Figure 3.2.

Pabalat

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.

Figure 3.3. Lirio Salvador’s Sandata ni Shiva

50 Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

 Can you imagine the type of sounds we can produce from these instruments?

Many artists have also found the changing urban landscape as an

exciting subject matter. The photographer MM Yu has captured the details
of interesting patterns and forms often overlooked in the city. She has also
photographed unexpected and unsightly piles of garbage and somehow
transformed them into aesthetic pictures. The group Cavity collective does
graffiti in the streets of Cavity. They are a group of young artists who create
temporary yet arresting images in public spaces.
d. 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.
UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING
51
 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.

Figure 3.4. Brown Brother’s Burden by BenCab

How do we encounter the jeepney in this day and age? What does the jeepney mean to you
today? How does it feel when you ride on it or when you see it on the streets?

The said technique of transforming existing materials through the

juxtaposition of elements taken from one context and placing these in
another to present alternative meanings, structure, and composition is called
appropriation. This technique helps present alternative meanings, structure,
and composition to an art work.
e. 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 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

52 Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

 striking appropriation of bulul makes us rethink how cultural representations
and methods of display shape our consciousness.

Figure 3.5. Installation shot from Gaston Damag’s Ifugao Red exhibit

When forms of street art like graffiti are placed inside the whitewashed walls of the museum,
how does looking at this art make you feel? Conversely, what happens when artists get out
of the museums and galleries and bring their works to the streets and paint the walls by
collaborating with paint manufacturing companies like Boysen or Davies?

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 fueled
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.

UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING

53
 There are varied contexts or conditions that affect the way art is produced,
received, and exchanged. In the first part of this lesson, we were alerted to how
display practices in museums tend to remove certain forms from their everyday
context, like a ritual object severed from its original use. The artist’s personal
contexts like age, gender, and cultural background may strongly influence the
TMLSS form and content of their works. Larger milieus such as nature and the social
environment shape the artist’s disposition and access to resources. Lastly, the
mode of reception is an important context which considers the moment (time
and space) by which we encountered the artwork and how we might respond
or engage with it in relation to our personal experiences and that of the wider
public’s. In succeeding lessons, we will find out the role of institutions and award-
giving bodies in privileging or excluding certain values and forms.

Appropriating and Telling Another Creation Story

In the last chapter, 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
D-I-Y
• 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.

54 Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

 i. 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.
ii. What happens when an art object is given another context? Share your
PIN IT
photo with your group. Each one will share insights learned from his/her
assignment. Choose one submission by one of the members of the group.
Imagine that the group is a contemporary artists’collective. Select and invent
a different context for the work. Using Manila paper and craft materials, or
cartolina interpret how the new context can affect the reading of this work.
Each group will be expected to explain their work in class.
iii. Post this output to your blog or notebook journal.

Watch any of the two independent films: Mariquina, 2014, directed by

Milo Sogueco or Dukit, (2013), directed by Armando Lao. How is shoemaking or
woodcarving woven into these films, narratives? What are the different contexts
that affect production? What issues can you identify in relation to form? Write a
reaction paper.
LEVEL UP

Guillermo, Alice. 1998. “Art and Society” Humanities: Art and Society Handbook,
University of the Philippines College of Arts and Letters (CAL) and Commission
on Higher Education and Development (CHED).
Tiongson, Nicanor (ed) 1991. Tuklas Sining, Cultural Center of the Philippines.
TL; DR

UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING

55
 LESSON 4: THE CONTEMPORARY IN TRADITIONAL ART: GAWAD
SA MANLILIKHA NG BAYAN (GAMABA)

At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:

• Explain how tradition becomes contemporary and vice versa through the
practices of artist awardees of Manlilikha ng Bayan Awards or GAMABA.
• Write a critical paper responding to the issues related to awards like the
GAMABA, guided by the questions and instructions in the last section.
QUEST
• Create a work that promotes traditional art with local practitioners and
GAMABA awardees as examples.
• Imagine the ideal Manlilikha ng Bayan through a performance, a literary piece
or a visual form.

FLAG

intangible
CHAT ROOM
communal

In the previous lessons, we have learned that traditional arts, like the pre-
colonial indigenous arts are also contemporary. They are living traditions and are
produced up to the present, in modified ways. 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
THREAD 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.

FAQ How does tradition become contemporary, and the contemporary

traditional?
Teofilo 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

56 Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

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.

Figure 4.1. Teofilo Garcia wearing a tabungaw hat

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.

FAQ 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

UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING

57