secularism - a principle that is for the separation of the government and any religious institution

✔ Social realism - a form of protest art which aims to expose the sociopolitical issues in society.

✔ Martial Law (Philippines) - Known as Proclamation No. 1081, refers to an imposition of military rule

declared by former President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972. It was lifted in January 1981.

✔ Site-specific arts - is artwork created to exist in a certain place

✔ Neoclassicism – an art movement that draws inspirations from the “classical” art and culture of ancient

Greece and Rome.

✔ Modernism – an art movement that departs from traditional forms of art, which they considered

outdated or obsolete. It tends to abstraction, is innovative, aesthetic, futuristic and self-referential.

✔ Postmodernism – refers to an art idea which rejects the authority of any single style or definition of

what art should be

Philippine Art History: Various Art Forms in the Philippines from Ancient to Contemporary

The Philippines is an archipelago with more than 7,000 islands. These islands are the home of people with

different languages, beliefs, cultures, and distinct histories. The country’s diverse ethnolinguistic groups are

testament to its rich culture and traditions. This diversity is observable in the country’s artworks. More than the

geographic influences, art in the Philippines is also influenced by a rich history of its people.

Pre-Colonial Art

Artistic production in the Philippines

started even before the colonizers reached the

Philippine islands. Art was often used by the people

in their daily lives. Our ancestors weaved fabrics for

dresses, made weapons for battles, and chanted to

bring good harvest. Unlike today, indigenous art is

not classified strictly into disciplines. Art, for them,

had social utility; indigenous people integrated art

into their communal ceremonies. Planting and

harvesting, weddings, funerals, and rites of passage

are examples of communal ceremonies.

Rituals played a significant role in the

everyday life of Filipino ancestors. The “Kashawing” ritual in lake Lanao, for example, acts as a prayer for abundance

during harvesting season. It involves a reenactment of a legendary pact between ancestors and unseen spirits. A

similar type of ritual for planting rice is performed by the “Tagbanwas’ of Palawan.

Filipino ancestors harvest and hunt for a living. Their hunting experience also served as an inspiration to

create drama, poetry, music, and dance by imitating the movements of an animal. This is considered a ritual to

Disclaimer: This module is adapted and modified from the source materials listed in the references list. This is the exclusive property of Philippine

Christian University-Dasmariñas SHS and is provided only to enrolled students for their educational use. This module is provided for free by the

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prepare for hunting.

To accompany these rituals, the indigenous peoples also had their own musical instruments. An example of

this is the agung ensemble. Musical instruments, when played, are usually complemented with dances that imitate

the movements of animals. “Higaonon” and “B’laan” have “banog-banog”, and the “Bagobos” have the “man-manok”

dances which imitate the movement of the birds. Meanwhile, the courtship ritual in Ifugao is represented through

the “talip”.

Mostly, indigenous arts were inspired by animism. Indigenous peoples created statue and symbols for their

beliefs. The “Ifugaos” carved the “bulul” which they depict as their granary god. Meanwhile, in the Southern

Philippines, “okir”, a curvilinear decoration, is evidence of Indian and Islamic influences.
Spanish Colonial Art

During the 16th century, upon the arrival of the

Spaniards, indigenous art changed. Spanish colonization

brought Catholicism and imposed their Western culture.

This conversion caused the birth of the religious or

Christian and folk arts. Towns or pueblos were created in

a structure of plaza complexes, with the church at the

center of each town. Churches and government offices

were built, and the rise of Hispanic baroque structures

were built across the Islands.

With the rise of Catholicism, religious icons like

the santos, retablos, and others became essential for

religious rituals. Paintings also focused on visually

representing the writings of the Bible, and therefore conveyed religious messages. Music, an essential part of

worship, thus focused on liturgical music. Apart from worship music, the “pasyon or pabasa”, a narration of Christ’s

passion portrayed during Lent season, were also observed in some places. There was also a massive emergence of

secular music in Iloilo, Pampanga, Ilocos, and Bicol when the Spanish tradition of “awit and korido” became

popularized. Spanish colonization also marks the rise of the “kundiman and the balitao”. This development in music

also affected theater arts, and soon the “sarsuwela, senakulo, and the komedya” were born in the Philippines.

During then, Filipinos became enlightened of the continuous abuse by the colonial government and the friars.

This resulted in a rebellion. Thus, revolutionary, and subversive themes became prominent. A popular example of

such artwork is “Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo” by Dr. Jose Rizal.

American and Japanese Colonial Art

Americans introduced the public education system in the Philippines. Their schools, however, required

students to learn English. This brought forth Philippine Literature in English. Initially, these pieces are characterized

by a poor use of language as the Filipinos only mimicked their American teachers. Soon, in 1925, Paz Marquez Benitez

published the short story “Dead Stars”, marking the birth of modern Philippine Literature in English. In music, the

original Spanish version of Lupang Hinirang which is the “Marcha Nacional Filipina” was translated to English and was

Disclaimer: This module is adapted and modified from the source materials listed in the references list. This is the exclusive property of Philippine

Christian University-Dasmariñas SHS and is provided only to enrolled students for their educational use. This module is provided for free by the

school through softcopy and printed media. Reproduction of this module without official permission is prohibited.

entitled “Philippine Hymn”, it was written by Senator

Camilo Osías and an American named Mary A. Lane.

The Americans also popularized “secularism”,

as evidenced by popular art forms of the century such

as the “vaudeville or bodabil” in theater. The School

of Fine Arts, alongside the establishment of the

University of the Philippines (UP), was also founded

thus giving birth to Filipino artists educated in the

Western ways. For example, Fernando Amorsolo,

known for his craftsmanship in the use of light, was

educated in UP’s School of Fine Arts and is highly

influenced by Western artists.

When the Japanese briefly occupied the

Philippines during the 1940s, they set out to conquer

the Filipinos through propaganda and sense of

Nationalism. The “Sendenbu or the Propaganda

Corps”, a Japanese colonial department, was

established to carry out the cultural policy program.

Felipe Padilla de Leon was commissioned to make

“Awit sa Paglikha ng Bagong Pilipinas or Tindig Aking

Inang Bayan” which was used to replace Lupang

Hinirang during Japanese Occupation.

Contemporary Arts in the Philippines

When the late former president Ferdinand Marcos started his administration, the birth of Contemporary Arts

in the Philippines began. Culture and the arts were given focus on his vision of the “New Society.” The optimism

toward a new beginning was articulated for example in the making of “Bagong Lipunan or March of the New Society”,

a patriotic song for the New Society. The lyrics were written by Levi Celerio and the music was composed by Felipe

Padilla de León. The Cultural Center of the Philippines was then established, and urban planning and architecture

were given more focused.

However, the declaration of Martial Law

(1972 - 1981) gave birth to dictatorship and

numerous human rights violations. With that

emerged “social realism”. Underground cultural

circles and writers hiding in pen names were popular

as censorship was popular during that time. Literary

arts, visual arts, and performing arts were used to

express dissent. An example of this is the poem

Prometheus Unbound written by Jose Lacaba under

the pen name Ruben Cuevas. The piece is an

acrostic, which means the first letter of each line

forms a message. The acrostic revealed a strong

sentiment against the administration and became a

popular slogan against the regime as the piece was published, the editor unaware of its hidden message, was

published in Focus Magazine.

Disclaimer: This module is adapted and modified from the source materials listed in the references list. This is the exclusive property of Philippine

Christian University-Dasmariñas SHS and is provided only to enrolled students for their educational use. This module is provided for free by the

school through softcopy and printed media. Reproduction of this module without official permission is prohibited.

When Martial Law was lifted and the

Marcos regime ended, democracy was

reintroduced to the Filipino people. This new era

paved the way for a more diverse and more

expressive Filipino artists. No longer did the

Filipinos exclusively made art for or against the

government; now, art is a tool mainly used for

self-expression. With the rapid rise of technology

and the popularity of social media, Filipinos find

more platforms and ways to express themselves,

thereby continuously changing the art scene.

Contemporary art is distinct because of how it

blurs the lines across artistic disciplines, and how

it integrates various elements and principles.