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CHAPTER 4: ART MAKING, TRADITIONAL and

MODERN PHILIPPINE ARTS and THE NEW ART
FORMS
LESSON 1: MOTIFS AND
SYMBOLS

Arts in the Philippines refer to the art works that have developed and accumulated in the
Philippines from the beginning of civilization in the country up to the present time.

Arts in the Philippines are classified into traditional arts, arts in Muslim Mindanao or the Islamic Arts
and arts in the Cordillera region. These arts reflect the societies wide range of cultural influence in
the country’s culture and how they honed the country’s arts.

Traditional Motifs
Traditional motifs are used by folklorist in analyzing, interpreting, and describing the
traditional elements found in the lore of a particular folk groups and compose the folklore of the
various regions and cultures of the world based on the motif patterns.

In other words, the folklorist identifies motifs in folklore to be able to interpret where, how,
and why these motifs are used so that they can understand the values, customs and ways of life
unique cultures.

The meaning in cultural anthropology encompasses the use of motifs in the areas of music,
literary criticism, visual arts, and textile arts that create recognizable patterns in folk-art traditions.

According to Dr. Margaret Read Macdonald. Motif refers to the recognizable and
consistently repeated story elements (examples are common characters, objects, actions, and
events) that are used in the traditional plot structures or tale-type of many stories and folktale.

Traditional Crafts

Traditional craft as defined by the Traditional Industry Law should meet the following five
requirements.

A traditional craft should be:

1. Used mainly in everyday life

"Everyday life" is taken as a broad meaning. For example, ceremonial occasions (e.g.,
wedding and funeral) and seasonal festivals that a person experiences only occasionally in one year
or in one's whole life are considered to be part of "everyday life" if they are closely connected to
Japanese life-style and carried out in ordinary Japanese families.

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In addition to this, stone lanterns for gardens, dolls, and ornaments are included because
they bring peace and some flavor to the family.

2. Manufactured mainly by hand

Original features and manual labor of a traditional craft are inseparable from each other. If
the manual labor of a traditional craft is carried by machine processes even while preserving a
traditional technique, it has no meaning because the original features of the craft will be lost.

Therefore, the main processes of a traditional craft must be done manually.

3. Manufactured by using a traditional technique or skill

Here, the term "traditional" is defined as continuing more than a hundred years.

Even if the initial technique or skill from a hundred years ago has not been kept perfectly
the same but there has been any improvement or development, it is considered "traditional" as
long as features peculiar to the craft products are kept unchanged.

4. Made from traditional materials

Similarly to technique and skill, materials are also very significant for features of a craft
product. The term "traditional" used here also means a history of more than a hundred years.

In addition, main materials should be natural substances. Since some materials do not exist
anymore or are difficult to obtain these days, other materials are permitted for use in exceptional
cases as long as they do not alter the unique characteristics of the product.

5. Manufactured in a certain area with a certain number of manufacturers

A certain number of workers (more than ten businesses or more than 30 workers) should be
engaged in the industry in a designated area. Namely, a traditional craft needs a certain scale in
manufacture and an established manufacturing area.

Traditional crafts consist of the following:

• Handicrafts

• Weaving

• Embroidery

• Woodcarving

• Musical instrument making

• Earthenware tiles making

• Glasswork

• Stonework

Handicrafts

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It is the main sector of traditional crafts. These are types of work where useful and
decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using simple tools.
Handicrafts have been existing in pre-historic times. These traditional crafts have cultural
and/or religious significance. The first examples were man’s necessities such as for protection or
coverings. Items made by mass production or machines are not considered handicraft goods. But
handicraft goods made with craft production process are considered handicrafts.
Handicrafts were later improved and adapted according to environmental conditions and
accepted as an art that reflects artistic sense, feelings, and cultural characteristics of society.

Weaving

It is another art form of traditional crafts. Materials used in weaving consist of wool, mohair,
cotton, bristles, and silk. It can be done with all kinds of cloth. Its products include plait, carpets,
rugs, and felt obtained by spinning thread, connecting the fibers together or by other materials.

Embroidery

It is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn.
Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In
modern days, embroidery is usually seen on caps, hats, coats, blankets, dress shirts, denim, dresses,
stockings, and golf shirts. Embroidery is available with a wide variety of thread or yarn color.

Wood carving

It is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two
hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or
figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object. The phrase may also refer to the
finished product, from individual sculptures to hand-worked moldings composing part of a tracery.

The making of sculpture in wood has been extremely widely practiced, but survives much
less well than the other main materials such as stone and bronze, as it is vulnerable to decay, insect
damage, and fire. It therefore forms an important hidden element in the art history of many
cultures.[1] Outdoor wood sculptures do not last long in most parts of the world, so it is still
unknown how the totem pole tradition developed. Many of the most important sculptures of China
and Japan, in particular, are in wood, and so are the great majority of African sculpture and that of
Oceania and other regions. Wood is light and can take very fine detail so it is highly suitable for
masks and other sculpture intended to be worn or carried. It is also much easier to work on than
stone.

Making musical instruments

It is a traditional craft that existed for many long years. The materials used for making
musical instruments came from trees, plants, ski, bones, and animal horn. Musical instruments are
classified into string, percussion and woodwind.

Glazed earthenware tiles

These are used for ceramic and art purpose. Artists usually create animal designs in these
tiles. As a ceramic art, it became world famous for their extraordinary creative workmanship.

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Glasswork

It is another traditional art form. Stained glass was developed many years ago. Church
windows are made of stained glass in different models and forms. Figurines, mugs, drinking glass,
utensils made of decorative glass work are very common nowadays. High quality of glass
workmanship is kept alive in this 21st century.

Stonework

As a traditional craft plays an important role in exterior and interior decoration in traditional
architecture. Traditionally, products of stonework consist of grinders, stone tables, and benches,
gravestones, human and animal figures, and decorative purposes. Stonework techniques include
craving, relief and statue. Ornamental motifs used are plants, geometric motifs, writing and figures.

Basket weaving (basketry or basket making)

It is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such
as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making
baskets may be known as basket makers and basket weavers. Basket weaving is also a rural craft.
Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials—anything that will bend and form a
shape. Examples include pine, straw, willow, oak, wisteria, forsythia, vines, stems, animal hair, hide,
grasses, thread, and fine wooden splints. There are many applications for basketry, from simple
mats to hot air balloon gondolas.

Decorative Motifs
Sir John Summerson, an architectural historian called decoration and ornament as a
“surface modulation”. In prehistoric times, decoration and ornament ate indicated in single
markings on a poetry, but such markings have been lost with the passing of time. A wide variety of
decorative styles and motifs have been developed for a long time in architecture and applied arts
that include pottery, furniture, metalwork, textiles, wallpaper, and other objects where decoration
is the main justification for their existence.

The vast range of motifs used in ornament were drawn from geometrical shape and
patterns, plants, human and animal figures. Traditional ornament from either parts of the world
typically relies more on geometrical and animal motifs.

Decorative Arts arts are a range of artistic disciplines concerned with design and ornamentation
Decorative
of items. These items are usually functional and do not necessarily have any intrinsic aesthetic
qualities.

Decorative arts which are also classified as crafts are parts of the larger category of applies
art Decorative arts include the creation of baskets, cabinets, ceramic tiles, furniture, and accessory
furnishings, rugs, carpets, tapestry, embroidery, book illustration, floral decorations, ceramic
pottery (earthenware, stoneware, porcelain) goldsmithing work, silverware and jewelry art. It also
embraces theatrical sets, costumes, mosaic art, stained glass work, precious armor, and weaponry
and masterpieces.

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Decorative
Lines,Symbols
colors, rectangles and other decorative symbols have no meaning in themselves if
they are not part of the elements of visual arts.

Classification of Decorative Motifs

A motif as previously defined, is an element of a particular subject or type of subject that is
found in any art work. It may also form the main subject of an art work. The related motif of
confronted animals is often seen alone, but may also be repeated, for example in Byzantine silk and
other ancient textiles. Where the main subject of an artistic work such as a painting is a specific
person, group, or moment in a narrative, that should referred to as the “subject” of the work, not a
motif, though the same thing may be a “motif” when part of another subject, or part of a work of
decorative art such as a painting on a vase.

Ornamental or decorative arts can usually be analyzed into a number of various elements,
which can be called motifs. These may often, as in textile art, be repeated many times in a pattern.

Many designs in Islamic culture are motifs, including those of the sun, moon, animals such
as horses and lions, flowers, and landscapes. Motifs can have emotional effects and be used for
propaganda. In kilim flatwoven carpets, motifs such as the hands-on-hips elibelinde symbolizes the
female principle and fertility, including the desire for children.

The idea of a motif is widely used in discussing literature and other narrative as an element in the
story that represent a theme.

Textile Art
These are both arts and crafts that use plant, animal, and synthetic fibers to create practical
or decorative objects. Textiles have been a fundamental necessity of human life since the start of
civilization. Methods and materials used to make them have expanded enormously.

Textile art started as a traditional craft. Textiles have been used to cover the human body
and protect it from the elements of the atmosphere; to send social cues to other people, to store,
secure, and protect possessions and to soften insulate and decorate living spaces and other
surfaces.

Clothing made of woven cloth, richly embroidered silk, well-knitted stockings, oriental rug of
wool, embroidered table cloth and curtains, felted fur hat, linen shirt are some of the basic textile
techniques in textile art in the Philippines.

Summary of the Lesson:

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINO “The idea was that the depiction of scenes of everyday life and
the surroundings without idealizing them was closest in spirit to the Filipino soul and native
soil.” By expressing the cultural richness of the archipelago in all its diversity, Filipino artists
have helped to shape a sense of national identity. Many Malay cultural traditions have survived
despite centuries of foreign rule. Muslims and upland tribal groups maintain distinct traditions in
music, dance, and sculpture.
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Ethnic arts in Philippines are labors of love and patience. The intricate carvings on wood, metal,
stone or glass are products of skillful hands and imaginative minds. Indigenous musical