• It is derived from the Latin word ars/artis

which means to-do or man-made.

• A medium of expression because we
express our ideas, emotions, feelings
without using words.
• Creative activity that involves skill or
expertise in handling materials and
organizing them into something new.
• Satisfies the needs for personal
expression
• Develops our skills to express
ourselves
• Challenges us to see things differently
• Unleashes our hidden desires and
passion
• Sees truth that we might not understand
before.
• Most important means of expression
developed by man
• To express beauty
• To give man moment of relaxation
• To serve man as a channel of man’s
passion
• To overcome feelings of restlessness
and loneliness
• The subject matter may vary, usually anything that is represented in the art
work. It may be a person, object, scene or event.
• Contemporary art forms refer to field of arts
such as painting, drawing, dancing, music and
sculpture, etc.
• Contemporary Art is the art of today and
produced in the second half of the 20th Century
or in the 21st Century.
• During the 21st century, these art forms include
photography, graphic design, and animation.
• Contemporary Arts began during the
1950s, after World War II.
• According to Santos (2016), in Philippine
art as in its culture, one notes that
various shades, lights, and tones, and
even the contrasting characters that
have been absorbed and blended into
new forms that are particularly Filipino.
• Contemporary Philippine Arts tends to
be found in the various displays, art
schools, side lanes, and open spaces
like train or transport stations, shopping
centers, parks and malls.
• It refers to art forms that are developing in
various regions of the Philippines that
relied on the existing culture and materials
in specific region or province.
• Filipino contemporary artists use various
local materials that are indigenous in our
country.
• Abaca- its fiber has natural luster with
colors ranging from pure white to ivory and
dark brown. It is being used in making
slippers, ropes, twine and hammock.
• Bamboo- is used as raw material in
creating many products. It is used in
construction, textile, musical instruments,
weapons and many more.
• Buri- extracted from matured leaves of the
buri palm. The fiber is durable and
resistant to moisture. Hats, bags, baskets,
memorabilia boxes, perfume tray, are
other products that can be made out of
Buri leaves.
• Pandan- a tropical plant, is processed and
transformed into splints that are being
used as raw material. Pandan is used in
producing baskets, hats, picture frames
and bags.
• Rattan- being used in manufacturing
baskets, picture frames, furniture, and
other novelty items, Zoya lounge chair,
Valencia queen size bed, and rest divan.
An art form that appeals to sense of hearing, composed by combining notes
into harmony.
Art form of language through the combined use of words, creating meaning and
experience.
Art form of performance. Dramatic text is portrayed on stage by actors and
actresses and are enhanced by props, light, sound. It is also a form of art in
which artists use their voices and/or bodies, often in relation to other object, to
convey artistic expression.
A technological translation of theater, special effects are utilized to enhance
story telling.
Art of human form, body is used, mobilized and choreographed in a specific
time, form and space.
Structure that meant to be used as shelter, its art relies on the design and
purpose of structure.
Artwork such as painting, photography, or sculpture that appeals primarily to
the visual sense and typically exists in permanent form.
In art historical terms, we refer to art before the coming of the first colonizers as
“pre-conquest.” Referred to it as “indigenous” to emphasize the idea that our
ancestors.

Art before is referred to as an expression of an individual but yet not

categorized into different kinds of forms.
It is the action or skill of carving wood to make functional or ornamental objects.
Also known as bul-ul, is carved wooden
figure used to guard rice crop by the
Ifugao peoples of northern Luzon. The
sculptures are highly stylized
representations of ancestors and are
thought to gain power from the
presence of the ancestral spirit.
These are traditionally large ceremonial
benches carved for wealthy Ifugao families
as a symbol of wealth, power and prestige.
The bench serves as a symbol of
prestigious “hagabi feast” in which the
carving of the bench marks the beginning of
celebration. Only Ifugao of the cadangyan
class were allowed to have hagabi.
This is a legendary bird of Maranao people
who originate from Mindanao, a major
island in the Philippines. It comes from the
words “sari” and “manok”. “Sari” means
cloth or garment, which is generally of
assorted colors. Manok, which makes up
part of its name, is a Philippine word for
chicken.
It’s a house ornament fashioned by the
Maranao people. It is a carved beam that
protrudes in the front of the house and
styled with okir motif. The shape of
panolong is an architectural translation of
“prow” meaning the protruding part in the
front of a ship.
Pots, dishes, and other articles made of earthenware or baked clay. Pottery can
be broadly divided into earthenware, porcelain, and stoneware.
The tradition of pottery dates back to
prehistoric times as proven by the
Manunggul Jar which is at least 3500
years old, and which depicts on its lid
two boatmen riding a banca on their way
to their great divide.
Used for cooking food
Used for storing food
Used for storing water
The craft or action of forming fabric by interlacing threads.
A method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are
interlaced at right angles to form fabric or cloth.

Purpose: reverence for spirits and nature, criteria for the beautiful and societies
sociopolitical structures.

Made of: Fibers- cotton, abaca, pineapple leaves

Pigments: clay, roots and leaves
It’s a traditional Filipino rectangular or tube-
like wraparound skirt bearing a variety of
geometric or okir designs. The malong is
traditionally used as a garment by both men
and women of the numerous ethnic groups
in the mainland Mindanao and parts of the
Sulu Archipelago.
A traditional cloth tapestry made from
cotton or silk worn as a head covering by
the Tausug of Sulu.
 a traditional weave of the Maranaos made
through a backstrap loom. The weave
pattern is usually found in the malong– a
cultural attire which can be used for both
special occasions and everyday wear.
Majority of woven products are created with one of three basic weaves: plain
weave, satin weave, or twill.
These involve decorating the body by wearing specific clothing, jewelry,
headdress, body paints, tattoos, body piercings, brandings, scarifications or
cicatrizations.
Sometimes known as the Manila
Manuscript, is a manuscript written in 1950
which contains illustrations of ethnic groups
in the Philippines at the time of their initial
contact with Spaniards– representation of
various ethnolinguistic groups, where the
following are classified:
Pre-colonial dances are distinctly meant to appease the gods and to ask favors
from spirits, as a means to celebrate harvest or hunt. Their dance mimicked life
forms and the stories of their community. Moreover, these dances were also
ritualistic in nature, dances articulated rites of passages, the community’s
collective legends and history.
 (Badjaos of Sulu Archipelago)
The Panglay, a dance native to the Badjaos
meant to highlight the power of the upper
body, es executed through the rhythmic
bounce of the shoulder while simultaneously
waving the arms. Most times, this dance is
performed in social gatherings like weddings.
 (Mandayas kinabua of Mindanao)
It is a hawk dance usually performed by the
healed patients of the babaylan (priest) and
sometimes on social occasions. The dancers
usually move around each other and
sometimes break off to dance in different
directions.
 (Bagobos of Mindanao)
Manmanok is a dance that dramatizes three
roosters from the Bago Tribe who compete
against one another to be able to get attention
of a hen, Lady Lien. They try to attract her by
making use of blankets that depict their
feathers and wings.
 (Ifugaos)
It is a dance done after a courtship dance.
The man lures a woman with an attractive
blanket to place on her shapely shoulder, the
Ifugao celebrate the intaneg or wedding with
the festival dance called dinnuya.
 (T’ bolis of Mindanao)
A dance of T’ boli which features “monkeys”
romping around covered with dried banana
leaves and the langka baluang of the Tausug.
 (Leyte)
The tinikling is named after the tikling bird.
The dancers imitate the bird’s flight in grace
and speed as they play and chase each other,
run over tree branches or dodge farmer’s
traps. The dance is done with a pair of
bamboo poles.
Filipinos already had rich musical traditions. Philippine indigenous music before
the colonial era was largely functional. Expressed either instrumentally or
vocally or a combination of both, music was deeply integrated with the activities
of the natives. The ancient Filipinos had music practically for all occasions, for
every phase of life, from birth to death.
• Music styles vary from region to region
• Often the music is Polyphonic and uses highly interlocking repeated
patterns
• Most musical instruments are primarily objects of nature as they consist
mainly of bamboo, wood, shell, animal skin and metal; just as many of the
melodies and rhythms of tribal chants imitate some aspect of nature’s
sounds and movements.
• The musical form/style of the Philippines can be grouped into two: the
southern style and northern style. But as a whole, instruments are classified
using four different categories depending on the manner in which the
instrument creates the sound: Idiophoones, Membranophones,
Chordophones and Aerophones.
Any musical instrument which creates sound
primarily by the way of the instrument’s
vibrating, without the use of strings or
membranes. Most percussion instruments
which are not drums are idiophones.
Any musical instrument which produces
sound primarily by way of a vibrating
stretched membrane. Most membranophones
are drums.
Any musical instrument which makes sound
by a way of vibrating string or strings
stretched between two points.
Any musical instrument which produces
sound primarily by causing a body of air to
vibrate without the use of strings or
membranes and without the vibrations the
vibration of the instrument itself adding
considerably to the sound.
 (Aerophone Instrument)
A type of Philippine bamboo flute, the largest
on used by the Maguindanaon, a smaller type
of this instrument is called the Hulakteb
(Bukidnon).
 (Chordophone Instrument)
An ethnical instrument from the Manobo tribe
in the Philippines. It is a two-stringed guitar
that can produce near speech-like sound
through manipulation by the hand. The
instrument is often featured as part of courting
rituals as the sounds produced are considered
to be expressive of love.
 (Idiophone Instrument)
A modern term for an ancient instrumental
form of music composed on a row of small,
horizontally laid gongs that function
melodically, accompanied by larger,
suspended gongs and drums.
A traditional lip-valley flute of the Kalinga
tribes in the Philippines. The paldong is made
of bamboo.
An instrument of Mindoro with 3 to 4 strings
with a wooden body and human hair for the
bow.
A single hand-held smooth-surfaced gong with
a narrow rim. A set of gangsa, which is played
one gong per musician, consists of gangsa
tuned to different notes, depending on
regional or local cultural preferences.
• These are statements that contain superficial words, but they function
figuratively and as metaphors, and are in the form of questions.
• These are questions that demand deeper answers.
• Deals with everyday life
• It usually has mundane things as answers
• This is used in the past as a form of game in small or large gatherings.
• These are statements that are considered as wise.
• These are usually given by parents or elders of the community.
• There is belief that experience is the best teacher
• These are folk lyrics that are usually chanted
• These usually contain ideas on aspirations, hopes, and everyday life and
expressions of love for loved ones.
• It is bounded by the learning of good morals
• It is easy to understand because it is straightforward and not figurative in
nature.
• These are locally known as the Hele. These are sung to put to sleep babies.
The content varies, but usually, parents sing these with ideas on how hard
life is and how that their child will not experience hardship of life.
• These are locally known as Tagay and are sung during drinking sessions

• To many Filipinos, these are known as Harana. It can also be called

courtship songs and are used by young men to capture the heart of the girl
that they love.
• These are lamentations that contain the roll of good deeds that the dead
has usually done to immortalize his or her good image.

• These are songs or chants that are usually given during exorcisms and
thanksgiving during good harvest.
• These are stories of native Filipinos
• These deal with the power of nature- personified, their submission to a
deity- usually Bathala– and how this deity is responsible for the blessings
and calamities
• These also tackle about irresponsibility, stupidity, deception and fallibility
that eventually leads to the instilling of good morals.
Usual Themes:

• Ceremonies needed to appease deities

• Pre and Post Apocalypse
• Life and Death
• Gods and goddesses
• Heroes and heroines
• Supernatural beings
• Animals
• These tackles the natural to strange occurrences of the earth and how
things were created with an aim to give an explanation to things.

• Through legends, the natives understood mysteries around them. These

stories usually come with a moral lesson that give credit to supernatural
powers, supernatural occurrences, and other out-of-this-world native
imagination.
• Short or brief stories that cater the children or the native. Filipinos are
usually bounded by good manners and right conduct. These stories use
animals as characters that represents a particular value or characteristic.

• Are very lengthy narratives that are based on oral traditions. These contain
encounters of fighters, stereotypical princes or heroes that save a damsel in
distress.
Before the Spanish period, the early forms of the Philippine drama were the
duplo and the karagatan.

• Duplo was a poetical debate held by the trained men and women in the
ninth night, the last night of the mourning period for the dead.
• Bellacos are the male participants, they are the heads of the games
• Karagatan- was also a poetical debate like the duplo, but its participants
were amateurs.
• Both were held in the homes
• Theme- all about a ring that fell into the sea.
Nipa Hut- a single room house
composed of wood, bamboo or other
native materials.
Tree House- small house built on top of
trees to prevent animal as well as
enemy attcks.
Islam as a religion has long been established since the early A.D. 600s. Along
with its emergence around the world, it also paved way for the development of
its own unique style of art. Islamic art place emphasis on creating an artform
that is built on the beauty and respect for the teachings of Islam. Islamic art is
characterized by designs of flowers, plant forms and geometric designs. It is
used in calligraphy, architecture painting, clothing and other forms of fine art.
Mosques in the Philippines have a
common architectural feature that is
similar with its Southeast Asian
neighbors. It is made of light materials
such as wood, bamboo and cogon grass
and was used in the building of the early
types of mosques but these light
materials did not last long.
Philippine Muslim homes represents their
identity therefore Islamic art is seen in their
houses. These houses usually contain framed
calligraphy of Qur’an passages in its walls.
These ornaments usually are made from
Muslim dominated countries like Malaysia,
Egypt and Saudi Arabia brought home by
overseas Filipino workers as mementos of their
pilgrims.
• A design related to Islam that is used in
the Philippines is batik cloth design. This
kind of design traces its influence from
Indonesia. It contains abstract themes
with geometric and floral design.
However, human and animal depiction is
a rare motif in batik
Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam,
believed by Muslims to be a revelation from
God (Allah).
• Though the South have been resistant, the Spanish Colonizers gained
control in the Central part, which they classified them as “Lowland
Christians”
• Art forms, as they demanded, are under the strict rule of the church and the
colonial state
• By religious orders, they dispatched t convert all the natives to Catholicism
• Art forms are stylistically and culturally which are classified under religious
art, lowland Christian art and folk art
• Baroque are implied with churches like:
- San Agustin Church in Manila
-Morong Church in Rizal
- Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte
- Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church in Miag-ao, Iloilo
• The Spanish Friars introduced
western paintings to the
artisans who learned to copy
two dimensional forms from
religious paintings such
religious icons were paintings
of saints and of the holy family.
• In the 17th Century, Chinese artisans are engaged in making icons or saints
or santos.
• Santos are displayed most on decorative altar niche which are called retablo
• Via Crucis (14 paintings or relief sculptures) is series of reliefs which shows
Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.
• Spanish colonization brought with it printing technology in the form of
catechism and prayer books in Spanish for a lot to read and write and to
evangel.
• Doctrina Christiana (The Teachings of Christianity)- printed in 1953 in
Spanish and Tagalog compiling song lyrics, commandments, sacraments,
and other catechetical material.
• It also engraves the production of secular or non-religious works like which
scientists and artists does maps as other sources of classification.
• Another example is Augustinian botanist Fr. Manuel Blanco made an
extensive compilation of the Philippine plants in Flora de Filipinas in 1878
• Many Philippine churches shows the influence of the baroque style with a
massive walls and thickness buttresses to adapt our geographical condition
• Houses also is that of native hut, wide windows, its utilization of a ground
floor is only for storage and garage for the carruaje.
• Western musical instruments like the pipe organ, the violin, the guitar, and
the piano give a very new European flavor with new rhythms, melodies and
musical forms.
• Other musical forms like pasyon or pabasa which are biblical narration of
Christ’s passion chanted (sometimes read)
• Another one is Balitao which is sentimental love songs and lullabies in the
latter half of the 19th century.
• Sentiments began to develop which Kundiman is born that spoke about
resignation and fatalism, a vehicle for resistance with lyrics of unrequited
love.
• As the galleon trade between Mexico and Philippines brought Mexican
influences Cariñosa, Pandanggo or Fandango, Polka, Dansa and the
Rigodon and European influence like Habañera, Jota, and Tango dances
from Spain.
• One of the earliest forms of theater is pomp and pageantry
• Zarzuela or Sarsuwela in the 19th Century is a singing ang dancing- prose
dialogue which the story is carried out in song.
• Senakulo- Christ’s suffering in metaphor to the suffering of Filipinos under
Spanish colonial rule
• First Senakulo written in 1704 by Gaspar Aquino de Belen is now divided
into two main types:
a. Komedya de Santos
b. Moro-moro
• Independence
- Philippine Revolution of 1896 was cut short to the establishment of
American Colonial Government.
• Treaty of Paris in 1898 is where the Spain surrendered the Philippines to
the United States
• Filipino playwrights found themselves confronted by censorship in issuance
of Sedition Law which banned writing, printing, and publication of materials
advocating Philippine independence
• Lingua Franca in English, poems and stories from books in the classroom to
facilitate teaching of the English through public school system, which the
American has brought.
• In less than a decade, Filipino began to write plays in English.
- In 1915, Lino Castillejo and Jesusa Araullo authored “A Modern Filipina”
which was the first Filipino play written in English.
• Neo-classic and art deco architecture are integrated in City Planning, Public
Works, Structures and Infrastructures to make the place attractive,
impressive and places for leisure amid urban light.
• Manila’s Neo-classic architecture examples are:
-Post Office and Legislative Building
-National Art Gallery
• 1909, a year after establishment of the University of the Philippines, School
of Fine Arts was opened and the course on commercial design
aforementioned had in-demands
• Fernando Amorsolo became a professor in the UP School of Fine Arts, which
students pertained to as “Amorsolo School”
• Guillermo Tolentino, on the other hand, in sculpture studied Fine Arts in
Rome being influenced by the classical tradition.
- He made the Oblation (1935, original/ 1958, bronze cast found at the
UP- Oblation Plaza
- Bonifacio Monument, 1933 in Caloocan
• As the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, the Modern Art project
begun to slowdown
• The “Moderns” and “Conservatives” producing art continued in KALIBAPI
(Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod ng Bagong Pilipinas)
• Since the Japanese advocated for culture of East Asia, preference was
given to the indigenous art and traditions of the Philippines. This
emphasized their propaganda of Asia belonging to Asians.
• Modern Era in the Philippine Art began after World War II and granting of
independence. Writers and artists posed the question of national identity as
the main theme of the various art forms.
• Modern, Conservative, abstract, experimental and public art
• Real Estate, Safe Housing, Condominiums, Subdivision, Villages, Malls,
Commercial/Business/Convention Buildings
• Philippine Contemporary Art was an offshoot of social realism brought about
by Martial Law. Art became expression of people aspiration for a just, free,
and sovereign society.
• Figurative, non-figurative, art for art sake, multi-media, mixed media
• Real Estate, Safe Housing, Condominiums, Subdivision, Villages, Malls,
Commercial/Business/Convention Buildings