Various Art Forms Featuring “The Arts of the Past”

PRE-CONQUEST / PRE-COLONIAL ART FORMS

- Early Filipinos use art as an expression of individual, and were all integrated within
rituals that marked significant events like painting, harvesting, wedding, funeral, and etc.
- It is influenced by the geographical location and the experiences of Filipinos.
- Folk literature like folk songs and narratives, speaks of their experiences.
- Theatrical arts are about tribal presentation, and rituals which speaks of their belief.
Example:
● POTTERY
Manunggul Jar
- Burial jar found in Manunggul Cave in Palawan
● SCULPTURE
Bul-ul
- A guardian figure of the Ifugao people (representation of rice divinities protecting the
seeds and the harvest)
- It also appears in containers, bowls, and spoons.
● WEAVING
Pis sayabit and Malong
- Textile weaving (uses back-strap loom or pedal loom)
- Fibers are gathered from plants like cotton, abaca and pineapple leaves, while the
pigments are extracted from clay, roots and leaves of plants.
- Pis Sayab is a headpiece cloth by the Tausug of Sulu and Malong with exquisite tapestry
panels called langkit are woven by the Maranao of Lanao del Sur
● ARCHITECTURE
BAHAY KUBO (nipa hut)
- Basic form of architecture in the pre-colonial times (shelter )
- Made of impermanent materials (cogon, sawali, nipa, coconut and wood)
Example: Torogan
- royal house of datu and his family in Mindanao
- Also used as a meeting place for his people
 ● BOXER CODEX
- Earliest manuscript which features the representations of various ethnolinguistic groups.
- Upper class tagalog were shown to be well-ornamented of gold jewelry, while the early
Visayans were fully covered by tattoo.
● RITUALS
- When our ancestors, prepare themselves for the hunt, they prayed to be endowed with
the animal they hunted, partition what they hunted, gathered and feasted what they
caught, they were in fact performing rituals.
LITERATURE
- When our ancestors told stories about their hunt, they devised an alphabet and write
stories down, they marked the beginning of literature.
- Baybayin/ Alibata

The forms of literature are classified between written or oral.

Examples of oral literature: maxims (sabi), bugtong (riddles), boat song (talindaw), victory
songs (tagumpay), lullaby (uyayi), wedding song (ihiman), and war song (kumintang)
Examples of written literature are: Biag ni Lam-Ang (Ilocano epic), Indarapatra at Sulayman
and Bidasari (Muslim Epics), and Handiong (Bicolanos)
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
- possessed a varied and vibrant musicale culture ethnic musical instruments (pipes,
flutes, drums)
- various string instruments (kudyapi, kulintang, gansa and gong)
MUSIC AND DANCE
- When our ancestors learned how to use drums and attach rhythm to their movement,
they have given birth to music and dance.
FOLK DANCES
- Native dance forms imitated the movements of animals
Examples:
1. Pangalay Dance (Sulu) – mimetic of the movement of sea birds
2. Mandaya’ Kinabua, Banog-banog (Higaonon and B’laan) and man-manok
(Bagobos in Mindanao) – imitated the movements of predatory birds
3. Talip Dance (Ifugao) – used for courtship and is mimetic of movements of wild fowls
4. Inamo Dance (Matigsalugs) and Kadaliwas Dance (T’boli) – represents the comedic
movement of the monkey
5. Tinikling Dance (Leyte) – evocative of the movements of the crane
THEATER
- When our ancestors imitated the movements of animals they hunted, they marked the
beginning of theater or play acting.

ISLAMIC ERA (13th century-present)

Islam - Arabic word that means ‘submission’, and derives from a word meaning ‘peace’
- In religious context, it means complete submission to the will of God.
ISLAMIC ERA
- Even before the coming of Spanish colonizers, Islam was already well entrenched in
Southern Philippines.
- Filipino Muslims recognize that they belong to an ummah or a community of believers.
- Central to the Islamic faith is the doctrine of Tawhid or unity of God.
How Islam influenced arts?
- Unlike other religious traditions which make use of icons, in Islam, divine unity is
expressed through abstract forms and patterns that compel the believer to engage in
mental concentration.
- They use design that represent the nature and the greatness of divine being.
3 General Characteristics of Islamic Art forms:
1. Absence of Human form
2. Use of Plant forms
3. Use of Geometric designs
Important Events
1. Sultanate of Sulu (Muslim State) - was established by Sayyid Abbubakar
2. Quran – the holy text was introduced
3. Building of religious school called Madrasah
4. Natives from Yakans, Basilan and Zamboanga were converted to Islam
5. Islamization process in Mindanao became strong
6. Islam became the religion and as a way of life of people in Mindanao
ARCHITECTURE
● Mosque and Minaret Mosque
- A Muslim place of worship for Allah.
● The Grand Mosque (Masjid Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah)
- It is the largest and said to be the grandest mosque in the Philippines. It is
located in Cotabato City.
● Miḥrâb and Qibla Wall
- Mihrab is a semi-circular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction
of Mecca (qibla), which Muslims face when praying.
● KAABA / KABAH
- A black shrine believed to be built by Prophet Muhammad itself.
- It is the most revered Muslim architecture which is the reference point for the
Qiblah.
Designs of the Torogan
- The panolong, flaring out from the beams, is the most arresting feature of the torogan. Its
okir carving usually features the naga or serpent as well as floral and star-and-bud
motifs.
Sarimanok
- It is the legendary bird that has become an ubiquitous symbol of Maranao art.
TEXTILE ART
● Luhul and Kikitil
 - Luhul is one of the two types of tapestries that the Tausug use to hang as house
decoration: the luhul or canopy that hangs from the ceiling, and the kikitil/buras or
wall tapestry.
● Batik
- This kind of design traces its influence from Indonesia. It contains abstract
themes with geometric and floral design.
LITERATURE
● Quran
- The holy book which Muslims recite and turn to for guidance in all aspects of their
lives. It is the last testament in a series of divine revelations from God (Allah). It
consists of the unaltered and direct words of God.
● Baybayin
- The pre-colonial beautiful ancient writing script of the Islands of the Philippines.
- It has been a core part of our culture and heritage for centuries, and the soul
interconnectivity of our ancestors through writing.
The term ‘baybayin’ comes from the Tagalog root word baybay, which means “to spell.”
For many years the script was incorrectly referred to as “alibata,” based on the arrangement of
another alphabet system – Arabic, in which the first letters are called alif, ba, and ta.
CLOTHING
- Islam says that the believing women should lower their gaze, guard their modesty, not
display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that
they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to
their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons,
their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, Foster
brother, and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden
ornaments.
O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks
close round them. That will be better, so that they may be recognized and not harassed. God is
ever Forgiving, Merciful.
— Sura 33 (Al-Ahzab), ayah 59, Qur'an[2]
Hijab
(Arabic noun which means “to cover”)
- generally describes a Muslim women's modest dress.
- It refers to a square or rectangular piece of fabric which is folded, placed over the head
and fastened under the chin as a headscarf.
Khimar
- A general term for a woman's head and/or face veil. This word is sometimes used to
describe a particular style of scarf that drapes over the entire top half of a woman's body,
down to the waist.
Abaya
- A cloak for women that is worn over other clothing when in public.
- Made of black synthetic fiber, sometimes decorated with colored embroidery or sequins.
The abaya may be worn from the top of the head to the ground.
Chador
- It is a semi-circle, floor-length covering that hangs from the top of the head, flowing over
the clothing underneath in order to hide the shape or curve of a woman's body.
Jilbab
- Sometimes refers to a specific style of cloak, similar to the abaya but more fitted, and in
a wider variety of fabrics and colors.
- It looks more similar to a long tailored coat
Niqab
- A face veil worn by some Muslim women which may or may not leave the eyes
uncovered.
Burqa
- This type of veil and body covering conceals all of a woman's body, including the eyes,
which are covered with a mesh screen.

Thobe
- A long robe worn by Muslim men. The top is usually tailored like a shirt, but it is
ankle-length and loose. It is usually white but may be found in other colors, especially in
winter. The term may also be used to describe any type of loose dress worn by men or
women.
Ghutra and Egal
- A square or rectangular headscarf worn by men, along with a rope band (usually black)
to fasten it in place. The ghutra (headscarf) is usually white, or checkered red/white or
black/white.
Bisht
- A dressier men's cloak that is sometimes worn over the thobe, often by high-level
government or religious leaders.

SPANISH COLONIAL PERIOD (1521-1898)

- Art became a hand maiden of religion, serving to propagate the Catholic faith and thus
support the colonial order at the same time.
- Art conformed to the demand of the church and state.
- They are referred as religious art, lowland Christian art or folk art.

Philippine Art Forms during the Spanish Colonial Period

 VISUAL ARTS
ARCHITECTURE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
- Because of reduccion (town planning), which aims to carry out the project of
colonization and Christianization, the natives were forcibly resettled in town structures
according to the plaza complex. It was designated as the town center and consisted of
the municipio or local government and the church.
BAROQUE CHURCHES
- They were characterized by grandeur, drama, and elaborate details that purposely
appealed to the emotions. The use of adobe, limestone or brick and the construction of
thick buttresses or wing like projections reinforce the church structure to make it more
resistant to earthquake. (a fusion of both native and European elements)
Example of Baroque Churches
● San Agustin Church (1607) in Intramuros – oldest baroque church in the Philippines
● Morong Church in Rizal
● Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte – known to have the largest church bell in the Philippines
● Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church in Miag-ao, Iloilo
FUERZAS were built as defense fortress.
Examples:
● Fort Santiago in the walled city Intramuros – front entrance is towering 40 meters
high
● Fort San Pedro in Cebu – the first fort in the country
● Fort Pilar in Zamboanga
BAHAY KUBO were turned into bahay na bato. Many of these were preserved which became
tourist spots.
Example:
- bahay na bato in Kalye Crisologo in Vigan, Ilocos Sur
BRIDGES were also built during the Spanish era.
Examples:
● Puente de Malagonlong – the longest bridge built during the Spanish Colonization
● Puente del Caprichu – unfinished bridge mentioned in Jose Rizal’s El Filibusterismo
PAINTING
- The Spanish friars introduced Western painting in the Philippines to artisans who learned
to copy on two-dimensional form from the religious icons that the friars brought from
Spain.
- For the first centuries of Spanish colonization, painting was limited to religious icons.
- Portraits of saints, the Holy Family became a familiar sight in churches.
Examples:
● Via Crucis – 14 figures which shows Christ’s crucifixion
● “Heaven, Earth, and Hell or Langit, Lupa at Impyerno" by Josef Luciano Dans - It is
a three-level mural painting which shows the Holy Trinity, Mary the Mother of Christ,
saints, the Seven Blessed Sacraments and a macabre depiction of Hell.
● Letras Y Figuras by Jose Honorato Lozano - combining names of individuals and
vignettes of everyday life, became popular when Filipino natives acquired Spanish
names in compliance with a decree implemented in 1884
 ● Spoliarium (1884) by Juan Luna - won gold, and may be viewed at the National Art
Gallery of the Philippines
● España y Filipinas or “Spain and the Philippines” (1886) by Juan Luna
● Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho / “The Christian Virgins Exposed
to the Populace’’ (1884) – by Felix Hidalgo
● Basi or Ambaristo Revolt by Esteban Villanueva - It chronicles the defeat of Ilocanos
who rebelled against the Spanish government’s monopoly of basi or rice wine in 1821.
● Flora de Filipinas by Fr. Manuel Blanco - it is an extensive compilation of Philippine
plants in 1878
● Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas
- the First Scientific map of the Philippines
- Surrounding the map are the vignettes of everyday life that focus on the different
types of people and their surrounding called tipos del pais
● Portrait of the Quiazon Family by Simon Flores
- He was one of the artists that captured the intricate detail of jewelry, fashion
accessories, embroider clothing and ornately designed furniture of Filipino
citizens with wealth and high social status. This style is called Miniaturismo.
CARVINGS AND SCULPTURES
● Santo/s - made of ivory or wood
● Retablo “cabinet of saints” - decorative altar or niche where the santos are displayed
● Church decorations on ceiling and wall - image of the Holy Family, Virgin Mary and 4
evangelists
● Evangelist - sometimes in tromp l’oeil (French word which means “fooling the eye”)
It refers to painting that give a heightened illusion of 3 dimensionality
CLOTHING
● Maria Clara, Baro't Saya and Barong Tagalog - During the 19th century, las islas
filipinas were internationally renowned for the production of garments made of piña, that
most transparent of fabrics—decorated with exquisite open-cutwork embroidery—woven
only in the Philippines from the leaf fibers of the pineapple plant.

PERFORMING ARTS
MUSIC (Secular Music Art Forms)
● Awit & Corrido - chanted stories based on European literature and history & were
popular in the peasantry who learned the verses by rote
● Balitao - sentimental love songs and lullabies
● Harana - songs for courtship
● Kundiman – the lyrics are about a unrequited love of the Philippines
DANCES
- All of the Spanish dances are passionate dances with lots of feeling.
- The Spanish passion is shown through the power of the Flamenco dancer's movements
which are accompanied by the heartfelt singing and the soulful guitar.
Examples:
● POLKA - is derived from the Czech phrase for “half-step,” which refers to the dance
pattern of lightly stepping from one foot to the other
 ● CARIÑOSA - named in Honor of Maria Clara
● RIGODON DE HONOR - this particular dance is a form of quadrille which is a historic
dance performed usually by four couples in a square formation
● PANDANGGO SA ILAW - involves the presence of three tinggoy or oil lamps, balanced
on the head and the back of each hand
After a good catch, fishermen of Lingayen would celebrate by drinking wine and by
dancing, swinging and circling a lighted lamp.
THEATRE
● Zarzuela or Sarsuwela - is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between
spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as
dance
Example: “Walang sugat” by Severino Reyes
● Senakulo or Passion play
- 1st senakulo was written in 1704 by Gaspar Aquino de Belen
- Biblical account of Christ’s passion and death on the cross, adapted into verse
form and translated into the local language which is performed during Lenten
season, and may last for 3 days. Senakulo was tweaked to convey Christ’s
suffering as a metaphor for the suffering of Filipinos under Spanish rule
● Komedya - depicts the conflict between Muslim and Christians
A. Religious Komedya or Komedya de Santo - centers on the life of Christ or
Saints
B. Secular komedya – ex. Moro-moro - usually involve a love story between a
Christian hero and an Islamic heroine or vice versa resulting in the conversion
and baptism of the leading Muslim character and Christian wedding
● Pangangaluwa – practiced during All Souls Day which means for the souls
● Salubong – performed during Easter Sunday dramatizing the meeting between
resurrected Jesus and his mother
● Santacruzan – performed during the month of May which reenacts Saint Helena’s
finding of the True Cross
● Duplo - a forerunner of balagtasan performed of 2 teams:
★ Dupleras/ Belyakas ( young women)
★ Dupleros/ Belyakos (young men)
LITERATURE
- Free Public Education was introduced in 1863 which increased the population’s ability to
read Spanish
- The first Filipino alphabet called Baybayin was replaced by the Roman alphabet
- The teaching of the Christian Doctrine became the basis of religious practices.
Examples:
● Doctrina Christiana – 1st printed document which tells about catholic faith and doctrine
● Our periodicals during these times gained a religious tone.
La Esperanza (1846) - first daily newspaper
● Philippine Literature was written in Spanish, Tagalog and other dialect
Florante at Laura – was written by Francisco Balagtas ( Prince of Philippine Poets)