Contemporary Art Crafts Welcome to the ninth module of the course on Philippine Contemporary Art

from the Regions. For this chapter, we will discuss art crafts made by contemporary artists. In this
chapter you will be able to familiarize yourself with the different contemporary art crafts in different
regions. You will be able to identify and compare these contemporary art forms. You will also learn how
to describe and analyze these contemporary art forms. You will be able to classify and compare these
art forms and research on them. You will also learn the guide in how to describe and appreciate these
art crafts. Culture in the Arts Artists are able to show their feelings, ideas, perspective, views about life
and reactions to issues through art. And as artists are part of their culture and society, their experiences
within their culture and society are also reflected in their art. In this sense, art objects have cultural
significance, of which the artist is a part. Being part of their culture and society, their experiences are
objectified in their carvings, chants, dances and other art forms. Artists materialize a way of
experiencing and bring a particular way of thinking out into the world of objects, where others can look
at it. These arts, in any form, represent what is meaningful to a group of people or culture. Although art
crafts in the Philippine regions have retained many elements that characterize the locality from which
they come from, folk arts have evolved to satisfy the changing local and global demands. Crafts in the
contemporary times in the Philippines are in the form of bags, mats, textile, baskets, footwear, ceramic
pot, clay pottery, jewelry, metalwork, to name a few. Some of the materials used are pandan (seagrass),
coconut leaves, abaca buri (palm), piña, shell, or bamboo. Contemporary Expressions Inspired by Folk
Arts Folk arts are pieces produced by indigenous people, which are for practical use and also as
decoration. It uses plants that are abundant locally, like pandan, buri, abaca, piña, or bamboo.
Therefore, different places specialize in their own folk art. For example, in Ilocos, they have the inabel
weave and the handwoven binakul. Abaca is most dominant in the Bicol region and is used to make
sandals, bags, rags and handicrafts. Samals of Sulu makes woven buri mats. Pandan leaves are dyed
green and then buri strips are interwoven with the base design in Samar. 9.0 Contemporary Art Crafts 2
Folk arts have evolved in the different regions as they have been influenced by globalization, new
techniques aided by technology, global aesthetic, and market demand. For example, the banig is made
from pandan and were traditionally woven into sleeping mats in its natural color. Now, different types
of banig are produced in different colors and are designed with flowers, birds, or geometric shapes.
They are not just used for sleeping mats anymore, they are also used for making bags, wall decors and
throw pillow cases. The contemporary expressions inspired by folk arts are as follows:  Woven products
(textile, fabrics and clothing) Locally and globally, our woven products are being used for clothing, bags
and accessories and they are based on folk art and design. More people are able to recognize and
appreciate our products and this provides more employment and encourage development and
sustainability of the art craft industry. With modern technology, fashion designers are able to make the
very texturized quality of our local products better for comfort and style. They have been successful in
bringing our local fabrics to the fashion industries and to the global consumer market. The Barong has
been around since the Spanish rule in the Philippines. The fabric was made of piña, jusi, abaca or
banana. Variations of the original barong have been created by contemporary fashion designers and can
now also be worn by women. There is a variety of embroidery design and they come in different colors,
like red, blue, brown, yellow and green. The “polo barong” is another variety, which was designed to be
worn at work. It has short sleeves and are made of cotton, ramie or chiffonille.