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A Position Paper On The Future of Philippine Art
A Position Paper On The Future of Philippine Art
A Position Paper
On
The Future of Philippine Art
Garcia, Anilyn Nicole C. May 16, 2016
201508851 Sir Clod Marlan Krister Yambao
For us to conclude with what will happen to the future of Philippine art, we must first look back
to its past, and critic its present.
Philippine Art in the Past.
During the 1500’s, when trade was just beginning in the Philippines,
art was found in the form of pottery, tattoos, textiles and tools. It is difficult to simplify modern
Philippine art into just one theme. According to Lyn Yusi’s article on The Development of Art
Galleries in the Philippines (2015), art could be used for practicing religion, for establishing their
social status, for telling stories, or for expressing their achievements. Since art was part of their
daily lives, it was hard to identify and distinguish artists in that time.
Each tribal warrior from the Kalinga tribe is tattooed differently. It can tell the story of the
person’s experience in hunting, or shows their social status. Each combinations of tattooes in a
person’s skin is unique.
There are traditional weavers from different kinds of indigenous groups in the Philippines.
Shown above is an elder woman wearing
more than one colorful necklace from her
tribe. Jewelries uphold the tribal person’s
social status, and shows everyone her title.
An exhibition at the Museum of the Filipino People shows the different clothing textiles used in
the past by different indigenous tribes. Each clothing attire has different patterns and color
combinations, and each one shows a lot of history about its tribe.
During the Spanish era, art transitioned into decorations in churches and sculptures of saints.
During this era, there was the Real Ordean and the Comision de Permanente “
which required that
all artistic productions passed through strict friar supervision” (Yusi, 2015).
During the American occupation, art become more active, and more diverse. Art museums and
art galleries were established, and art organizations were founded. In this era, Fernando
Amorsolo emerged as the first internationallyacclaimed artist of the Philippines. At around this
time, discussions and debates on art trends in the Philippines started emerging, but it was
exclusive only the bourgeoisie could participate to them.
During the Japanese era, scarcity, inflation, pollution, and disease became more important than
aesthetics. All signs of artistic development stopped as people tried to recover from war. Perhaps
as a sign to uplift the people’s pitiful state, the government encouraged people to contribute to art
competitions with attractive prizes. The theme of the competition was “New Philippines”.
Philippine Art in the Present
.
We can see just how vastly people’s perception of art has
changed through the years. Back in the 1500’s, it was clear that art was part of our daily lives.
Anyone could design their tools in any way they wanted. Now, art is only for the privileged, for
the rich.
Art has also transitioned in meaning. Before, it was done to tell a story. Fictional stories like
myths and fables can be found in pots and caves, while stories of people’s lives like their own
achievements and downfalls can be found as tattoos in their skin. Now, it was to express
sociopolitical issues. One common theme is the effect of technology on our generation.
One example of this is Sandra Dans’ Iconolatria.
It played around with the concept of how
society’s selfdocumentation in social media has transformed into a form of self devotion and
narcissism. Each painting has a halo around the subject, and is captioned with typical
descriptions of posts online. The work below is simply captioned “#coffee”.
The exhibit explores the misplaced reverence of divine images wherein most see them as
something holy instead of using them to instill devotion. The same could be said of social media
in which selfdocumentation purpose of being present and making a mark in digital spaces
constructs tendencies of narcissism and selfabsorption. Complementing the exhibit are different
materials from the Vargas Museum collection, specifically stampitas and prayer cards of Marina
Vargas, and photographs of Jorge B. Vargas.
“I Am” is a series of selfportraits that dwells on the sanctifying practice of selfrepresentation
and the issues surrounding it. What or who can be glorified? If the validating agent is
himself/herself, is the glorification wellfounded?
“Mga Santong Kanto” is a series of photographs depicting Filipino men. Here, the notion of
masculinity in the Philippine context is reexamined in reference to the idea of holiness, a concept
mostly associated with the feminine.
“Stampitas” is a series of images supplemented by Catholic prayer cards reminiscent of the
and tools for carrying out faith.
As more and more malls started developing around the Philippines, art galleries started growing
inside these convenient buildings. Art became more commercialized. This, however, encouraged
more Filipinos to become fullpledged artists. Being a professional fullpledged artist in our
generation usually meant being financially unstable.
According to this article, “At a recent gathering to announce the 10th year of Art in the Park—a
oneday affordable art fair held annually, scheduled on April 3 at the Salcedo Market in Makati
City—a random group of artists, art gallery directors, art event organizers and aficionados agreed
that the country is in the midst of an art boom, with no signs of slowing down.” Art has
transitioned once again to being a part of everyday life. Art has become more personal.
Artists use their talents to express big turning points in their lives. For example, Alfredo and
Isabel Aquilizan had an installation back in 2006 called “Project BeLonging: In Transit”. They
used the concept of Balikbayan boxes by organizing sentimental materials into a neatlyboxed
shape. The Balikbayan box is traditionally used by Filipinos who work abroad to deliver their
sentiments to their families back home. The artists used their own personal belongings for the
installation.
Another installation by Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan is the “Dream Blanket Project”. The
premise was that a hundred of blankets under which people dreamed were gathered from local
communities and stacked neatly in open cabinets. A hidden sound system broadcasts the dreams
of the people who donated their blankets for the project.
However, instead of telling stories like before, art is also used as a propaganda. It is used to
express opinions on sociopolitical issues. Rodel Tapaya’s painting called “Mountain Fantasies”
(2012) talks about mining and preservation of nature. It has elements of Filipino mythologies,
and its moral is that man’s urgency to progress will result to the destruction of nature.
Another example is Mark Justiniani’s “Reverb” installation, which talks about illusion and
precision.
In the work above, only the first layer was sculpted, and the rest of it is an illusion of mirrors.
According to Mark Justiniani, his method of creating the artwork was inspired from the way the
universe was first created. Only 10% of what can be seen is real. The rest of the 90% is just an
illusion. Similarly, a scientific theory claims that atoms are 99.99% empty space. As the artist
showed this concept, he also showed social issues. In the particular artwork above, a line of
blankfaced workers have their hands on keyboards, sitting in what looks like the interior of a
military helicopter. This shows how the “soldiers” of our generation are the people focused on
technology, and they did not earn the title of ‘soldier’ out of valiantly protecting the country, but
because both soldiers and the people today have the similar attribute of being stoic, emotionless,
and a plain copy of each other.
Art is also used to gain profit. Art is used to advertise. But on the other hand, art is now also
more diverse, because it is now more accessible to people. Anyone with internet can do a simple
graphic design, and share it to hundreds in their social media accounts. A famous platform is
DeviantArt, wherein anyone around the world can publicize their works and receive comments
about their works.
It can be argued that even the simplest act of filtering pictures can be considered art. This is not
to generalize that this generation’s art cannot reach the same caliber as the renaissance era’s
Leonardo da Vinci. This only implies that it is now easier to get involved in the art community.
Forums and discussion threads online about learning a certain form of art, to socializing with
artists, all the way to debating about the position of art are all available to people no matter what
status now. We can say that this generation has accumulated the prehispanic people’s view of
art as part of everyday life, and the American occupation people’s critical thinking of art as a
way of cultural positioning.
“The Philippine art scene is very vibrant, and I think it will become even more vibrant in the next
few years,” says Dawn Atienza, director of Tinaw Art Gallery. “Compared to a decade ago,
there are a lot of opportunities for Filipino artists.”
Philippine Art in the Future.
Now that we are able to retrace where Philippine art originated,
and how it has transformed through the years, we may able to distinguish what track it will
progress into in the future. We have discussed in class that art is seen as a representation of
society. We can see that the semiotics of Philippine art has changed drastically, depending on the
era. We have always classified history according to its colonizers and their eras. During our
generation wherein no world war is currently existing, it is difficult to pinpoint the classification
between our present and future.
However, if we are to guess the path that art will be taking, we will have to identify planned
events in the future that may have a huge impact on the world of art as a whole, and focus on
what the Philippines can contribute to it.
Most of our art exhibitions are mainly focused on technology. Interactive art museums have only
just begun popping out. In Singapore, they have opened up a new permanent exhibit in their
ArtScience Museum entitled “Future World: Where Art Meets Science” this March 12, 2016. It
is one of the largest interactive digital playgrounds, created by artists, CG animators, architects,
engineers, artists, and more.
This 170,000LED light exhibit called “Crystal Universe” gives the illusion of being in space.
The exhibit can show the big bang, and other planets and stars with you being in the center of it
all, by simply using an application in your smart device.
The “Sketch Town” lets children explore their creativity by coloring their own vehicles. After
being colored and decorated, these twodimensional vehicles are turned into threedimensional
figures, and placed in a virtual town. The children can now see their vehicles interact with other
children’s vehicles. The objects in the town can move in different speeds and directions,
depending on the way children touch them. Sometimes, monsters arrive to destroy the town.
Children can interact with these monsters and by helping each other, they will be able to fight the
monsters.
This exhibit is entitled “
A Whole Year per Year” has three different virtual environments that
blossom where you stand.
The “Light Ball Orchestra” is a multi colored light and sound park that changes color and makes
a sound when you touch the plastic beach balls. Combined with a few other people who touch
these balls, the whole room symphonies and glows harmoniously. No two symphony is ever the
same.
Similarly, a new interactive social history museum has opened in the Quezon City Memorial
Circle, Philippines called “The QCX Museum”. It shows each stage that Quezon City has
undergone as a city starting as a plot of land, to all the changes it had to go through during the
wars, to how it looks like now. It shows all the aspects each Filipino lives with in Quezon City
from its infrastructures and monuments, to its jeepneys, its villages, and its media.
However, despite this constant progressive remarks, we must take into consideration the power
of the government as they can affect the future of Philippine art. Out of the five presidents, none
of them have any platforms that support or continue the progress of Philippine art. Binay’s
platform is mainly focused on economic dynamism, Duterte’s platform focused on protection
against crime and corruption, Poe focused on international trade, Roxas focused on the economy,
and Santiago focused on enforcing laws and implementing renewable energy policies. This can
affect the future of Philippine art drastically.
With regards to the world of Philippine theatre, we have lost a surmountable amount of records
due to the fire incident at the Faculty Center of UP Diliman this April 1, 2016. The Teatro
Hermogenes Ylagan is the one of the few existing black box theatres in the Philippines.
Alexander Cortez, former founder of the Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, collected all the
video tapes of all the theatre productions of Dulaang UP, since its birth during the 1960s. All the
theses of former Theatre Arts graduates were also stored in the building, as well as unique
theatre handbooks that have been kept by the professors since their times as students in the
university.
Although the future of art looks bright in a global perspective, this may not be so in a national
perspective. We were taught in class that art is a representation of society. When it comes to
discussing the future of Philippine art, the burning of the Faculty Center means there will be no
history to go back to. This is a huge loss not just to the department of theatre, but also to the
department of Art Studies. All the theses that each Art Studies graduate have done have burnt
down. Many cultural paintings were kept in the College of Arts and Letters’ office.
But when we no longer have a history book to tell the future generation what is wrong or right,
they are now challenged to do things on their own, and discover for themselves what should and
shouldn’t be. This means that the future generation will have a clean slate, with no manual
created by the generation before them to guide them. Learning the history of art is important. It
keeps us from doing the same mistake. However, now that we have little to no documentation of
the mistakes and successes that we have done in the past, the future of Philippine art is now
uncertain, for this will all depend on the people in the future on what they feel should be voiced
out, on how they want to voice it, and on why it should be voiced in the first place.
An example of this is the film by Jerrold Tarrog called “Heneral Luna”. It showed just how
regioncentered the Philippines was before, and it spoke up about the disloyalty of Filipinos
towards their own countrymen during the World War I, and how years have passed by and still,
the same issue is still happening. The fact that the film had to be closed down immediately just to
make way for western films made the showing of the film a living example of its own story plot
in which the moral of the lesson is that Filipinos still value western material more than local
ones.
The film went viral, and a majority of Filipinos encouraged future filmmakers to do more of the
historical, sociopolitical films like “Heneral Luna”, and less of the typical, romantic comedy or
slapstick films like “She’s Dating the Gangster”.
Art will definitely progress a lot faster in the future. It will be shared a lot faster into a larger
group of audience and therefore, change will happen a lot faster. The attitude of society is
represented through art, and the society reacts to the art its people have created. We can expect
more educational, sociopolitical art works to be done in the future. Art will not just be a form of
commercialization. Art will not just be a hobby that cannot guarantee a salary every day. Art will
be a way to educate people about its society. Art will be our moral compass in this constantly
fastpaced technologydriven era.
Bibliography
● Yusi, Lyn. "The Development of Art Galleries in the Philippines."
National Commission
for Culture and the Arts
. N.p., 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2016 from
http://ncca.gov.ph/subcommissions/subcommissiononculturalheritagesch/artgalleries/t
hedevelopmentofartgalleriesinthephilippines/
Inquirer.net
● "Millennials Are Driving the Current Boom in Philippine Art." . N.p., 20
Mar. 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2016 from
http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/225337/millennialsaredrivingthecurrentboominphilippin
eart#ixzz479bzcHRa
BBC
● Lowe, Aya. "Reviving the Art of Filipino Tribal Tattoos." . N.p., 27 May 2014.
Web. 20 Apr. 2016 from
http://www.bbc.com/news/worldasia27539510
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Marina Bay Sands Singapore
● "Future World: Where Art Meets Science." . N.p., n.d. Web.
20 Apr. 2016 from
http://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/futureworld.html