CPAR WEEK 3 Handouts

SIGNIFICANT CONTEMORARY ARTISTS FROM THE REGIONS

Part I.
National Artists Award

The Order of National Artists (Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining) is the
highest national recognition given to Filipino individuals who have made significant
contributions to the development of Philippine arts namely;
 Music
 Dance
 Theater
 Visual Arts
 Literature
 Film
 Broadcast Arts
 Architecture and Allied Arts.

The order is jointly administered by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)
and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and conferred by the President of the
Philippines upon recommendation by both institutions.

The Order of National Artists Award is one of the honors conferred by the Republic
of the Philippines that embodies the nation’s highest ideals in the humanities and
aesthetic expression through the distinct achievements of individual citizens.

These achievements are measured in terms of their vision, unusual insight, creativity and
imagination, technical proficiency of the highest order in expressing Filipino culture and
traditions, history, way of life, and aspirations.

Selection Criteria for the National Artists of the Philippines

For a person to be considered in the selection of the National Artists Order of the
Philippines, he or she must possess the following qualities, according to the Official
Gazette:
 Must be a Filipino citizen
 Work has contributed to nation-building
 Their distinctive style and pioneering works impacts succeeding generation of artist
 There is excellence in the practice of their art form
 Their art form enriches artistic expression or style
 Their work is prestigious national and international recognition.

NOTABLE FILIPINO ARTISTS

LEANDRO V. LOCSIN
National Artist for Architecture,1990

Locsin’s largest single work is the ISTANA NURUL IMAN, the palace of the Sultan of Brunei,
which has a floor area of 2.2 million square feet. The CCP Complex (inserted, right) itself is a
virtual Locsin Complex with all five buildings designed by him — the Cultural Center of the
Philippines, Folk Arts Theater, Philippine International Convention Center, Philcite and The
Westin Hotel (now Sofitel Philippine Plaza).

FRANCISCO T. MAÑOSA
National Artist for Architecture and Allied Arts, 2018

For all of his more than 60 years of architecture life, Ar. Bobby Mañosa designed Filipino.
From the 1960s in his landmark design of the Sulo Hotel until his retirement about 2015, he
courageously and passionately created original Filipino forms, spaces with intricate and
refined details.
His Major works include:
 San Miguel Building, Ortigas Center, Pasig City (designed with the Mañosa Brothers)
 Chapel of the Risen Lord, Las Piñas City
 Our Lady of Peace Shrine, EDSA, Quezon City
 World Youth Day Papal Altar ,Quirino Grandstand, Manila, 1995
 Metrorail Transit System Stations for LRT 1, circa 1980s
 Quezon Memorial Circle Development Plan
 Lanao del Norte Provincial Capitol, Tubod, Lanao del Norte
 Tahanang Pilipino (Coconut Palace), CCP Complex, Manila
 Amanpulo Resort, Palawan
 Pearl Farm Resort, Samal Island, Davao, completed 1994
 La Mesa Watershed Resort and Ecological Park, La Mesa Dam, Quezon City

LINO BROCKA
National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts, 1997

Catalino “Lino” Ortiz Brocka, director for film and broadcast arts, espoused the term “freedom
of expression” in the Philippine Constitution. Brocka took his social activisy spirit to the
screen leaving behind 66 films which breathed life and hope for the marginalized sectors of
society: slum-dwellers, prostitutes, construction workers, etc.

Lino Brocka has left behind his masterpieces, bequeathing to our country a heritage of
cinematic harvest; a bounty of stunning images, memorable conversations that speak volumes
on love, betrayal and redemption, pestilence and plenty all pointing towards the recovery and
rediscovery of our nation.

To name a few, Brocka’s films include the following:

“Santiago” (1970), “Wanted: Perfect Mother” (1970), “Tubog sa Ginto” (1971),
“Stardoom” (1971), “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang” (1974), “Maynila: Sa Kuko ng
Liwanag” (1975),

FERNANDO AMORSOLO
National Artist for Visual Arts

The country had its first National Artist in Fernando C. Amorsolo. The official title
“Grand Old Man of Philippine Art” was bestowed on Amorsolo when the Manila Hilton
inaugurated its art center on January 23, 1969, with an exhibit of a selection of his works.

Among others, his major works include the following:

 Maiden in a Stream(1921)GSIS collection
 Planting Rice (1946)-UCPB collection
 Sunday Morning Going to Town (1958)-Ayala Museum Collection.

CARLOS “BOTONG” FRANCISCO

National Artist for Painting (1973)
Carlos “Botong” Francisco, the poet of Angono, single-handedly revived the forgotten art of
mural and remained its most distinguished practitioner for nearly three decades.

Botong’s unerring eye for composition, the lush tropical sense of color and abiding faith in the
folk values typified by the townspeople of Angono became the hallmark of his art.
GUILLERMO TOLENTINO
National Artist for Sculpture (1973)

Guillermo Estrella Tolentino is a product of the Revival period in Philippine art. Returning
from Europe (where he was enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Rome) in 1925, he was
appointed as professor at the UP School of Fine Arts where the idea also of executing a
monument for national heroes struck him. The result was the UP Oblation that became the
symbol of freedom at the campus. Acknowledged as his masterpiece and completed in 1933,
The Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan stands as an enduring symbol of the Filipinos’ cry for
freedom.

ABDULMARI ASIA IMAN

National Artist for Visual Arts (2006)

A native of Sulu, Abdulmari Asia Imao is a sculptor, painter, photographer, ceramist,

documentary filmmaker, cultural researcher, writer, and articulator of Philippine Muslim art
and culture.

Through his works, the indigenous ukkil, sarimanok and naga motifs have been popularized
and instilled in the consciousness of the Filipino nation and other peoples as original Filipino
creations.

His U.P. art education introduced him to Filipino masters like Guillermo Tolentino and
Napoleon Abueva, who were among his mentors. Imao has helped develop among cultural
groups trust and confidence necessary for the building of a more just and humane society.

VICENTE MANANSALA
National Artist for Painting (1981)

Vicente Manansala‘s paintings are described as visions of reality teetering on the edge of
abstraction. As a young boy, his talent was revealed through the copies he made of the
Sagrada Familia and his mother’s portrait that he copied from a photograph.

After finishing the fine arts course from the University of the Philippines, he ran away from
home and later found himself at the Philippines Herald as an illustrator.
Among the masters, Manansala professes a preference for Cezanne and Picasso whom he says
have achieved a balance of skill and artistry. He trained in Paris and at Otis School of Drawing
in Los Angeles.

AMADO V. HERNANDEZ
National Artist for Literature

Amado Hernandez is a poet, playwright, and novelist, which is among the Filipino writers who
practiced “committed art.” Hernandez’s contribution to the development of Tagalog prose is
considerable — he stripped Tagalog of its ornate character and wrote in prose closer to the
colloquial than the “official” style permitted.

His novel Mga Ibong Mandaragit, first written by Hernandez while in prison, is the first
Filipino sociopolitical novel that exposes the ills of the society as evident in the agrarian
problems of the 50s.

Hernandez’s other works include: Bayang Malaya, Isang Dipang Langit, Luha ng Buwaya,
Amado V. Hernandez: Tudla at Tudling: Katipunan ng mga Nalathalang Tula 1921-1970,
Langaw sa Isang Basong Gatas at Iba Pang Kuwento ni Amado V. Hernandez,
CARLOS P. ROMULO
National Artist for Literature (1982)

Carlos P. Romulo‘s multifaceted career spanned 50 years of public service as an educator,

soldier, university president, journalist, and diplomat.

Essentially though, Romulo was very much into writing: he was a reporter at 16, a newspaper
editor by the age of 20, and a publisher at 32. He was the only Asian to win America’s coveted
Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for a series of articles predicting the outbreak of World War II.

Romulo, in all, wrote and published 18 books, a range of literary works which included: The
United (novel), I Walked with Heroes (autobiography), I Saw the Fall of the Philippines,
Mother America, I See the Philippines Rise (war-time memoirs).

HONORATA “ATANG” DELA RAMA

National Artist for Theater and Music
(1987)

Honorata “Atang” Dela Rama was formally honored as the Queen of Kundiman in 1979, then
when she was already 74 years old singing the same song (“Nabasag na Banga”) that she sang
as a 15-year old girl in the sarsuela Dalagang Bukid.

Atang became the very first actress in the very first locally produced Filipino film when she
essayed the same role in the zarsuela’s film version. As early as age seven, Atang was already
being cast in Spanish zarzuelas such as Mascota, Sueño de un Vals, and Marina.

She counts the role though of an orphan in Pangarap ni Rosa as her most rewarding and
satisfying role.

Atang firmly believes that sarswela and kundiman express best the Filipino soul, and even
performed kundiman and other Filipino songs for the Aetas or Negritos of Zambales and the
Sierra Madre, the Bagobos of Davao and other Lumad of Mindanao.

Francisca Reyes Aquino

National Artist for Dance (1973)

Francisca Reyes Aquino is acknowledged as the Folk Dance Pioneer. Francisca Aquino began
her research on folk dances in the 1920s making trips to remote barrios in Central and
Northern Luzon.

Her research on the unrecorded forms of local celebration, ritual, and sport resulted into a
1926 thesis titled “Philippine Folk Dances and Games,” and arrange specifically for use by
teachers and playground instructors in public and private schools.

In 1954, she received the Republic Award of Merit given by the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay
for “outstanding contribution toward the advancement of Filipino culture”, one among of the
many awards and recognitions given to her.

Her books include the following: Philippine National Dances (1946); Gymnastics for Girls
(1947); Fundamental Dance Steps and Music (1948); Foreign Folk Dances (1949); Dances
for all Occasion (1950); Playground Demonstration (1951); and Philippine Folk Dances,
Volumes I to VI.
Levi Celerio
National Artist for Literature & Music,
1997

Levi Celerio is a prolific lyricist and composer for decades. He effortlessly translated/wrote
anew the lyrics to traditional melodies: “O Maliwanag Na Buwan” (Iloko), “Ako ay May
Singsing” (Pampango), “Alibangbang” (Visaya) among others.

Born in Tondo, Celerio received his scholarship at the Academy of Music in Manila that made
it possible for him to join the Manila Symphony Orchestra, becoming its youngest member. He
made it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the only person who was able to make
music using just a leaf.

A great number of his songs have been written for the local movies, which earned for him the
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Film Academy of the Philippines. Levi Celerio, more
importantly, has enriched the Philippine music for no less than two generations with a
treasury of more than 4,000 songs in an idiom that has proven to appeal to all social classes.

PART II.

NATIONAL LIVING TREASURES / GAWAD SA MANLILIKHA NG

BAYAN

In April 1992, the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or the National Living Treasures Award
was institutionalized through Republic Act No. 7355.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the highest policy-making and
coordinating body for culture and the arts of the State was tasked with the administration and
implementation of the award.

The NCCA, conducts the search for the finest traditional artists of the land, adopts a program
that will ensure the transfer of their skills to others and undertakes measures to promote a
Genuine appreciation of and instill pride among our people about the genius of the Manlilikha
ng Bayan.

How does one become a Manlilikha ng Bayan?

To become a “Manlilikha ng Bayan”, the candidate must possess the following qualifications:
 He/she is an inhabitant of an indigenous/traditional cultural community anywhere in
the Philippines that has preserved indigenous customs, beliefs, rituals and traditions
and/or has syncretized whatever external elements that have influenced it.

 He/she must have engaged in a folk art tradition that has been in existence and
documented for at least fifty (50) years.

 He/she must have consistently performed or produced over a significant period, works
of superior and distinctive quality.

 He/she must possess a mastery of tools and materials needed by the art, and must
have an established reputation in the art as master and maker of works of
extraordinary technical quality.

 He/she must have passed on and/or will pass on to other members of the community
their skills in the folk art for which the community is traditionally known.
A traditional artist who possesses all the qualities of a Manlilikha ng Bayan candidate, but
due to age or infirmity has left him/her incapable of teaching further his/her craft, may still
be recognized if:
 He/she had created a significant body of works and/or has consistently displayed
excellence in the practice of his/her art, thus achieving important contributions for its
development.

 He/she has been instrumental in the revitalization of his/her community’s artistic

tradition.

 He/she has passed on to the other members of the community skills in the folk art for
which the community is traditionally known.

 His/her community has recognized him/her as master and teacher of his/her craft.

Examples of GAMABA Awardees:

Uwang Ahadas, Musician

 Mastered Yakan Instruments to pass on to new generations

 Magdalena Gamayo, Textile Weaver

 Preserved Abel weaving traditions for future generations

 Eduardo Mutuc, Metalsmith And Artist

 uses wood, silver and bronze to create exquisitely detailed and lifelike
pieces of varying sizes: altars, mirrors, retablos, and even carosas

 Teofilo Garcia, Gourd Casque “Tabungaw” Maker

 able to introduce the tabungaw plant as a good and sturdy material
for functional, elegant, and protective hats.

 Lang Dulay, Textile Weaver

 Keeps the tradition of weaving abaca cloth from south cotabato known
as t’nalak

 Masino Intaray, Chanter And Musician

 master of the basal, a gong music ensemble

 Darhata Sawabi, Textile Weaver

 Taught women of Sulu the weaving tradition of making Parang.