CHRISTIAN SAMARITAN HEALTH SERVICES AND TECHNICAL SCHOOL, INC.

Matandang Sora St., Zone 7, Poblacion, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental

Name: Strand: Date: Score:

Subject: Contemporary Arts Across the Regions

Topic: The Context of Art
Content Standard: The learner understands that the mastery of the basic forms, types, techniques and devices
of creative nonfiction enables him/her to effectively critique and write creative nonfiction.
Performance Standards: The learner presents a form of integrated contemporary art based on the region of
his/her choice.
Learning Competency:
1. Classifies various art forms found in the Philippines
References:
WEEK 7
Reference: Datuin, F.M., Marcelino, L., Paulino, R., Ramirez, E.L. (2016). Contemporary
Activity No. 4
Philippine Arts from the Regions(1st ed.). Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc.
DISCUSSION
NOTE: YOU CAN ASK YOUR TEACHER FOR PHOTO EXAMPLE IF NOT PRINTED IN YOUR MODULE FOR
CLARIFICATION OF EXAMPLES.
What is context?
Context refers to settings, conditions, circumstances, and occurrences affecting production and reception
or audience response to an artwork. It is a set of background information that enables us to formulate meanings
about works of art and note how context affects form. For example, in the last lesson, you learned about the
bulul, an indigenous, precolonial ritual object and motif in the everyday life of the people of the Cordillera region.
A human-like figure made of hardwood, the bulul is believed to be a granary god that assures the community of a
bountiful harvest. During the dry season, the ritual specialist or mumbaki would perform a ritual where the figure
is drenched in pig’s blood as a form of offering to the spirits. Although the bulul contains elementsof sculpture, it
is not exactly regarded as such by its makers and by the people who continue to find value in its rich symbolic
functions. A remarkable bulul collection can be viewed in storage at Hiwang Village, Banaue, Ifugao. Tourists and
locals can see examples of the bulul at the H. Otley Beyer Museum located within the vicinity. The Bencab Museum
in Baguio City also has a big collection of bululs. Thus, we can see that the bulul, though ancient in origin, continues
to be contemporary; it continues to be valued and made by the people of the present. However, its
contemporariness is situated in the domain of everyday life.

What are the different contexts of art?

We can learn to look at art in a critical manner by understanding its contexts. As we saw in the previous
lessons, art is anchored in a particular historical moment and situated within a set of specific conditions. The
contexts being discussed below are some examples that may shape our understanding of works of art. The contexts
affecting production and reception are active (as opposed to single and definitive) and tend to overlap.
Artist’s Background
The artist’s age, gender, culture, economic conditions, social environment, and disposition affect art
production. The mode of production, which encompasses the kind of materials accessible to the artists as well as
the conditions surrounding labor, also hope the work produced by the artist. A traditional artist’s resources differ
from an artist reared in a highly urbanized environment like Manila. The artist’s initiation and training in art might
be different, too. For example, the artist may have studied and trained through formal schooling, or informally
through workshops or apprenticeships. In other cases, they may have studied art by themselves.
The mediums, techniques, and styles in traditional art are shared among members of the community,
resulting in works that are very similar in character. The end products are usually sold as unique identity-markers
of a community. For example, we tend to associate the red papier-mâché sculptures of horses or taka with the
town of Paete, Laguna that produces the said works for export or for local sale.
In the gallery or museum setting, the uniqueness of the art and the artist’s individual expression is given
much importance. Here, the makers are named; their works are exhibited in exhibitions and sold through galleries,
art fairs, and auctions.

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 Some artists deliberately
foreground their cultural identity in
their works. The Tausug National Artist
Abdulmari Asia Imao (awarded in 2006)
integrated motifs from the culture of
Mindanao, like the mythical sarimanok, a
rooster carrying a fish on its beak; and
other okir designs in his paintings and
sculptures using modernist styles of
figuration. An example is the 1984
stylized S-shaped brass sculpture
fronting the Vargas Museum, which
artists from Bukidnon on the other
hand, express their affinities with their
land by using soil instead of pigments
and by painting subject matter thatare
grounded on their present concerns as a
people. Julie Lluch, an artist who hails from Iligan City, would often emphasize her female identity and personal
experiences in many of her terracotta works. In Cutting Onions Always Makes Me Cry, 1988, Lluch’s self-
portrait presents cooking—a role associated with women in the home—as oppressive and unpleasant.
Travels, training, and professional development broaden the artist’s horizons. The exposure of the painter
and National Artist Victorio Edades to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art during his study in the
United States in the early 20th century was said to have a profound impact on his artistic vision and style.
Migration provides the artist with a different set of material conditions and relations of production, thus
affecting his/her artistic disposition. The husband and wife Alfredo Juan and Isabel Aquilizan’s experience as
Filipino migrant artists eking out a living in Australia and in other parts of the world, has been central to their body
of works.

Nature
Nature can be seen as a source of inspiration and a wellspring of materials for art production. The t’nalak
for example uses abaca fibers stripped from the trunk of the banana tree, and colored with red and black dyes
naturally extracted from roots and leaves of plants. Using a backstrap loom, the weaver produces t’nalak designs
including stylized forms inspired by nature: kleng (crab), gmayaw (bird in flight), tofi (frog), and sawo (snake skin).
As with other traditional textile traditions in the Philippines, the process of making the t’nalak is evocative of the
people’s belief that spirits reside with people in the natural environment. We may also observe that many of
Philippine indigenous dances involve the imitation of natural elements, such as the waves of the waters or the
movement of animals - from birds to fishes, to snakes and fireflies, among many others. An example is the famous
tinikling, which imagines the tikling—a local bird—as it tries to escape the field traps set by farmers.
The ceramist Nelfa Querubin-Tompkins has experimented with iron-rich San Dionisio clay sourced from her
native Iloilo. The coarse clay is prepared by mixing it with river sand and lead glaze to create elegant black
pottery.
While nature is regarded as a provider and as a source of inspiration, it is also seen as a force that one has
to contend with. When it comes to the built environment, the availability of resources for construction is not the
only factor taken into account but also environmental conditions such as topography and climate. Traditional Ivatan
houses in Batanes are built using stones and fango for its walls. The latter is a kind of mortar formed by combining
cogon and mud bits. The roof is a pyramidal construction comprised of a thick cogon thatch fastened by reeds and
rattan and sometimes reinforced with a net as protection from harsh winds. The stone, lime, and cogon
construction protect the dwellers from strong typhoons and earthquakes.
Fernando Amorsolo, the first to be named National Artist (1972), has painted landscapes as romantic
pictures, capturing the warm glow of the sun on verdant land or clear waters. On the other hand, the modernist
painter Ricarte Purugganan depicted nature as an
uncontrollable force in Toilers of the Sea, 1980, the thick
turquoise brushwork suggests the rough rolling of the waves
threatening to engulf anything that comes its way.

Everyday Life
Philippine traditional art has always been an integral
part of daily life. Its significance lies not only in its aesthetic
appearance but also in its functional it and its value to the

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community that produced it. Because traditional forms may also be used in daily private situations, it is
experienced more intimately, and engages many senses simultaneously. Some examples include the crisp Ilocano bed
cover with dainty ubas designs are the pabalat, delicate pastillas wrappers from Bulacan with elaborate cutout
designs, enveloping an equally delicate milk-based dessert. The senses of touch, taste, and smell are engaged along
with the visual sense.
Changes in landscape, innovations in technology, and the popular types of media have dramatically influenced
our relations and the way we live. Artists working in the contemporary idiom have been increasingly drawn to
scenes, objects, and issues in everyday life. Some would anchor inspiration from personal memories and reveal the
latter’s emotionally charged features. Marina Cruz’s works refer to old photographs and things like worn clothes.
She reproduces them by enlarging their image through painting, or casting, in the case of sculptures. The works of
the Cavite-based artist Lirio Salvador fuses easily accessible objects like machine discards, bicycle parts, and
kitchen implements to form an assemblage. He would often include synthesizers and guitar strings to convert
these artworks into functional instruments. One critic has referred to these objects as sound assemblages. The
unique forms that look like figures drawn from science fiction are actually as common as the everyday items that
compose these assemblages. These can be displayed in galleries and we can also find these being used in
performances.

Society, Politics and Economy, and History

Although art is a form of expression, we discern that throughout
its history, the works are not always created out of the artist’s full
volition. As we have learned in the previous lessons, the artist’s creative
process is affected if not compromised by patronage, such as of the
State or the Church. The communicative and evocative potentials of art
have been harnessed to support the colonial order, as exemplified by the
proliferation of religious art during the Spanish colonial period. Art was
also employed to advance a political agenda, as in the case of edifices
built during the Marcos regime. However, we will also discover how the
language of art has been employed to assert the artist’s creative agency,
to resist ideological structures, to inspire people, as well as to initiate
change.
Changes in the society, politics and economy affect artists, the
work that they do, and the structures that support their production.
The 19th century is a period which brought much economic prosperity to a segment of Filipinos who later became
the elite. This was partly caused by the opening of the Suez Canal which made travel and trade more efficient
between Spain and the Philippines. This paved the way for the development of secular art, which identified the
affluent Filipinos as the new art patrons. The art of portraiture became very popular as it documented and for
posterity the wealth of the sitter or their important stature in the society. It was a significant change considering
that patronage was limited to the church and the colonial government prior to the 19th century.
Technological innovations engender shifts in artistic production. It was only in the early 20th century when
photography became accessible to local photographers as Kodak set up shop in the Philippines in 1928. Photography
fulfilled documentary and artistic functions, serving as an alternative to painting as a reproducible and inexpensive
form of portraiture. We can also look at the technology-dependent cinematic arts as an example. The first film
ever to be directed by a Filipino was based on the play Dalagang Bukid by Hermogenes Ilagan and Leon Ignacio.
Directed by Jose Nepomuceno in 1919, at the time when the technology integrating sound in the movies was not yet
developed, live music was synced with the moving image. Here, we can imagine the singer-actress National Artist
Atang de la Rama singing while the movie ran.
We can think of art not only as a document that gives us clues about the historical conditions surrounding
its production, but also as a means to re-tell history itself. The painting of National Artist Benedicto Cabrera
titled Brown Brother’s Burden, ca. 1970, approximates the look of an old photograph which, presents an aspect of
colonial history from the gaze of the colonized. If we were to look at the jeepney on the other hand, we will see
that its style of ornamentation, reminiscent of folk characteristics, has practically effaced its roots as a postwar
vehicle.

Mode of Reception
Aside from considering our personal identity as a perceiver of art as well as the contexts discussed above,
it is also important to note when, where, and how art is encountered. Most often, art is encountered via the
museum; arranged and categorized before a public for the purpose of education and leisure. Owing to its
longstanding history as an institution that exhibits art or other objects of value, we automatically assume that

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what is shown is of value. The museum’s power lies in its ability to construct knowledge for us. Over the years,
many artists have questioned such powers that institutions like museums maintain. To return to our very first
example: Gaston Damag’s striking appropriation of bulul makes us rethink how cultural representations and methods of
display shape our consciousness.
Reception is very much affected by our level of exposure to artforms that may be unfamiliar or have
startling or shocking images. In 2010, Mideo Cruz rose to national prominence or notoriety, depending on your point
of view, over his work Poleteismo at an exhibit titled Kulo or boil at the CCP. His installation which featured a
sculpture of Christ with a phallus on his nose, among other provocative elements, shocked a vocal segment of the
Filipino public. This reaction was not only incited by the imagery, but circumstances surrounding the work also
fuelled the controversy. The reproductive health law was at the center of public discussions at the time; the media
linked the work to the issue without proper framing about process and meaning; and the more visible and media
savvy interpretation of the work became the dominant reading of the piece. The attitude toward the issue and the
reaction of the public are symptomatic of many deficiencies in our art education in schools as well as in homes and
the media. Thus, instead of a sober discussion and raising of questions, the issue degenerated into name-calling,
and grandstanding. It is also notable that social media played a part in stoking the fires. unmoderated comments,
tweets, and statuses created a free for all forum that encouraged opinionated shooting from the hip reactions,
instead of more knowledgeable and well thought out reflections. The artist’s age, gender, culture, economic
conditions, social environment, and disposition affect production as well as reception.

WRITTEN WORK ACTIVITY:

1. What art form in your community do you identify with? Paste a photo of it in a sheet of paper. Interview
your family/neighbors/or possible resource persons regarding the contexts of the form and its resonance
in everyday life. Write down your findings below the photo.

PERFORMANCE TASK ACTIVITY:

In the last module, you researched on the backstory of your creation myth. This time, appropriate it and create
another version by changing any or all of the following elements:
• The setting or where and when it happened
• Events or what happened? Are you going to change the ending?
• The sequence of events or how it happened? Are you going to start with a flashback? or at the middle, or the end
of the story?
• The characters or to whom it happened? Are you going to add or delete characters? What age will they be?
Gender? Race? Class? Will they be of this world or another (aliens, fairies)? Will they be human? Inanimate
object? Plant? Animal? Sci-fi creatures like robots?
• The narrator and point of view or who is telling the story? One of the existing characters? Or the characters you
added? Or a third person who is omniscient and seems to know everything and everyone?
• Tone or atmosphere. Comic? Drama? Fantasy? Sci-Fi? Others?
• Title of the story. Will your title give the audience a clue as to what your story is all about?
• Message. Why did you make these changes? What message are you communicating? What do you hope to achieve
with this message? Call to action? Expose? Engage? Entertain? Educate?
• Target audience, or to whom are you communicating this message? Do you think your target audience will
understand your message? Create a comic strip or a storybook. You can draw and color by hand on a Manila paper or
similar material or use the computer.

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 CHRISTIAN SAMARITAN HEALTH SERVICES AND TECHNICAL SCHOOL, INC.
15 de Septiembre St., Brgy. 1, Balingasag, Mis. Or.
BALINGASAG BRANCH

Name: Strand: Date: Score:

Subject: Contemporary Arts Across the Regions

Topic: The Contemporary in Traditional Art: Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA)
Content Standard: The learner understands that the mastery of the basic forms, types, techniques and devices
of creative nonfiction enables him/her to effectively critique and write creative nonfiction.
Performance Standards: The learner presents a form of integrated contemporary art based on the region of
his/her choice.
Learning Competency:
1. Classifies various art forms found in the Philippines
References:
WEEK 8
Reference: Datuin, F.M., Marcelino, L., Paulino, R., Ramirez, E.L. (2016). Contemporary Activity No. 6
Philippine Arts from the Regions(1st ed.). Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc.
DISCUSSION

NOTE: YOU CAN ASK YOUR TEACHER FOR PHOTO EXAMPLE IF NOT PRINTED IN YOUR MODULE FOR
CLARIFICATION OF EXAMPLES.

In this lesson, you will learn about our National Living Treasures, more formally known as the awardees of
the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts or NCCA. The
awardees produce art forms that are woven into everyday life. These demonstrate how pre-colonial traditions
persist through to the present.

How does tradition become contemporary, and the contemporary traditional?

Teofi lo Garcia, a 2012 awardee is a farmer in the town of San Quintin, a municipality in Abra Province,
better known for tending a plot of land filled with enlarged upo or gourd. After planting the upo in November and
harvesting the mature fruit during the summer months of March to May, Garcia would transform the harvest into
durable hats protecting people, especially farmers exposed for long hours under the heat of the sun. Each upo or
tabungaw (in Ilokano) is hollowed out, polished, and varnished, which gives the tabungaw hat a distinctive yellow
sheen. The varnish also strengthens the organic material to make it weather resistant. Thin strips of rattan or
uway are woven to line the hat, while another type of intricate weave, usually made of fern or nito, is placed on the
mouth of the hat as decoration. Simple hand tools are used to gouge the insides of the tabungaw . Garcia was
instrumental in fortifying the tradition through six decades worth of persistent practice. His artistic rendering of
a functional object, dedication to craft, and commitment to the community make him a bearer of culture. In recent
years, he initiated training for students at San Quintin National High School to pass the knowledge of tabungaw
hat making, inspiring the youth to value the tradition and to ensure its upkeep.
We learned in the Lesson 1 that the distinction between modern and contemporary art is a historical,
cultural, and stylistic one. From the example of Teofilo Garcia, we reiterate that Philippine traditional art, though
based on long-standing, established practices, has always been contemporary in a sense that it is art that is being
made now, and that it persists as part of a continuing performance of tradition. Although traditional artists do not
consider their work as a contemporary art form, its similarities to contemporary art practices can be discerned.
The process of making the tabungaw hats for example, involves the interface of local scientific knowledge and art.
Prior to crafting the hat, the growth of enlarged tabungaw is made possible through techniques that manage the
interplay of seed, earth, and forces of nature within a particular duration.

What is the GAMABA?

Garcia has been named Manlilikha ng Bayan (“one who creates for the country”) or National Living Treasure.
Twelve individuals have received this distinction from the time of the establishment of the award in 1992 through
Republic Act No. 7355 until 2012. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) bestows the highest
awards for culture and the arts, including the National Artist Award, which will be discussed in Lesson 5. The said
award and the GAMABA recognize the outstanding work of artists in the Philippines.

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 Traditional art is based on indigenous peoples’ cultures that are largely honed by oral tradition. A distinct
feature of the GAMABA is its emphasis on the intangible and communal aspects of art production, which as pointed
out in Lesson 1, are closely aligned with the process-based and collaborative inclination of some contemporary art
practices. Traditional art finds deep affinities with nature, place, society, ritual and spirituality, and everyday life.
In traditional integrative art, forms and expressions do not normally end up as objects distanced from everyday
living. The site of dissemination and
knowledge transfer is neither in the
formal spaces of a museum nor a
theater. The process of creation is
usually shared among members of
the community, and appeals to
broader aspects of life. Things
produced such as textiles, hats,
baskets, or utensils are
commonplace, usually found and
used in people’s homes. Songs and
dances are performed as a group as
part of ritual and as a way of
affirming one’s cultural identity or
sense of belonging.

What are some of the issues

related to awards?

The Production Process and The

Changing Environment
The traditional artists’ mode of
production continues to be
affected with the dynamics of
change. Environmental degradation
ushered in by calamities,
modernization, and capitalistic
endeavors displace the indigenous
peoples from their ancestral land.
As their home base, it is
considered of paramount
importance— this is where
resources are gathered and
shared, and where culture is
performed.
The following factors affect the
traditional artist’s production
process:
1. Tourism – Land areas are
converted into sites for
tourist consumption.
Ecological domains become
more susceptible to damage
with the combined forces
of natural disasters and
tourist mobility. Dances
and rituals are staged for
an external audience
rather than for the
community’s observance of
tradition. Art forms native
to the community tend to
diminish in quality.
Removed from their

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 original context, the works are transformed into mass produced souvenirs in order to meet the demands of
the tourist trade. Neon colors and designs woven from synthetic fibers have been made available in recent
years to create appropriations of traditional textile designs for commercial purposes.
2. Mining and infrastructure projects – The construction of dams and the establishment of oil and mining
companies evict people from their dwellings and severely damage the environment. Deprived of the bounty
of land, indigenous groups are prompted to seek short-term employment from these industries in order to
make ends meet in a money economy.
3. Militarization – The insecurity and tensions brought about by militarized zones arrest the people’s ability
to create art. It prevents people from having communal gatherings, where exchanges and passing of
knowledge can take place.
4. Christianization – The influence of Christianity and the conversion of the natives to a foreign religion have
caused members of the community to forsake their indigenous rituals and traditions. At worse, people are
led to believe that the latter are primitive and therefore their practice has no place in contemporary
culture. In some cases, however, the community finds a way to syncretize their indigenous ways with
traditions of Christianity. The Manobo community of Mt. Apo, for example initiated a “culture regeneration
movement.” As Christian converts, they sought the revival of their traditions by holding clan reunions,
employing native wedding rites, and recalling narratives of their culture through painting.

Difficulties in the Selection Process

The archipelagic orientation of the Philippines makes some locations challenging to reach by land, air, or sea.
Places that pose security risks, particularly militarized zones prevent the sustained entry of researchers and
possibly diminish reception outside of the locality. This is partly why the awarding does not follow a regular
pattern, as the column on Year of Conferment on the table of GAMABA awardees shows.
The award-giving body, through its cultural workers, is entrusted with an equally significant and difficult
responsibility of being critical, transparent, and judicious in the processes entailed by the GAMABA, from the
selection, awarding, and even beyond.

Effect of the GAMABA in the communities

Since the artists are very much entrenched in their localities, the award system might create a division
within the communities when one person is elevated to the status of a national awardee. The attention and the
entry of outsiders may create a disruption that may also change, not just the social and economic relationships,
but also the people’s attitudes, concepts, and definitions of the art forms and the processes.
The GAMABA and the National Artists Award, which will be discussed in the next lesson, are the highest
national awards for culture and the arts. The GAMABA recognizes exceptional artists who are engaged in the
traditional arts. With the latter, we refer to forms which are produced or performed within the context of the
community. The traditional arts are strongly grounded in culture, spirituality and religion, and also the environment.
Thus, forms produced by the GAMABA, while having a high aesthetic value, are also functional and accessible in
everyday settings. The changing times continue to pose major challenges to the environment and the traditional
artist’s production process. As culture bearers, the role of the GAMABA is to pass on their artistic knowledge to
the community, to inspire them, and to ensure that aspects of their cultural identity continue to thrive.

WRITTEN WORK ACTIVITY:

Watch the documentary in Youtube: Katutubo: Memory of Dances (2001), directed by Antonio Jose Perez, 50 mins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOrbP5HAtvc

Write a reaction paper based on the following guide questions:

a. What forms of traditional art can you identify in the videos?
b. What do these narratives tell us about the character of traditional arts?
c. How are the artists portrayed in the videos?
d. What specific factors cause changes in art production?

PERFORMANCE TASK ACTIVITY:

Designing the Stage for the Creation Story

Which of the art forms from the GAMABA awardees could best fi t into your developing version of the
Creation Story? Which element will it serve? Dress? Telling the story through chant? Production design? Musical
or dance element? Etc. Would you need to give it a more contemporary look or will you retain the traditional form,
depending on the tone of your story? Construct a maquette or a sketch if the art form you are going to appropriate
is visual. Create a dance or song if the element is performance-based or theatrical.

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