CONTEMPORARY ARTS FROM PHILIPPINE REGIONS

MODULE 1
What is Art?
- Use of various creative disciplines and produced by human creativity and skill to express oneself.
- The most familiar: visual and performing arts.

A. Visual Arts - Experienced and appreciated primarily through the sense of sight.
 Three (3) Art Forms of Visual Arts (FDC)
1. Fine Arts - are the artworks created primarily for its appearance rather than its practical use. Art concerned with
beauty.
Examples/ Art Forms: drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, sketching, calligraphy, graphic art, and print
2. Decorative Arts - are both aesthetically pleasing and functional. Arts that are not just beautiful but are useful as
well.
Examples/ Art Forms: pottery, weaving, carving, furniture, interior design, jewellery, metal work, glassware,
earthenware, embroidery, basketry and textile art
3. Contemporary Art Forms - are recently conceived art styles and techniques that are not easily categorized as
fine arts and decorative arts.
Examples/ Art Forms: assemblage, mosaic, collage, digital art, installation and land art

B. Performing Arts - Artists use their voices and their body movements to communicate artistic expression.
 Three (3) Types of Performing Arts (MDT)
1. Music - is a universal form of art. It is the manipulation of sound and silence. It can be performed live or recorded
and can be prepared in advance or improvised.
2. Dance - regulated and deliberated order of body movements accompanied by music.
3. Theater - involves the integration and combination of the visual and performing arts. It is where actors perform
experiences whether real or imagined in front of a live audience.

Why do Artists Create Art? (RWIS)

1. Recognition - Some artists create art in hopes of gaining fame and fortune.
2. Worship - Not all artists create for personal recognition; some do it to glorify their creator.
3. Impulse - Some artists create art because they are driven by their passion, and nothing makes them happier than doing their
chosen art.
4. Self-Expression - Artists express ideas and emotions that might not be adequately expressed through words.

Filipino Art Tendencies (BMHM)

1. Broadest aspect technique - Filipino artworks often try to show the sides of an object, depicting how Filipinos think it looks
like rather than how it is actually seen.
2. Multiple focal points - It represents the sentiments of the different members of society.
3. Highly expressive - This tendency holds especially true for the performing arts, where Filipinos excel. In the visual arts this
is carried over through the colorful artworks.
4. Maximalism - Filipino art has an inclination to fill up space with forms and ornamentation.

MODULE 2
TRADITIONAL ARTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Philippine traditional arts – also boast of rich songs and dances in the regions and these songs and dances are handed over
by master craftsmen to their younger generations.
 Three (3) Traditional Arts in the Philippines (AMP)
1. Animism – Its intention is to depict something of the people’s gods and goddesses. Resulting in the creation of
abstract symbols of animistic figures like the sun, the moon, and other human figures.
2. Modernism – The painters represented subject matters that were about the social and economic life of the
Filipinos. They depicted works of contemporary issues, conditions, aspirations, and dreams of the Filipino
masses.
3. Post Modernism - They believed that artists should no longer try to create something new. All they needed to
do was to “borrow, combine, explore” what was already existing to produce something new.
 Features of Post Modernism
 Pastiche - It refers to the blurring of divisions between fine art and commercial art, and high culture
and low culture, highbrow and lowbrow.
 Bricolage - It refers to a creation or construction that uses a diverse range of materials-from mass
produced to recovered objects.
 Appropriation - This refers to the use of the style and content of another culture for a performance
or an artwork.
 Installation - It is an art made indoors or outdoors where a particular space is transformed into a
three-dimensional artwork.
 Traditional Arts Contemporary Arts
 Part of the culture of the Filipino people, skills and
Evolves around the artist and his/her feelings, thoughts,
knowledge of which are passed down vs.
and messages to his/her audience and is not bounded
through generations from master
by any rule or standard.
craftsmen to apprentices.

MODULE 3
Fine Arts - the majority of the contemporary art produced in the Philippines are paintings, sculptures and drawings.
 Paintings and Illustrations - a two-dimensional form of art that showcases artistic expression created on a flat surface.
 Six (6) Painting Themes (RHPSLG)
1. Religious themes - It can be seen in the murals of many churches and in paintings with social commentaries.
2. Historical themes –inspired by the history of one’s country.
3. Portraiture paintings – these are used to commemorate personalities and are seen in many formal
institutions such as government offices.
4. Still Life – a work of art that inanimate object.
5. Landscapes – depicts the beauty of nature and outdoors.
6. Genres - showcases people doing everyday activities and chores.
 Sculptures – artworks that are three-dimensional.
 Two (2) Types of Sculptures (FR)
1. Free standing sculptures – raised independently in its given space.
2. Reliefs – rose from a background.
Decorative Arts – the majority of the decorative arts produced in the Philippines are paintings, sculptures and drawings.
 Pottery – art and craft of making pots and other wares using clay or mud.
 Carving – art of manipulating and creating objects by subtracting and shaping solid material such as wood and stone.
 Weaving – art of interlacing threads or fibers to create textile, fabric or other similar products from indigenous plants such
as piña, abaca, maguey and cotton.
 Metalwork – art of creating and manipulating metal to create various items such as jewellery and weapons.

MODULE 4
Music - is an art concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional expression, usually
according to cultural standards of rhythm, and melody.
 Genres of Music
1. Kundiman and Harana - It signifies love and affection for someone.
2. Ballad - Traditional ballad is a song that narrates an event in a community while modern ballad has been applied
to describe love songs.
3. Chamber music - It is a form of instrumental music composed by a small ensemble wherein each part is played
by one player, as an opposed to orchestra where a part is performed by a group of musicians.
4. Choral Music - Choral music is music performed by a group of singers or a choir.
5. Liturgical Music - Songs that are intended for Christian church services.
6. Opera - It is the combination of both music and theater.
7. Pop Music - Music that is readily available to the broad populace. Pop music is the genre of popular music that
produces the most hits. A hit is a song that sells many copies, and the latest hits are listed every week on the
charts.
8. Protest songs - These are the songs that bring to light injustices and inequality in society. Protest music is music
that aims to send social messages and make a change.

MODULE 5
CONTEMPORARY DANCE FORMS
1. Aerobic Dance - dance routine made into an exercise program that is usually accompanied by upbeat music.
2. Ballet - this is a kind of dance wherein it follows a strict set of moves and performance.
3. Folk Dance - These are traditional dances that are used by ethnic groups to celebrate their identity and are based on
their literature, legends and beliefs.
4. Street Dance - A dance form that began in urban open spaces, such as parks, streets, yards and night clubs rather than
in formal studios.

KINDS OF THEATER
1. Stage Show or Bodabil - theatrical presentation of various acts of performances such as comedy skits, circus acts,
musical and dance numbers, acrobatics, magic shows and the like.
2. Children’s Theater - intended to educate, inspire and encourage creativity and value formation.
3. Melodrama - the main characters are often a victim of tragedy and those who suffer cruelty.
4. Dramatic monologue – a play wherein an individual actor speaks and acts out the character’s thoughts and emotions.
This is a one-person performance.
 5. Tula Dula - it is minimalist in attack wherein a poem is dramatized by a narrator who recites the piece and two to three
actors provide the movement and the sound effects.
6. Musical Theater - is a form of dramatic production combining acting, singing, and dancing to tell a story.
7. Epic poetry - considered the highest point of Filipino folk literature, and dates back to the pre-colonial period. Commonly
presented during festivals and gatherings such as weddings, baptisms, and wakes.

Contemporary Visual Artists

Filipino Artists Materials Used Technique
Uses folk subjects and myths from Filipino
1.Rodel Tapaya Large acrylic on canvasses
folktales.
2. Dexter Sy Use of Catholic images Uses mix heritage of being a Filipino-Chinese.
3. Ronald Riel Jaramillo
Wood figures Rebulto carving
Hilario
Recycling scraps and re-creating to form another
4. Clifford Espinosa Second-hand wood
craft.
5. John Paul Antido Paint and canvas. Impasto technique - use of bright and vivid colors
6. Ricky Ambagan Oil and acrylic on canvas Inspiration on daily life of Filipinos.
7. Aze Ong Crochet Crocheted patterns
Projects marginalized communities and social
8. Alma Urduja Quinto Recyclable materials
issues.