8

Quarter 1
SOUTHEAST ASIAN ARTS
 Lesson

1 Arts and Crafts

The principles of art represent how artist uses elements of art to create an effect
and to help convey the artist intent. The use of these principles can help determine
whether the arts and crafts are successful and whether or not the art is finished.

What’s In

7 Elements of Arts
Lines are marks moving in a space between two points whereby a viewer can visualize
the stroke movement, direction and intention based on how the line is oriented.
Shape is a two-dimensional design encased by lines to signify its height and width
structure, and can have different values of color used within it to make it appear three
dimensional.
Form is a three-dimensional object with volume of height, width and depth.
Space refers to the perspective (distance between and around) and proportion (size)
between shapes and objects and how their relationship with the foreground or
background is perceived.
Texture is used to describe the surface quality of the work, referencing the types of
lines the artist created.
Value refers to the degree of perceivable lightness of tones within an image.
Color is an element consisting of hues, of which there are three properties: hue,
intensity, and value.
Principles of design include balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern,
rhythm and unity. If the elements of art are your tools, the principles of art are how
you put them to work. It is where the style of art manipulates its substance.

Fabric Design
Thailand – Thai silk is produced from the cocoons of Thai silkworms. It is mainly
produced in Khorat which is the center of the silk industry in Thailand.
Cambodia – Traditionally, Cambodian textiles have employed natural dyes coming
from: insect nests – red dye; indigo – blue dye; prohut bark – yellow and green dye;
and ebony bark – black dye.
Laos – Stories of their tradition were not passed on orally nor was it written; they were
woven. These stories are the ones woven into a sinh – the Lao women‘s ankle long skirt
whose form is undeniable but whose patterns are unique to each skirt.
Vietnam – Golden thread silks were born in Vietnam. Many of Vietnamese fabrics
originated from Ha Dong, the center of weaving and sericulture for centuries.
Indonesia – The most common fabric is the batik. The term batik is an Indonesian-
Malay word, believed to be related to the Malay word titik, which means ‗point‘, ‗dot‘ or
‗drop‘.
Singapore – The existence and use of batik has been recorded since the 12th century
has been recorded in popularity through the years.
Brunei – Brunei‘s traditional textile is also called batik but it is uniquely different from
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
There are two main types of batik that are produced in Malaysia:
1. Hand painted – The artist uses the canting, small copper container with one or
more different sized pipes.

jadibatek.com
2. Block printed – It is done by welding together strips of metal to form a metal
block. The metal block is then dipped into molten wax and pressed against the
fabric in order to make a pattern.

penangbatik.com.my
Different techniques are used in Brunei‘s batik like airbrushing, cracking,
bubble, rainbow, sprinkle, geometry and marble. These techniques are applied on
fabrics like cotton, chiffon, linen and brocade. Handmade batik designs are created
through the art of layering and mixing of colors injected with creativity.

What’s New
Southeast Asia is composed of eleven countries of impressive diversity in religion,
culture and history: Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It is also one of the
most dynamic areas of the world economically, a factor which largely accounts for its
growing international significance.

ARTS AND CRAFTS

Batik is a method of painting on cloth through dyeing. The cloth that is best used for
batik is cotton and usually in blue, brown and red colors.
Indonesia is known for its batik products (bags, fans etc.) The main tool used in batik
making is canting.
Malaysian batik is batik textile art in Malaysia. The most popular motif are leaves
and flowers. Malaysian batik is also famous for its geometrical designs, such as spiral.
 123f.com
The songkok (also called peci or kopiah) is a cap widely worn in Indonesia,
Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Philippines. Songkok in Brunei comes in
many colorful variations to suits individual taste and styles. They select the type and
color of the velvet to mirror their individuality.

collinsdictionary.com
Sinh is a traditional garment worn by Lao women. Every woman in Laos weaves
all the sinhs that she wears throughout her lifetime. She uses folk icons to express
personal views. This often accomplished by symbolist totem from inanimate world –
crabs for resourcefulness, snakes for fertility, butterflies for beauty, birds for success
and so on.

golaos.tours
Wayang also known as wajang is a traditional form of puppet theatre play
originally found in the cultures of Java, Indonesia wherein dramatic story is told
through shadow, thrown puppets and sometimes combined with human character.

flickr.com
Wau or kite in Malay is a uniquely designed Malaysian kite. It is a marvelous
tradition inherent to the culture of the people of the Malaysian Peninsula. Kite is
widely found in traditional rich states of Kelantan and Terengganu, especially during
harvest time. One legend says that farmers used kites as a kind of flying scarecrows in
the fields. The sound made by the kites lulled their children to sleep, so they could
work with little interruption. Another popular belief is that coastal inhabitants once
employed fishing kites made from palm leaves and fitted with a line and hook to catch
fish.
 dancingfrog.net

Flying lanterns are made out of rice paper with a bamboo frame, which contain
a fuel cell or small candle. Loy Krathong is known as a water lantern festival,
occurring at the November full moon to mark the end of the rainy season. It features
thousands of lotus-shaped baskets called krathong floating on the rivers. The two Thai
lantern festivals usually occur in November every year.

Flying lanterns Loy Krathong

Image source: earth911.com Image source: en.blog.kkday.com
Sculpture - is an artwork by modeling, carving, joining materials into three-
dimensional work of art.
There are 3 main types of relief sculptures:
1. Alto form is almost completely carved from its surface, highly shaped, with very
little of the structure touching the base or plane.

slideshare.net
2. Bas form is a relief that barely extends past the base.

slideshare.net
 3. Sunken relief sculpture is an image that is carved into the surface rather than
out of it.

idesign.wiki
The Merlion is the national symbol of the city-state of Singapore. It is depicted
as a mythical creature with lion‘s head and body of fish. The Merlion is also partly
inspired by the story of how Singapore got its name or the ―Singapura Story‖. The
Sentosa Merlion is the biggest replica, standing at 37 meters and made from glass-
reinforced concrete.

tripadvisor.com.ph

Asian art is essentially religious in nature. Religion in art is evident in Cambodia

as seen in their temples. The most famous and most beautiful of these temples and
the largest religious monument in the world is the Angkor Wat.

tourismobserver.blogspot.com

What is It

Artist use light and dark colors to convey a mood or emotion. Color can
harmonize or bring elements together and create pleasing sensation or it may clash.

In Vietnam, one of the most popular art is their French–influenced silk

painting. The colors of the silk painting and its canvas represent harmony with
nature. Mastering the quality of each silk will help the artist to have most flexible and
effective treatment in his work.
 vietnam-tour.biz
The native Indonesian tribes usually create sculptures that depict
ancestors, deities and animals. The most amazing sculptures are the asmat wooden
sculpture of Papua and the dayak wooden mask and sculpture. The most
prominent sculptures are the hundreds meters of relief and hundreds of stone
Buddhas at the temple of Borobudur in Central Java.

Asmat wooden sculpture Animal sculpture Stone Buddha

Image source: brainly.com Image source: amariabaias.com
postnerfineart.com

In Thailand, the most notable sculptures are the Thai bronzes famous for their
originality and grace. Thai art is heavily influenced by stories of the Buddha.

bukowskis.com

The Sri Mariamman Hindu temple with sculptures of different images is almost
as old Singapore itself. This was constructed and dedicated to the goddess
Mariamman who is worshipped for her power to cure disease.

hotels.com wowabout.com
 What’s More

Art elements are evidently integrated in the design of different Southeast

Asian Folk artists as they express their feelings. Noted arts and crafts of Southeast
Asia are Indonesian batik and wayang puppetry, Malaysian modern batik, wau and
many others.
Wayang puppets are usually made of leather, which is then perforated and
painted to create an illusion of clothing on puppet.
The batik is a textile that has geometric and various free form designs which are
known from generation to generation. Design are based on nature like elaborate
designs from flowers, leaves and birds. Modern designs have more colors and they
exhibit various visual textures and pattern.

mdpi.com
Malaysian batik usually incorporates leaves and flowers to avoid interpretation
of human and animal images as idolatry in accordance with their local Islamic
doctrine. Malaysians are more into spiral lines, and geometrical shapes. Their designs
are larger and simple.
In Myanmar, one popular textile design that has existed for over a hundred
years is what they locally called lun yakyaw acheik which literally means ―over- a
hundred shuttle‖
Brunei’s batik highlights their national flower simpur, sumboi-sumboi (pitcher
plant) and their traditional design called air muleh.
Thai attires design varies from every region where influences of varied religion
account. They use floral and animal designs to follow the theme established by the
tenets of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam.
In Indonesia, the kebaya and batik shirts are the upper garments that served as
the national costumes. Kebayas are designed with intricate flowers, geometric shapes,
or animals depending on regional traditions which determine the motif.
Batik artists do air brushing, cracking, bubble, rainbow, sprinkle, geometry, and
marble.
The visual components of lines shapes, forms space, colors and texture are
evident in the different wau kite design. The artist carefully follows principles of
balance in distributing the visual weight or stability of the wau kites.
In Singapore, the famous sculpture is the Merlion. It is widely used as a mascot
and a national personification of Singapore.
The famous sculpture in Wat Pho in Bangkok is 46 meters long and 15 meters
high made of plaster on a brick core and finished in gold leaf. The feet are inlaid with
mother of pearl.
In Cambodia, tall building of memorials and temples designed after the motif of
Hinduism.
 Lesson

2 Traditions/History of a
Community for One’s Artwork

What’s In

The blending of foreign and indigenous styles transformed Southeast Asia‘s art
during the rise of Hindu and Buddhist states in the beginning of the 1st century. In
many remote parts of the region, art were used to link village life with the
supernatural and people continued to follow the ways of their ancestors, with their
local art styles demonstrating the resilience of the indigenous traditions. Its
architecture from this period is decorated with a robust and innovative use of colored
glass, mirrored tiles, and a fantastic array of bright colors.
Wet - rice ( or padi) agriculture, metallurgy navigation, ancestors cults and
worship associated with mountains were both indigenous and widespread, and
certain art not derived from India - for example batik textiles, gamelan orchestras,
and wayang theatre remain popular
The Khmer temple of Angkor and the Indonesian temple of Borobudur were
tombs in that ashes of the builders would be enshrined therein.
Indigenous people represent 1.4 percent of the total population in Cambodia,
and the majority of them live in remote rural areas within the country.
Handicrafts are part of their culture and livelihood as their produce textiles,
basket, jars, pottery and other tools for their daily use.
Traditional Thai art and craft ranges from paintings and musical instrument to
beautiful silk, silver, wear, pottery, puppets, khon masks, model warships, bronze
wear , soap carving, sculptures, wood and stone carving, ceramics and much more.
The specific sectors of the program are handicrafts made from non-timber forest
products, especially rattan and bamboo; indigenous textile weaving; and jars and
pottery produced by indigenous communities.
Southeast Asia is a traditional producer of natural resources. Southeast Asian
crafts
• sky lantern
• handicrafts
• silk painting
• wayang kulit or shadow puppetry
• wau kite
• songkok
 What’s New

South and Southeast Asia had been the seats of great civilizations from time
immemorial. From the Himalayan mountains to the vast island chains of the equator,
from the Indian subcontinent to the Pacific, the peoples of this region have produced
magnificent art for thousands of years. Included are Buddhist and Hindu sculpture in
stone and bronze, later Indian court art, miniature painting, and elegant personal
possessions. These artworks demonstrate that the people who created and owned
them keenly appreciated the things of this world—the luxury and fine craftsmanship
that power can command— and at the same time probed deeply into spiritual and
cosmic matters of great complexity.
Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, the three great religions that developed in
the subcontinent, share certain basic beliefs: that time is cyclical, and the universe is
created and destroyed in endless cycles; that the world is transitory and the
appearance of permanence is illusion (maya); that all living beings are born and reborn
in different lives and bodies (samsara); and that one's good and bad deeds (karma)
accumulate from life to life and determine the form in which one is reborn.
Wayang, also spelled Wajang, (Javanese: ―shadow‖) classical Javanese puppet
drama that uses the shadows thrown by puppets manipulated by rods against a
translucent screen lit from behind. Developed before the 10th century, the form had
origins in the thalubomalata, leather puppets of southern India. The art of shadow
puppetry probably spread to Java with the spread of Hinduism. The prototype of the
wayang figures is the wayang kulit, or shadow puppet made of perforated, elaborately
painted leather. The plays utilizing wayang puppets are set in mythological times and
dramatize episodes from the Hindu epics Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata.
The songkok or peci or kopiah is a cap widely worn in Indonesia, Brunei,
Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Philippines and Southern Thailand, most commonly
among Muslim males. It is called "songkok" in the Ethnic Malay cultural sphere in
Malay Archipelago. While in Java, it is called "kopiah" or "kopeah".
It is also known widely in Indonesia as "peci", although peci has a more ellipse
shape and sometimes decorated. The name "peci" was probably derived from the
Dutch word petje means literary "small hat", or possibly derived from the Turkish fez
instead. Traditionally songkok are associated with Muslim men's cap. However, in
Indonesia, the songkok has become the national headdress with secular nationalist
connotations made popular by Sukarno.
The sinh is a traditional garment worn by Lao and Thai women, particularly
northern Thai and northeastern Thai women. It is a tube skirt. Its pattern can indicate
which region the wearer is from. In present-day Thailand, pha sinhs are typically worn
at special events. However, in Laos sinhs are worn more regularly in daily life.
Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist applied to whole cloth. This
technique originated from Java, Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and
lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a tjanting, or by printing the resist with a
copper stamp called a cap. The word batik is Javanese in origin. It may either come
from the Javanese word amba ('to write') and titik ('dot').
 The wau or layang-layang is a uniquely designed traditional Malay kite that has
graced the sky since then. It is called wau because the shape of its wing is similar to
an Arabic letter (pronounced ―wow‖). Farmers also used kites as flying scarecrows to
frighten off birds in the fields. Wau are also flown for the sound they make which lulls
the children to sleep, leaving the adults more time for work. Some kite makers leave a
wau flying at night and fall asleep to the sounds of the kite.
Swarms of sky lanterns (Thai: khom loi), literally: 'floating lanterns', are
launched into the air. Khom loi are made from a thin fabric, such as rice paper,
stretched over a bamboo or wire frame, to which a candle or fuel cell is attached.
When the fuel cell is lit, the resulting hot air is trapped inside the lantern and creates
enough lift for the khom loi to float into the sky.

What is It

Arts and crafts are an integral component to highlight Southeast Asia in its
richness and diversity. It reflects this approach by being adorned through arts and
crafts from the region.
The mainland region of Southeast Asia has a rich, indigenous tradition of
ancient ceramic production (pottery) with centers in the modern nations of
Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos), Myanmar (Burma), Thailand,
and Vietnam. The main output was ware for domestic and ritualistic use and
regional trade. The insular Southeast Asian region (Brunei, East Timor Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore) made only utilitarian earthenware such as
cooking and storage vessels for foods and liquids.
Southeast Asia is the location of about one fifth of the world's remaining
tropical forest, on which at least thirty million forest-dwellers depend.
Geographically, it encompasses Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and
Peninsula Malaysia as part of the mainland, and the vast archipelagos of Indonesia
and the Philippines.
It focuses on selected regions of Island Southeast Asia that are inhabited by
indigenous communities sharing similar land use and natural resources
management strategies. Southeast Asia basketry is approached from a historical
perspective. Weaving techniques, use of plant materials and symbolism of baskets
and textiles are particular references to Borneo and the Philippines.

Weaving
In the Southeast Asian archipelago, making cloth is regarded as the archetypal
form of women's work and creativity. Traditionally, women learned the textile arts
typically weaving or making batik before they were eligible for marriage. Later in life,
excelling in making cloth, and especially in mastering complex natural-dye processes,
was regarded as the highest measure of a woman's achievement.
 fashion-history.lovetoknow.com wordpress.com

Some of the world's richest and most intricate weaving traditions were born in
Southeast Asia. From the sumptuous ikats of the Cambodian royal court of the 19th
century, to the fantastical animal motifs of Northern Laos, to the fine brocade robes of
Vietnamese mandarins, silk weaving has a long and grand history. Today, the range of
silk fabric and textiles woven in these and other important weaving centers such
Thailand and Myanmar is vast. Weaving is still almost exclusively a woman's craft,
and an important source of income for rural families.
Thai silk making is considered to be one of the finest arts in the world, a
product of a unique manufacturing process. Silk weaving in Cambodia dates to as
early as the first century since textiles were used for trading.
Laos weaving industry use patterns and motifs of textiles to a traditional Lao
women‘s skirt sinh.

Basketry and Pottery

rosiepottery.com istock.photo
Evidence indicates that sophistication in basketry is not always matched by the
same level of proficiency in other cultural skills. For instance, the Penan hunters-
gatherers of Sarawak produce the finest rattan mats in Borneo with intricate woven
designs, but other objects of their material culture are very basic in terms of style and
manufacture. Distinctive pottery complexes have been presented for several scattered
areas in Southeast Asia.
Some communities have customarily mastered both pottery and basketry skills.
However, basketry – in comparison to pottery – seems to be more resilient. Today, in
Southeast Asia, pottery has virtually disappeared from the majority of indigenous
societies. A vast selection of plant materials is used in the production of woven items.
By and large, rattan palms, bamboo and pandan are the preferred sources of fibers.
Semi woody rattan climbers are atypical component of many forest types across the
region. Often a woven item can be composed of different materials. For instance, batak
bamboo baskets have a rattan component framing the basket‘s mouth. The leaves of
non-climbing palms are also used in basketry.
Indonesia has related pottery complexes in the Philippines and Borneo at the
north-eastern end of Indonesia, Malaya at the northwestern end, it would be logical to
find related pottery inside Indonesia.
Jewelry

asiasociety.org

The wealth of materials used in Southeast Asian jewelry include gold, silver,
bronze, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, rock crystal, jade, etched and plain
agates, pearls, amber, elephant ivory, hornbill, boar tusks, tortoiseshell, marine shells,
iridescent insect casings and a large number of glass beads.

What’s More

Culturally, the region is extremely diverse. Its peoples speak many unrelated
languages employing a number of alphabets. Several sects of Buddhism, Islam, and
Christianity are widespread; other religions, such as Hinduism, also have hundreds of
thousands of followers.
Southeast Asia is composed of eleven countries of impressive diversity in
religion, culture and history: Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Timor-Leste,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It is also
one of the most dynamic areas of the world economically, a factor which largely
accounts for its growing international significance.
The relationship between the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia is
distinguished by the fact that: Indic influence in the Philippines was extremely
marginal. There were no great Indic architecture, religious rituals nor elaborate
civilizations in the country (with the exception of Muslim sultanates in the south) prior
to the arrival of the Spaniards in the 1500s. The Philippines is largely a Roman
Catholic country in a Buddhist-Islamic world of Southeast Asia. Like Thailand, it has a
troubled history with its minority Islamic peoples. The culture of the Philippines
comprises a blend of traditional Filipino and Spanish Catholic traditions, with
influences from America and other parts of Asia. The culture of the Philippines is a
combination of cultures of the East and West. Filipino identity was created primarily
as a result of pre-colonial cultures, colonial influences and foreign traders intermixing
and gradually evolving together.
References:

Music and Arts of Asia- Grade 8 Learner‘s Module

https:www.theartist.me
https:www.slideshare.net
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://link.springer.com
https://www.google.com/search?q=SOUTH EST+ASIAN+ARTS
http://factsanddetails.com/asian
https://www.britannica.com/art/wayang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkok.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinh_(clothing)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik%20in%
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AWau20
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_Krathong
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1AV
https://www.iexplore.com/articles/travelguides/south-and-
southeastasia/philippines/history-andculture#:~:text=The%20culture%20of%20 th
e%20Philippines,%2C%20fashion%2C%20 music%20and%20food.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_ Philippines
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia
https://www.niu.edu/clas/cseas/resources/c ountries.shtml
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Tagalog
_Default_files/Philippine_Culture/philippines _in_southeast_asia.htm
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/33 0260207
_Weaving_traditions_from_Island_ Southeast_Asia_Historical_context_and_eth
nobotanical_knowledge.