FINAL REQUIREMENT

PHILIPPINE PRE-COLONIAL ART

Art in Pre-colonial Philippines was integral to the everyday lives of pre-colonial

Filipinos, so they were more functional in nature as seen in the tools and weapons used
by them. The prominent forms of art in the Philippines during the pre-colonial period
emanate the rich culture of the Filipinos even before the colonization period.
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard
materials, typically stone such as marble, metal, glass, or wood, or plastic materials
such as clay, textiles, polymers, and softer metals. Bul-ul is a carved Anito figures of the
Ifugao. It represents their ancestral spirit and granary gods. Seated ifugao "bulul" at the
conclusion of the annual ifugao harvest ritual "bululs" placed in rice granaries are
considered guardians of the harvest. Other Filipinos’ ethnic art include the bamboo art
of the Igorots as well as the human and animal representations of the Ifugaos in their
carvings. But one of the most compelling examples of pre-colonization was the
Sarimanok, which is the ethnic art of the Maranaos. It comes from the word Sari
meaning assorted and Manok which is the Filipino word for Chicken. According to one
legend, Raja Indarapatra had a romantic relationship with the Maranao moon goddess,
who comes down to earth every Friday. Raja Indarapatra eventually joined the goddess
to her realm forever by riding the Sarimanok.
As local communities become more established, art became more decorative, as
seen in their jewelries, beads, amulets, and other accessories. Their bark cloths also
became more creative and filled with attractive colors. Partial nudity was always an
option for men and women. Visayan men especially would have wanted to display their
hard-earned tattoos. This is not to say that Filipinos did not have more elaborate
clothing. Headdresses, blouses, tunics, scarves or ankle-length robes were worn on
formal occasions and both men and women wore skirts of various styles. As with any
material archive, examining the clothing of our ancestors can give us a peek into their
complex world. For one, visual evidence of the pre-colonial Filipina’s place in society
can be found in her fashion choices. A garment that gives a good glimpse into the
everyday tasks of women are garments styled as skirts. Specifics in the garment's
silhouette show its day-to-day usage, and the textile — from its design to intricacy —
holds significant cultural meaning. Normal clothing for men in most parts of the
Philippines was the bahag, which is usually translated into English as a “G-string” but
this is misleading. In many communities, a bahag was actually a piece of cloth almost a
metre wide and four to five metres in length. Women wore tube skirts or wrap-around
skirts.

Body art also in the form of tattoos was more than just fashionable and for them it
was a symbol of strength, bravery, and social status. For Visayan men, tattoos were a
symbol of bravery, which were earned in battle. A man’s first tattoos were applied to his
legs near the ankle and as more tattoos were earned, they were applied farther up his
body. Only the most elite warriors had tattoos on their faces, the ultimate being applied
to their eyelids. Visayan women only decorated their hands with fine-lined tattoo
designs. Tattoos were not common among Tagalogs – the men displayed their military
accomplishments with a red potong, which was like a turban. Filipino tattoos have a rich
history, dating back to before the Philippine Islands were colonized by Spaniards. When
Spanish ships first arrived there, they were greeted by the heavily tattooed Visayas tribe
and they called the islands "La Isla De Los Pintados" which meant the "Islands of the
Painted Ones." In the Philippines, tattoos were seen as a source of accomplishment
and rank. Men bore ink on their chests and heads as signs of their strength as warriors.
Women wore detailed lines on their arms and wrists (Visays and Mindanao tribes) or full
chest and arm tattoos (Luzon Mountain tribes) and they were seen as marks of beauty. 
Most tattoos were earned through the passage of rites ceremonies, or for accomplishing
tasks. The styles varied depending on the region and tribe that the people came from. In
the early 1900s, before headhunting was outlawed by American authorities, tattoos
were commonly seen among the Bontoc Igorot and Kalinga tribes. Tattoos worn by the
Bontoc Igorots men symbolized the number of human heads he took during a headhunt.
The Kalinga tribe would tattoo their warriors on their hands and wrists after their first kill
and the designs and placement would get more elaborate and more broad the more
heads they acquired. Tattooing instruments during this time were usually made from
wood or animal horn, carved about 10 cm long and 2 mm thick. Needles were then
affixed to the tool and the tattoo was applied by tapping with a wooden hammer. The
pigment ink came from tree resin and soot and was rubbed into the wound as the tattoo
was applied. Most tribes had an appointed tattooist for those worthy of receiving the
tattoos.

As for women, weaving was a preoccupation. According to various accounts of

early explorers of the pre-colonial era, the Filipino people used fibers made from natural
materials, such as abaca (Manila hemp), maguey, pineapple, cotton and tree bark, to
weave textiles, clothes, rugs, hats and baskets, along with quilts and bedding. Weaving
was an inextricable part of the Filipino people’s lifestyle. All clothing items, such as the
Malong and the Tapis, were made of hand-woven fabric. The quality of the weaves was
based on how soft, tightly woven and clean their patterns were. Favorite themes
included thick multi-colored stripes and clear patterns. Various regions of the country
are very well known for their intricately woven textiles, ranging from the pinya cloth, a
sheer kind of weave which is made of fibers that are extracted from the leaves of the
pineapple plant, to colorful tapestries and waist cloths of different tribes, made of cotton
or other, Western materials. The Filipino people were also masters in basket weaving,
since necessity lead them to construct light, hardy and comfortable baskets in which
they could safely and relatively easily transport their belongings. They also made
storage baskets, lunch baskets, as well as trapping baskets, which were used to trap
fish in rice paddies, each featuring their own special technique. Apart from fabric and
baskets, the Filipino people would weave beautiful mats to be used as bedding. They
were usually seen as a woman’s work, and were made of leaves of the pandan or the
buri palm. Decorated with stripes, simple linear patterns were formed using natural
fibers, which were typically stripped, boiled and dyed before being woven together. Mats
were so popular that they were sometimes used as currency in markets.

Pre-colonial works of art derive from the cultures of the Negritos, Indonesians,
and Malay, who are the ancestors of the Filipinos. Their strong influence manifests on
the ornamental carvings on combs, zigzag designs on ancient lime tubes (negritos), the
apparel of the Kalingas, Maranaos, and Manobos, and Bagobos (Indonesian) and the
wood carvings in wooden shields, boats, and utensils (Malay). With these, This helped
Philippines to develop their own way of living, their own culture such as pottery,
weaving, woodcarving, jewelry, etc. that they could use for their everyday living.
Philippine pre-colonial art reflects nature and the life of the common folk through various
media techniques and processes based on the factors of time, climate, resources, ideas
and historical and cultural context.

REFERENCES
Morrow, P. (2016). What did pre-colonial filipinos look like? Retrieved from
https://www.pilipino-express.com/history-a-culture/in-other-words/3249-what-did-
pre-colonial-filipinos-look-like.html.
Ramos, D. (2021). 5 skirt-like garments that shine a light on pre-colonial Filipino
women.
Retrieved from https://cnnphilippines.com/life/style/fashion/2021/3/10/pre-
colonial-filipino-women-dress.html.
Ratte, D. (2015). The history of weaving part 1 – asia. Retrieved from
https://wildtussah.com/history-weaving-
2/#:~:text=According%20to%20various%20accounts%20of,along%20with
%20quilts%20and%20bedding.