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A Reassessment

of Philippine Artby Alice G. Guillermo

Strongly western-influenced asthe Philippines may be, it is never-theless a fact that Philippine culturewas born in the Southeast Asian matrix. Indigenous arts, living tradi-tions in folk expressions all over thePhilippines, have much in commonwith other countries of the region,as products of the same tropicalenvironment with its distinct floraand fauna, the same archipelagicsetting of land and water, the samebasic occupations of rice plantingand fishing.

In fact, Philippine art beingproduced today exists on two levels.And when we speak of Philippine art,we do not exclusively refer to paintingand sculpture, but include the popular

forms as well.There is, first of all, the first

and deepest level of traditional artexpression that constitute the national-popular culture. These are the livingtraditions that trace their roots toprecolonial times and that drew theirlife from the Southeast Asian culturalmatrix while developing their localadaptations and modifications. Amongthese are the arts of the rural folks,the weaving traditions, such as theikat tie-dye cloth found in differentparts of the Philippines. Also includedis basketry which fuses design andpractical function, in a multitude offorms made of bamboo, rattan, andreed grasses.

There is likewise indigenous

Magdadaing,1976 Oil,Jose Blanco

woodcarving, pottery, and brasswork,much of it still done with the Malayforge and the cire perdu method ofcasting. Along with these are thefolk arts of paper mache animals,paper cut-outs for festival sweets,and brightly-colored delicacies ofglutinous rice. All these continue tobe produced in rural communitiesfor their needs and for demandsfrom urban centers.

Then there is the level of con-temporary art, as painting, sculpture,and the graphic arts, or as two- andthree-dimensional expressions. For a long time, there was a distinct separa-tion between the popular traditionalarts and the contemporary arts. Thiswas largely because of the westernacademic prejudice against arts linkedto practical function. This is theelitist distinction between the so-called fine arts produced by artistsin the context of the academy and theapplied arts produced by the peasantfolks in the context of everyday needs.

In recent times, however, therehas been an increasing interactionbetween the traditional and the con-temporary in Philippine art. Ratherthan maintaining them as separatecategories, there have been effortsto bring the traditional arts intothe forefront of Philippine art con-sciousness.

Research into the traditionalarts have been encouraged as shownby the increasing number of master'sdegree theses on the subject. Themain problem in these studies hasbeen to define the elements andcharacteristics of indigenous art-

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making, so as to be able to bringthese into the practice of contem-porary art. These traditional indi-genous arts have been recognizedas forming an important part ofthe Philippine national identity, asFilipinos, and their regional identityas Asians, particularly SoutheastAsians.

The visual arts, painting, sculp-ture, and the graphic arts, as well asmusic and literature, have been, sincethe late '60s, concerned with theissue of national identity. This hasappeared hand-in-hand with theperception of the true interests ofthe people and the importance of

advancing these in all fields, includingart.

This concern has expresseditself in different ways. On the whole,there has been a discernible effort tomove away from western academicaesthetics towards the exploration ofFilipino/Asian ways of art-makingand conceptualizing art.

Once move in this direction isthe significant trend towards the useof indigenous and non-academicmaterials, handmade paper becamewidely favoured among printmakersand painters. Soon collages weremade, not only with handmade paperbut with organic materials, such as

twigs, leaves, and three-dimensionalsculptural forms also made use ofroots, vines, branches, especially formobiles.

One woman artist, Imelda Cajipe-Endaya does large paintings, collagedwith sawali panels from interwovendried leaves, together with fabric,denim pants, crocheted curtains, andblankets to make a statement on thetimes. Another woman artist, PazAbad Santos, extensively makes use ofcoconut shells, dyed rope and abacafiber interwoven and embossed on a burlap surface.

Other materials used are treebark, shells, and driftwood. Someartists have likewise gone into experi-mentation in dyes and pigments withlocal plants and mineral substancesalthough these small efforts can dolittle against the commercial' domi-nance of imported art materials.

This same trend is seen in sculp-ture, as well as in new productionsof sculpture/furniture in a fusion ofdesign and function. The use of non-academic materials also springs fromnecessity. Due to the scarcity of wholepieces of wood for sculpture, artists,such as Jerry Araos and Rey Contreras,have made virtue out of necessity.

They have turned to old woodfrom demolished houses, even todiscarded turn-of-the-century woodenframes from railroad tracks, to createsculpture. This kind of material lendsthe dimension of time and memoryto their work.

This exploration in new materialsoutside the hierarchising traditionsof medium in academic art has been

Pavane Luzviminda,

1979 Acrylic,J.P. Bailleux.

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going on for some time now. SculptorEduardo Castrillo uses broad metalsheets welded together; other sculp-tors, such as Solomon Saprid andEdgar Doctor, have done importantworks in junk metal from discardedmachines. Ramon Orlina does sculp-ture in glass, sometimes structurallycombined with metal.

Needless to say, this is a salutarytrend since it opens up an entirerange of hitherto overlooked materials,which are, furthermore, readily acces-sible, in a time of scarcity. This hasalso served to challenge the ingenuityof third world artists to create artfrom the materials on hand, thusreducing dependency on expensiveand imported materials.

For the ordinary art viewer,the use of familiar and accessiblematerials has aided in breaking downthe alienation between the viewerand the work of art, at the sametime inviting him to exercise his ownlatent creativity, resulting in a greaterand more democratic participation inart-making. It is also in this way thatart can be revitalized as a vehicle forthe people's sentiments.

With this trend in indigenousmaterials, more artists now try (heirhand in popular forms which canreach a larger audience. Going beyondoil and canvas paintings, more artistswork in prints, posters, murals, illus-trations, comics, and editorial car-toons. These forms have their ownstandards of excellence, and whatgives them significance is the kindof content and meaning that they convey.

Aug Walang Malay,1976 Oil,Eric Torres.

Thus, artists working in thesepopular forms strive to wean themaway from their usual escapist contentto relevant subject matter drawnfrom reality. These forms have alsoacquired a new flexibility. For instance,artists have developed portable muralswhich are not fixed on walls, butwhich are painted on large canvascloth which can be rolled after theirdisplay in a public occasion.

Many artists have also beenconcerned with bringing their work,previously limited to the possession ofwealthy art collectors, to a largerpublic. They have done this to anextent through quality color repro-ductions, through travelling exhibits,through art lectures accompaniedwith slides, and, of course, throughthe use of popular forms which canbe easily disseminated.

An artist has reproduced hispen-and-ink drawings through photo-copying. These artists who strive to reach a wider audience have a strongsocial consciousness as seen in theirworks through which they expressunity with the people's aspirations.

The subjects and themes ofrecent paintings also reflect the con-cern to create a truly national artwhich would further the sense ofFilipino/Asian identity. In oil pain-tings, many artists continue the longtradition of genre scenes, most ofthese on the life of the peasants andfishermen of the countryside, and a number of the city's poor and howthey eke out a precarious existence.

Outside Manila, a flourishingcenter of folk genre is Jose Blancowith his family of painters. Also ofAngono are Nemi Miranda, Salvador

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Sarimanok,1975 Acrylic,Abdulmari Imao.

Another theme taken up by a number of artists, especially womenartists, is feminism and the continuingcampaign to win equal social, politi-cal, and economic rights for women.These artists strive towards a meaning-ful art as it is drawn from the ex-periences of everyday and as it posesquestions about the present conditions.

With the striving for nationalidentity in art goes the affirmation ofPhilippine art vis-a-vis the continualmassive influx of western culturalimportations. The task of decoloniza-tion involves not only the economicand political realms but the culturaland artistic as well.

Artists of the Philippines arefaced with the challenge to awakencreativity among the large number ofthe population and to show the wayto make art, which draws inspirationfrom the people's experiences, a potent vehicle for contemporaryexpression.

Juban, and many others. In the Visayas,another large group of artists arebased in Cebu province. Mostly in-fluenced by impressionism, they arebest known for landscapes, genrescenes, and portraits. A number ofthem, like Galicano and Subang, havecome to Manila to join a wider field.

Aside from folk genre withits traditional subjects of planting,fishing, and doing rural chores; otherartists have explored other areas ofthe folk. Aro Soriano, for instance,has done highly successful series of

paintings on folk songs, legends,and riddles. He has given a freshand lively interpretation to theseand has even brought some into thecontemporary context in a witty andhumorous vein.

Alongside these, artists of socialconsciousness have turned to theissues of the day Tor (heir subjects:ecology, feminism, and other issues.Many recent nature paintings makea plea for the preservation of theenvironment and ecological balance.

Market Scene,1980 Oil,Tam Austria.