philippine art essay

NEWS/COLUMN

Philippine Art: Contexts of the Contemporary

Patrick D Flores and Carlos Quijon, Jr.

Ginoe, Kabit Sabit All images courtesy of the artists and writers

The history of contemporary Philippine art traverses a vibrant terrain of artistic practices that delicately and urgently mediate the modernity of art history, institutions, exhibition-making, and the expansive activity of curatorial work. It performs this range of gestures to speak to and intervene in the ever-changing political milieu and the vast ecology, as well as ethnicity, of the archipelago. The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), which opened in September 1969, is an important institution in this history. The CCP was founded during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos, with the First Lady Imelda Marcos securing the funds for its construction and serving as its first chairperson. Its mandate was to promote national cultural expression and to “cultivate and enhance public interest in, and appreciation of, distinctive Philippine arts in various fields.” Other institutions of culture during this time were the Design Center of the Philippines (DCP), founded in 1973, the Museum of Philippine Art (MOPA), and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (MET), the latter two instituted in 1976. The artist Arturo Luz concurrently directed these institutions, with his eponymous gallery practically managing the MOPA. The CCP was a venue for modern and international art and helped cultivate ideas of contemporary conceptualist and performance art. The practice of Raymundo Albano, curator of various spaces within the Center from 1970/1 until his death in 1985, is important in the development of curatorial discourse and practice in the Philippines. During his term, he conceptualized the idea of Developmental Art, which for him was a “powerful curatorial stance” inspired by “government projects for fast implementation.” Albano’s provocations inspired a rethinking of the nature of the art work: its form, cultural lineage, relationship with the audience, and ability to absorb the desire for distinction and identity. His initiative Art of the Regions, which presented the works of Junyee, Genera Banzon, and Santiago Bose is exemplary. Apart from these initiations, Albano also inaugurated the CCP Annual, a presentation of representative works of the year; and oversaw the publications Philippine Art Supplement, a bi-monthly art journal that ran from 1980 to 1982, and the three-issue magazine Marks, with Johnny Manahan. In 1981, Junyee organized the project Los Baños Siteworks. It was an exhibition held in a three-hectare “halfway ground between the mountain and the city.” For this platform, the region is imagined as a site and a sensibility away from the conventions of the typical gallery exhibition: “By utilizing nature’s raw materials as medium, the relationship between the art object and its surroundings are fused further into one cohesive whole.” The trope of region was a way of shifting the ecology of contemporary art exhibition, now “no longer confined within the boundary of gallery walls.” As Junyee describes the works in the exhibition: “Like extensions of nature, the works sprouted from the ground, floated in the air, surrounded an area, dangled from branches in random arrangement around the exhibition site.” Outside the Center, “social realism” developed in response to an increasingly authoritarian political milieu under the auspices of the developmentalist regime of Marcos. The term was explicated by critic Alice Guillermo who describes it as “not as a particular style but a commonly shared sociopolitical orientation which espouses the cause of society’s exploited and oppressed classes and their aspiration for change.” According to her, social realism was “rooted as it is in a commitment to social ideals within a dynamic conception of history, social realism in the visual arts grew out of the politicized Filipino consciousness.” The latter was forged by the Philippine revolution against Spain in 1896 and the continuing struggles against all oppressive systems. Guillermo argues that social realism in the Philippines “stresses the choice of contemporary subject matter drawn from the conditions and events of one’s time,” and “is essentially based on a keen awareness of conflict.” Whereas realism may be construed as a merely stylistic term, social realism is a “shared point of view which seeks to expose or lay bare the true conditions of Philippine society.” The work of the collective Kaisahan (Solidarity, 1975-6) whose members included painters Papo de Asis, Pablo Baen Santos, Orlando Castillo, Jose Cuaresma, Neil Doloricon, Edgar Talusan Fernandez, Charles Funk, Renato Habulan, Albert Jimenez, Al Manrique, Jose Tence Ruiz, and later joined by Vin Toledo, became emblematic of this tendency.

The quicksilver practice of the wunderkind David Medalla flourished during this milieu, albeit in an idiosyncratic vein. He was a homo ludens, provocateur, poet, and a prominent figure in modern and contemporary art in the Philippines and elsewhere who worked on kinetic, installative, participatory art, and other actions that do not neatly fall into accepted categories. During the opening of the CCP in 1969, he led a blitzkrieg demonstration that protested against what he saw as the Center’s philistinism. Caught by a cop securing the grand opening, Medalla was escorted outside, and when asked if he had the necessary permit to protest, he handed over his invitation, from the First Lady Imelda Marcos no less, and invoked his right to unfurl his art work—a cartolina on which was hand-painted: “A BAS LA MYSTIFICATION! DOWN WITH THE PHILISTINES!” The government of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos was deposed in 1986 by way of the EDSA People Power uprising. With the uprising came a renewed democratic impetus that skewed the priorities of institutions ensconced by the Marcoses. From being a venue for international travelling exhibitions, the MET focused on Filipino art. The CCP started to exhibit works of social realist artists, which could not be hosted in the 1970s. The DCP was absorbed by the Department of Trade and Industry. The administration of the MOPA was debated upon by organizations in a series of meetings revolving around the anxiety of what it takes for a post-Marcos institution to be democratic. In the end, it was discovered that the site of MOPA was not owned by the Philippine national government and that the institution itself did not have funds to continue its operations; ultimately, it was shuttered. The democratic impulse, alongside its myriad mystification from a resurgent pre-Marcos oligarchy, informed artistic practices and shaped ecologies of participation during this period. Artist collectives were formed as part of the renewed sense of democratized practice. Kababaihan sa Sining at Bagong Sibol na Kamalayan (Women in the Arts in an Emerging Consciousness, KASIBULAN) was founded in 1987 by visual artists Ida Bugayong, Julie Lluch Dalena, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Brenda Fajardo, and Anna Fer. It was inspired by a consultation conference on Women Development organized by the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW). At the heart of the organization was the goal to surface a “collective consciousness of Filipino women from which new image and identity can emerge and transformation can begin by giving a sense of power and empowerment” by creating “network[s] with women artists regionally, nationally, and internationally.” This collective consciousness presents itself in “her visual language, her sensibility, and artistic excellence” and in “symbolism, imagery, values, and beliefs of women’s personal and collective transformation” and in an interest in “crafts that are the traditional domain of women—tribal, indigenous, or folk, as an alternative effort to the inescapable influence of Western modernism.”  Besides such aspiration, the group also endeavored to “assist women’s groups in resolving women issues that have long hindered the socio-economic and cultural growth of Filipino women.” The membership was “open to all women in the arts—visual, literary, and performing artists including art historians, educators, and critics who demonstrate a willingness to work for the sisterhood’s goals.” From monthly fora, to exhibitions, to publications, the KASIBULAN fostered a community of women artists, conscious of the issues of gender and the potentials of feminist struggle if the consciousness veered towards it. In the 1990s, discourses around regionality gained exceptional traction, especially with the help of CCP’s Outreach and Exchange Program and the establishment of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in 1992.  The NCCA was the “the overall policy making, coordinating, and grants giving agency for the preservation, development and promotion of Philippine arts and culture.” The mandate of the CCP’s Outreach and Exchange Program and NCCA ensured support for initiatives and projects outside Manila such as the Baguio Arts Festival (BAF), inaugurated in 1989, the Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference (VIVA ExCon) founded in 1990, and the national travelling exhibition Sungdu-an (Confluence) that ran from 1996 to 2009. All three platforms convened artists from the regions and helped consolidate regional public spheres through exhibitions and meetings. The BAF, initiated by the Baguio Arts Guild, was instrumental in giving space for the arts and culture of the Cordillera region, north of Manila. The VIVA ExCon, helmed by members of the artistic collective Black Artists of Asia based in Negros Occidental, allowed for the cultivation of an inter-island connection among the provinces in the Visayas. Sungdu-an became an important step in the consideration of national art across archipelagic contexts through a curatorium based in the regions. Both VIVA ExCon and the Sungdu-an explored the potential of travelling as a method for artistic and curatorial practice in the Philippines and challenged notions of the “national” along axes of regions and the archipelagic condition. Today, the energy of artists, through their own volitions and the support of the market and the state, can be felt across the islands in the country, no longer confined to the center that is Manila, and freed from gospel of the prophets of international art. The belabored question of being Filipino has been displaced across the more productive notion of locality, one that is worldly and yet rooted. In many ways, the binary has been unmasked as a false choice and that the Philippine experience cannot sustain the premise.  Alongside these more national considerations of region, international imaginaries of regionalisms also proliferated in the 1990s through exhibitionary and museological efforts. Important in this regard are the initiatives of the Asia Pacific Triennale (APT) organized by the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane that begun in 1993; the founding of the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) in 1996; and the pioneering collection and exhibitionary undertakings of the Fukuoka Art Museum (FAM) in Japan starting in 1979 and which became the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (FAAM) in 1999. These three institutional initiatives offered a dynamic understanding of region-formation and regionality, prospecting the varied coordinates of the Asia-Pacific in APT, Southeast Asia in SAM, and Asia in FAM/FAAM.

Jocson, Princess Parade

The Fukuoka Art Museum pioneered in the exhibitionary efforts to present art from Asia. It inaugurated the Asian Art Show in 1979, one of the first exhibition platforms to present Asian art on a transregional scale. After the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum was established, the Asian Art Show transformed into the Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale which held its first edition in 1999. FAM also initiated the exhibition series Asian Art Today Fukuoka Annual featuring single-artist presentations, which included in its roster Roberto Feleo (Philippines, 1988), He Duo Ling (China, 1988), Tan Chinkuan (Malaysia, 1990), Tang Daw Wu (Singapore, 1991), Rasheed Araeen (Pakistan, 1993), Durva Mistry (India, 1994), Mokoh (Indonesia, 1995), Kim Young-Jin (South Korea, 1995), and Han Thi Pham (Vietnam, 1997). It also played an important role in the exhibition of art from Southeast Asia with exhibitions such as Tradition, Source of Inspiration (co-presented with the ASEAN Culture Center, 1990), New Art from Southeast Asia (1992), and Birth of Modern Art in Southeast Asia (1997). For its part, the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) was the brainchild of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art and was established in 1993. APT presented an exhibition, a film program, projects for children’s art, and a public program that gathered artists all over Asia for talks and workshops. Exceptional in APT’s trajectory was its focus on contemporary art from Asia, the Pacific, and Australia. Their programming was sustained by acquisition and commissioning of new works. It cultivated research and publication and actively offered residencies and training programs for artists and museum professionals in the Asia-Pacific region through the Australian Centre of Asia Pacific Art (ACAPA). Finally, the SAM came to the scene in 1996, guided by the acquisition, annotation, and exhibition of contemporary art from Southeast Asia. It helped condense a regional imagination of art in Southeast Asia and was influential in its historicization and discursive formation. Moreover, it forged the status of Singapore as an important location for regional contemporary art. While institutional projects thrived in the 1990s, the late 1990s and the early 2000s saw the proliferation of independent and artist-run spaces, presaging the horizontal, peer-to-peer scenarios in the years to come. These spaces threw sharp light on forms of gathering and participating in the artistic landscape poised to be different from, if not critical of, the scale and the economy of institutional programs. Earlier examples include Shop 6, founded by a group of artists led by artist and inaugural CCP curator Roberto Chabet in the 1970s, as well as The Pinaglabanan Art Galleries run by the artist Agnes Arellano and her partner British writer Michael Addams in the 1980s. These spaces were usually privately funded or existed with the support of private foundations. Some remarkable examples were Third Space, which was an exhibition and performance space founded by artist and filmmaker Yason Banal in Quezon City in 1998; Surrounded by Water in Angono, Rizal, put together by artist Wire Tuazon in the same year and which later became a collective of artists including  Jonathan Ching, Mariano Ching, Lena Cobangbang, Louie Cordero, Cristina Dy, Eduardo Enriquez, Geraldine Javier, Keiye Miranda, Mike Muñoz, and Yasmin Sison; and big sky mind, conceived by artists Ringo Bunoan, Katya Guererro, and Riza Manalo in Manila in 1999. One of the longest-running alternative art spaces, Green Papaya Art Projects, emerged in 2000. Built up by artist Norberto Roldan (who was also one of the founding members of the collective Black Artists in Asia) and dancer and choreographer Donna Miranda, Green Papaya was “an independent initiative that supports and organizes actions and propositions that explore tactical approaches to the production, dissemination, research, and presentation of contemporary art in various and cross-disciplinary fields. It continues to provide a platform for intellectual exchange, sharing of information and resources, and artistic and practical collaborations among local and international artists and art communities.” 

These histories shape the trajectory of contemporary Philippine art in the 2010s and onwards. With the development of exhibitionary discourses within institutions and beyond it through independent art spaces, the figure and agency of the curator signified the intelligence that became necessary in navigating the complex networks and economies these historical developments referenced. The curatorial agency was borne out of the self-reflexivity cultivated in ideas of contemporary artistic production and history within or against the discourses of the institutional, the independent, and the commercial.  Crucial in this development was the Curatorial Development Workshops (CDW), a platform for curatorial education and training that was initiated by the Japan Foundation, Manila and the University of the Philippine Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center in 2009. The CDW provided “a platform for interaction among young curators, their peers, and established practitioners in the field.” From an open call, a selection of emergent curators would be invited to present exhibition proposals in a workshop setting, with professional curators sharing about their practices and projects. The first iterations of the workshops gave one of the participants a chance to work as an intern curator in a Japanese institution under the JENESYS (Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youth) program and was given the space and guidance to realize their proposed exhibitions at the Vargas Museum. In 2017, the exhibition Almost There was held at the Vargas Museum alongside smaller scale exhibitions organized by chosen workshop participants across different venues in Southeast Asia. The 2010s also saw novel imaginations and platforms of exhibition-making and the making public of art. In 2013, the Art Fair Philippines was launched. It was a large-scale platform for exhibiting and selling modern and contemporary visual art in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It also helped expand the audience for local visual art and, in its more recent iterations, helped push questions of accessibility and the publics of art. The career of artist Ronald Ventura is symptomatic of how artistic agency relates to the market, without necessarily being overwhelmed by its demands. Ventura’s works continue to mobilize more traditional techniques alongside a sensibility keen on spectacle and seriality. Ventura once held the record of the highest selling artist in Southeast Asia when his large canvas painting Grayground sold for more than 8 million HKD at the 2011 Sotheby’s auction. In May 2021, his work Party Animal sold at the Christie’s 20th and 21st Century Art Evening Sale for 19 million HKD, 16 times its estimate. This said, artists have set up their own spaces, with residency and mentorship programs, attuned to the vicinities and constituencies around them. And the primary and secondary markets have been hectic, evidenced in numerous fairs, auction houses, and galleries. In all this, the quality of Philippine contemporary art may be described as consistent across persuasions, whether it be realist painting or conceptualist installation, postcolonial intermedia or printmaking, or research-based projects linked to photography, moving image, sound, action, or archive.   The year 2015 saw the participation of the Philippines at the Venice Art Biennale after more than 50 years. In 2015, Patrick D. Flores curated the exhibition Tie A String Around the World. The pavilion presented the works of National Artists Manuel Conde and Carlos Francisco and artists Jose Tence Ruiz and Manny Montelibano, probing technologies of conquest and worldmaking and their resonances in the contemporary contestations of territory in the South China Sea. The succeeding year also saw the participation of the Philippines in the Venice Architecture Biennale with the exhibition Muhon: Traces of an Adolescent City which looked at the architectural and urban history of Manila throughout the years curated by Leandro Locsin, Jr., Sudarshan Khadka, and JP dela Cruz.

Alongside these developments were equally compelling tendencies of practice that mediated contemporary contexts of production and reception of art and the potent possibilities in the areas of collaboration, intervention, and participation in artistic environments in the most expansive sense. The practice of Nathalie Dagmang has ventured into these considerations. As a student of anthropology and visual artist, she is interested in the interfacing of contemporary conditions of human experience, from ecological disaster-prone communities to the experiences of migrant workers, with the artistic process harnessed as a way to prompt conversations around social engagement. For her work  Dito sa May Ilog ng Tumana  (2016) she looks at the urban community of Baranggay Tumana that is situated along the Marikina river. In her ethnographic project, she investigates how the relationship between the site and the community becomes mutually transformative: the residential settlements continuously change the topography of the river, and the river becomes inextricable with how daily life is imagined both as quotidian landscape and as a site in constant risk of inundation due to tropical typhoons. Dagmang also took part in “Curating Development,” a program based in the United Kingdom and funded by the Asian Human Rights Commission. Working with curators and anthropologists, she initiated workshops and community-based art activities with the Filipino migrant workers based in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong and conceived exhibitions that looked at the contributions of migrant labor to the Philippine imagination. The cogent relations between activism and performance are fleshed out in the practice of Boyet de Mesa, who also convenes the annual Solidarity In Performance Art Festival (SIPAF), an artist-organized project that promotes cultural exchange, solidarity, and peace through performance festivals that started in 2015. Artist Eisa Jocson’s practice discerns this same interventive potential in performance in her works that look at feminized and queer migrant labor, such as in the work  Princess Studies  (2017-)   and  The Filipino Superwoman Band  (2019), with Franchesca Casauay, Bunny Cadag, Cath Go, and Teresa Barrozo. This performative agency likewise inspires the practice of artist and architect Isola Tong whose works interrogate urban space and development and notions of wildlife within the framework of transgender politics and ecosystems. Finally, it is through performance that the romanticization of the diasporic experience is refused without disavowing its intimacies and prospects: the practice of Noel de Leon who is based in London and co-directs Batubalani Art Projects takes interest in how objects survive and index traces of historical conflicts and circulations of both people and things. Meanwhile, the practice of Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen who is based in Copenhagen devises performances that propose simultaneously ludic and critical ways of struggling with the tenacious demands of “identity” and “culture” and their situatedness and displacements.  This keenness on the options in participation and more horizontal logics of practice finds exceptional articulation in Load na Dito, a mobile research and artistic project founded in 2016 by artist Mark Salvatus and curator Mayumi Hirano. It foregrounds the critical and creative possibilities that inhere in collective and interactive action of making, presenting, and curating art. In 2019, Load na Dito proposed  Kabit at Sabit , a multi-modal and multi-site exhibition that involved practitioners from all over the archipelago. From the Filipino words for connect or install and inspired by the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon, the hometown of Salvatus, the curatorial project invited practitioners to create artistic projects that investigated installation as a technology of display. Each practitioner was asked to choose a façade in which they attached or installed objects, transforming the site into an exhibitionary space where art meets its public—both incidental and intentional. In these tendencies and trajectories of practice and institutional history, Philippine contemporary art demonstrates an acute discernment of persistent and current concerns, one that shapes the lively intellects of engaged artists and continually expands the effects of their intuitions.

Abuga-a, Kabit Sabit

Quinto, Kabit Sabit

(E-BOOK) Image to Meaning: Essays on Philippine Art

In this collection of critical essays on the visual arts, the practice of art criticism intersects with art history and theory. The essays span more than two decades of art writing from 1979 to 2001, coinciding with an active and exciting period in the development of art in the country. Set against the background of social and political ferment, they acquire historical importance. This is especially so since the principal effort is to situate art within the coordinates of society and history. Likewise, these essays go beyond the traditional approach based on the analysis of form and content, toward a semiotics-based method. This method creates a more intimate link between the material aspects of the work and its significations, one which seeks a more stable grounding than the purely suggestive and impressionistic. Image to Meaning aims to appeal to all lovers of art, as it combines intellectual analysis with a sense of enjoyment and emotional satisfaction. Art criticism, after all, involves not looking at art from the outside but closely engaging it from within.

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A Filipino Painter’s Perspective of Filipino Identity: What Makes Philippine Contemporary Paintings Truly Filipino

There has been literature examining artists and their paintings in Philippine art history. However, understanding Filipino identity in the field of contemporarypaintings from contemporary Filipino artists has not been researched extensivelyyet. The study, anchored on the psychoanalytic theory, answered the researchquestion, “What makes Philippine contemporary paintings truly Filipino?”Qualitative case study design was used to gain understanding of this concept froma Filipino painter in the field of Philippine contemporary visual arts. To accomplishthis, data were gathered using in-depth interviews with a Filipino painter who hasbeen active in contemporary art production, and currently involved in artorganizations and in the academe. According to the analysis of the interviews, thevisual character (alibata) incorporated in the artwork, is an essential identifyingelement in Philippine contemporary paintings. Another element is the subjectdepicting current events in the country. The ex...

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The Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy 2018 Official Conference Proceedings

Jove Jim S Aguas

The identity of nation is dynamic and continuously undergoes transformation. Given the constantly changing political, social, cultural and even economic environment the crucial question is how can a nation’s identity be preserved and transformed in the midst of all these changes. While national identity has some core elements it cannot remain static amidst external influences. These external influences bring about changes that can have a positive and a negative effect on a nation’s identity. One aspect of the identity of a nation is its arts which expresses in a creative and aesthetic manner the nation’s core values, ideals and aspirations. In sense it is a part of the cultural heritage of a people and expresses its very identity. In this paper I will focus on the role of arts in preserving and transforming the national identity in times of change. In this context I will discuss what I consider as the three fundamental functions of arts vis-à-vis national identity, namely, the expressive, hermeneutic (interpretation) and critical functions. Fundamentally arts expresses and manifests national identity through creative, imaginative, aesthetic and technical skills. Arts as interpretation forms and redefines the national identity through meaning generation/interpretation. Arts as critique allows a people to have a critical look at themselves and examine the external factors that influence their national identity allowing them to preserve their national identity and enabling them to integrate the positive things from these external influences. As an application I will highlight Filipino arts and identity.

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ROSLIZA ABDUL RAHIM

This study focuses on the chronology of local cultural themes that were selected from Malaysian portrait paintings. All the artworks were chosen from the permanent Kuala Lumpur National Art Gallery collection. The process was supported with visits and observations, where the process of record was identified and followed with the categorization of themes. All the artworks shared individual, economic, social, and family themes, which became the priorities of the painters. The whole theme from this classification represented the cultural identity and became the most important theme for local painters in this country after it achieved independence. Keywords: Local Culture; Identity; Malaysian Portraiture. eISSN 2514-7528 ©2022. The Authors. Published for AMER & cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Mal...

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Surveying and critiquing the projects that was played out for the Philippines' centenary in 1998, Labrador observes the mainly literal and hackneyed renderings of nationalism and national identity. While the larger programs supported the national narrative, it was possible to find in narrower spaces made available to fringe groups the possibilities of constructing images but of plural Filipino identities.

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The Malaysian women’s identity in paintings essentially began to surface between the year 1970’s to 1980’s. The attempt to fulfill the demand of identity searching fought by the Malay painters in the 1958 has enlightened the present women revivalists to also pursue this quest. This was leaded by the severe identity crisis suffered by Malaysian women painters of 1950’s to the 1970’s. Thus, by reevaluating the essence of ‘Malayness’ and its cultural strand, the Malaysian women painters tempt to portray an identity to complement the Malay arts. The objective of this paper is to examine the Malay identity in Malaysian women’s painting by studying the form and content of Malaysian women’s painting by using art appreciation descriptive method. Visual content analysis is conducted to achieve the objectives above. The outcome of this paper shall suggest the emergence of Malay arts and cultural heritage values traceable in the Malaysian women’s paintings between the 1970’s to the 1990’s. Adopting the heritage arts discipline, the present article shall unfold the identity of ‘Malayness’ through its form and content in each painting.

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• The 10 Most Famous Filipino...

The Most Famous Filipino Artists and their Masterworks

Philippine art reflects a wide range of influences, from the country’s colonial past to contemporary culture. Here, Culture Trip profiles 10 legendary Filipino masters you should know, and some art galleries you should visit.

Did you know Culture Trip now does Trips ? Book with us today, and discover the world like never before on an immersive, small-group adventure.

Fernando Amorsolo (1892-1972)

Labelled the country’s first National Artist in 1972 by then President Marcos, Fernando Amorsolo is often known as the ‘Grand Old Man of Philippine Art’. The Spanish-trained realist developed a backlighting technique, where his colorful depictions of local people reflect the radiance of the Philippine sun. The figures and illuminated landscapes magically glow on the canvas and displayed in Filipino art galleries. Despite his deteriorating health and failing eyesight, he remained prolific until the end, producing up to 10 paintings a month until his death at the age of 80. Amorsolo’s creativity defines the nation’s culture and heritage to this day.

The Vargas Musuem – has an art tour found inside the campus of his alma mater, the University of the Philippines, displays a notable selection of his work.

José Joya (1931-1995)

A Filipino pioneer of Abstract expressionism, multi-media painter José Joya uses bold and vibrant colours with a variety of painting techniques, layering, loose impasto strokes and controlled drips. His harmonious colours are influenced by Philippine landscapes and tropical wildlife. His mastery lies in gestural paintings, where the paint is applied spontaneously on canvas, sometimes directly out of the tube or through the use of broad strokes with brushes.

Joya influenced younger artists to explore other mediums such as pottery and printmaking while he served as the Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines. In 1964, Joya represented the country in the Venice Biennial, showcasing the advancement of modern art in the Philippines.

His most notable painting from 1958, called Granadean Arabesque , is a large scale yellow hued mural that features clusters of sand and impasto. It can be viewed at the Ateneo Art Gallery in Manila.

Pacita Abad (1946-2004)

Born on the northern island of Batanes , the internationally revered artist first obtained a degree in Political Science at the University of the Philippines . Her staunch activism against the Marcos regime in the 1970s, led her to move to San Francisco to initially study law – but she found her true calling with art. Her paintings consist of vibrant colors and a constant change of patterns and materials. Earlier work dealt with socio-political depictions of people, indigenous masks, tropical flowers, and underwater scenes. Pacita created a unique technique called ‘trapunto’, where she stitches and stuffs her vibrant canvases with a wide range of materials such as cloth, metal, beads, buttons, shells, glass and ceramics, to give her work a three-dimensional look. Her many travels across the globe with her husband have served as an inspiration for the techniques and materials used in her art. Pacita has participated in over 60 exhibitions across the United States, Latin America, and Europe.

She is noted to have worked on more than 5,000 pieces of art – her masterwork being Alkaff Bridge, Singapore , a 55-meter bridge covered in over 2,000 colourful circles. It was completed a few months before she passed away from lung cancer in 2004.

Ang Kiukok (1935-2005)

Born to Chinese immigrants, Ang Kiukok is the pioneer of Philippine modern figurative expressionism. Rewarded as the country’s National Artist in 2001, he was one of the most successful commercial figures on the local art scene from the 1960s until his death from cancer in 2005. Like Amorsolo, his paintings are popular at auctions, art hotels, art galleries, and have received exceptionally high bids at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. He is known for his distinct cubist and surrealist portrayals of the crucifixion of Christ and mother and child. However, he is acclaimed for his series of Fishermen at Sea , which connects both energy, faith and the struggle of fishermen under a vibrant crimson sun labouring together to bring in the haul for the day.

His notable works are represented in the Cultural Center of the Philippines , the National Historical Museum of Taipei and the National Museum in Singapore.

Benedicto Cabrera (1942-present)

Fondly known as ‘BenCab’ in the Philippines, Cabrera is the best-selling commercial painter of his generation and a prominent head of the local contemporary art scene. He studied under José Joya at the University of the Philippines and received his degree in Fine Arts in 1963. His fruitful career has spanned five decades, where his paintings, etchings, sketches, and prints have been exhibited across Asia, Europe, and the US. He currently resides in the chilly northern hill station of Baguio , where he established his own four-level BenCab Museum on Asin Road that features an eclectic selection of indigenous artifacts, personal works, and an overwhelming collection of paintings from contemporary Filipino artists.

Kidlat Tahimik (1942-present)

A close friend of BenCab and Baguio native is critically acclaimed director Kidlat Tahimik. Known as the father of Philippine independent film, the government recently conferred upon him the Order of National Artist for Film in October 2018. Born Eric de Guia, Kidlat Tahimik means ‘silent lightning’ in Tagalog. Before entering cinema, Kidlat studied at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, earning a Masters in Business Administration. His work is associated with Third Cinema, a film movement that denounces neo-colonialism and the capitalist system. His films have been prominent at film festivals and street art tours across America, Europe, and Asia.

He is highly respected among directors Werner Herzog and Francis Ford Copolla, who were both instrumental in helping him present his most famous semi-autobiographical work Perfumed Nightmare in 1977. The film combines documentary and essay techniques that provide a somewhat humorous but sharp critique of the social divide between the rich and poor in the Philippines.

If you happen to be in Baguio, drop by his artist café and vegetarian restaurant Oh My Gulay , which rests in the heart of Session Road on the fifth floor of the La Azotea Building. The old building, like an art hotel, does not house an elevator, but the long way up is worth the trip and view. The café is a quirky wonderland of Kidlat’s imagination, featuring wooden bridges, bright blue fish ponds, paintings and native sculptures surrounded by a healthy array of plants. On Assumption Road, he created a massive artist village inspired by his first café, called Ili-likha (or, to create), which is a must-see before leaving Baguio.

Eduardo Masferré (1909-1995)

Further north of Baguio, in the mountainous province of Sagada, Eduardo Masferré was born to a Filipino mother and Spanish soldier. He is regarded as the Father of Philippine photography. He documented with great detail the everyday lives of indigenous people of the Cordilleras. The self-taught photographer processed his own film in a makeshift darkroom and managed to even produce prints without electricity. His photographs capture the culture of the people in his community and serve as a documentation of their customary practices and rituals. Masferré’s photographs have found their way into exhibitions around the world. The Smithsonian Institution carries at least 120 prints of his works for the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.

He is remembered for his book on the People of the Philippine Cordillera Photographs 1934-1956 , which was published in 1988. Art hotels in Sagada are named after him and are worth the visit to see copies of his prints and purchase souvenirs created in Masferré’s honor.

If landscape photography is your thing, feast your eyes (and lenses) on our new, bookable Trips – stuffed with dramatic scenery, authentic food and indigenous experiences. We’d recommend Guatemala , for Volcanoes and colonial cities, or Morocco , for dreamy desert-scapes.

Agnes Arellano (1949-present)

Born to a family of prominent male architects, sculptress Agnes Arellano is best known for her surrealist and expressionist work in plaster, bronze and cold-cast marble. Her sculptures highlight the female body and draw from themes surrounding sexuality, religion, and mysticism. Borrowing from the term of poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, Agnes attributes her work to ‘inscapes’, that assert an internal unity among various elements in her installations and sculptures. Drawing from the tragic death of her parents and sister from a house fire in 1981, her work explores themes of creation and destruction, and the cycles of life from birth to death.

Roberto Chabet (1937-2013)

Born Roberto Rodriguez, he used his mother’s maiden name Chabet when he began his career in art. He was a mentor to many students at the University of the Philippines, where he taught for over 30 years, and is acknowledged as the father of conceptual art in the Philippines. Chabet initially studied architecture but his conceptual art installations, collages, and sculptures in the 1960s and 70s made him a rebellious figure on the local art scene. He was the founding museum director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines from 1967-1970, an art gallery where he established the 13 Artists Awards that highlight the achievements of young artists whose works show a contemporary view of art-making and thinking.

He describes himself as a “custodian” and his work as “creatures of memory”. His multi-faceted skills in drawing, sculpture, installations, photography, printmaking, and collages question modernity. His works reflect the importance of space and how the displacement of ordinary objects can alter their meaning. His work is highly regarded in Filipino art galleries.

Napoleon Abueva (1930-2018)

Noted as the Father of Modern Filipino sculpture, Abueva attended the University of the Philippines with Joya and was mentored by noted sculptor Guillermo Tolentino, at the College of Fine Arts. Born in Bohol, he is also the youngest National Artist awardee appointed by then President Marcos, at the age of 46. His expertise was seen in a wide array of materials such as hard wood, abode, steel, cement, marble, and bronze.

Abueva is adept in traditional representation and modern abstract forms of sculpture. Filipino art galleries and art hotels display much of his work and provide detailed art tours. A trip around the University of the Philippines will show you a number of his works, such as the University Gateway and Nine Muses near the old faculty centre. He was also responsible for the relief marble sculptures seen in the war memorial cross in Mt. Samat, Bataan.

It is the second highest cross in the world and the tallest in Asia. Under the commission of the Philippine government, Abueva collaborated with designer Lorenzo del Castillo to create a shrine that commemorates the thousands of Filipino and American soldiers who lost their lives during the Japanese-led Bataan Death March in 1942. Make sure to walk up the flight of stairs inside the cross to reach the top, and experience the fabulous views of Bataan.

Interested in learning more about Filipino culture ? Read our guide to contemporary Filipino artists you should know , and check out our post on Filipino superstitions .

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What is philippine about philippine art and other essays.

Leonidas V. BENESA

National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Manila, Philippines)

art criticism ,  Philippines

anthology, 

Goodbye, Leo, and Welcome

Abstraction and Image in Lao and Albor

Arturo Luz: Artist With a Mandarin Sensibility

Lorenzo: The Filipino Sensibility in Still Lifes

Valencia-Eala's Still Lifes and Interior Scenes

Dazzling HRO Retro at MOPA

The Place of Man in Cian and Ricio

A Muslim Artist's Homage to Pigafetta

Olazo: An Aesthetic of Transparency

The Kulay Anyo: Art for the Public

Castrillo: Doing the Giant's Work

The Painter Baldemor as Sculptor

Whatever Happened to Sculptor Ildefonso Marcelo?

Philippine Sculpture is Alive and Well

Illustration as Art in Realist Exhibits

Eustaquio: Minor Master in the Shadows

The Score with Dimasalang's SYM

Towards a Watercolor Movement

'Filipinas ni Bencab' as Revolutionary Art

In Search of the Filipina with Remy Boquiren

Filipino Leitmotifs in Tabuena and Baldemor

Sanso's Pale Moon, Druidic Sun and Rushing Waters

Zaballero's Grids of Memory

Ong's Lotus Paintings at ABC

'Year of the Horse' and others by three artists

'Southern Art' at ABC and Bleue

Ibarra's Tropicalia of Colors

The First CCP Annual Art Exhibition

The Art Market and the Young Artist

Portrait of Bernardo as Underrated Artist

Art Association of the Philippines: Its a crisis when there's no crisis

Nena Saguil: Aesthete of Solitude

The Printmakers

Samonte's Colorscapes at Bleue

Forty Years of a Master Painter

From Light to Serious Art

The Cruciform Icon in Ang Kiukok's Art

The Baked Clay Works of Julie Lluch

The Trascendentalists in Philippine Art

Moon Series in Print Show

Of Horses and Orchids with Tomas Bernardo

Lessons in Print Techniques by Gelvezon-Tequi

The Metropolitan Museum of Manila

MOPA Inaugurates First Friday Group

The Return of Norma Belleza

Implications of Aguinaldo's CCP Show

Jose T. Joya: A Name for Abstract

'Vintage Art' at Rear Room

The Aesthetic of Realism in Philippine Art

Reflections at an AAP Annual

The Master From Angono

Olmedo's Dark Art in Color at Heritage

Victorio Edades

Dalena as Major Expressionist

E. Aguilar Cruz: The Humanist as Artist

The Social Uses of Art i Baens-Santos

Situational Sculpture at CCP

The MOPA Selection for 1979

Nestor Vinluean Painters' Painter

Antonio Austria: People's Artist

Rodriguez: The Printmaker as Painter

Doplon's Rhapsodies in Blue and Okir

Arellano: Blazing Sunset Finish

Angelito Antonio: The Mother Theme

The Saturday Group's 10 Years of What

The Grid as Device-Excuse in CCP Show

How Abstract is Philippine Abstract Art?

An Amorsolo Festival

Paras-Perez's 'Form-Probes'

Where is Solomon Saprid's Lonely Gom-Bur-Za Statue Going?

In Search of Identity With Old Masters

Is There a Magic in Stevesantos' Realism?

What is Philippine about Philippine Art?

A Visit to TOYM Awardee Raul Isidro

Wit Spices the Erotic in Abueva Exhibition

Filipino Motifs in Cajipe-Endaya's Prints

Bose: Artist as Medicine Man

From Expressionistic to Transcendental with De Guzman

David Medalla: The Country's Foremost International

Lamarroza: The Painter as Ecologist

Francia: The Poet as Painters' Painter

Philippine Contemporary Art as a Post-War Phenomenon

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Everyday, Elsewhere: Allegory in Philippine Art

Patrick D. Flores , University of the Philippines Follow

The essay traces certain contexts of the allegorical impulse in Philippine image making and art, specifically as it marks the self-consciousness of the maker of image and art to render time, place, and event legible. It conceives of it as an aesthetic of migration, prefiguring an elsewhere that is aspired to as well as a phantasm of affinity that describes a present condition. The allegorical, therefore, bears the desire to belong to the world, referencing both the critique of coloniality as well as the possibility of transcending it at the very moment of revealing its ethical failure.

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Beyond the Image: Filipino Identity Through the Arts

A multimodal essay about visual arts and filipino identity | prelims equivalent.

Through the years, the visual arts have evolved around the world yet up until today, most of their purpose is still quite similar to how the visual arts were still used in early or ancient times. Arts were a form of personal self-expression of what the artists have gone through whether positive or negative expressions, a social or political movement, and these expressions create a unique connection between the arts and identity. Although the arts still haven’t been clearly defined, these are some facts that art was indeed used for such purposes.

            So how can these expressions connect the arts and identity? Well, artworks are something tangible and seen, our identities or a place’s identity can be portrayed through visual things. Imagine your own personal room, the things seen in a room are different from one person to another subtly hinting at the owner’s character and identity, yet again, up to one’s interpretation of that room including your own interpretation to it.

For this essay, we aren’t going to talk about your room, but we’ll look over beyond the image, of what is seen in visual arts that talk about our identity, our very own Filipino identity.

            The visual arts have been an essential factor in the formation and representation of Filipino identity. As a country with a diverse cultural background influenced by various traditions like indigenous, Malay, Chinese, and Spanish, the Philippines' art forms are a reflection of its rich and complex history. Filipino artists have utilized visual arts throughout the years to express their cultural heritage, share their narratives, and voice their opinions on social and political matters. These events and culture created through experience are what make up one’s identity, and for this, Filipino identity.

            Let us look closer beyond the images by analyzing the next 4 artworks that explain what Filipino identity is through the use of the 4 planes of analyzing art according to Alice Guillermo’s essay.

1. Parisian Life by Antonio Luna (1892)

Oil on canvas | 57 cm × 79 cm (22 in × 31 in) | national museum of fine arts, manila.

            The Parisian Life portrayed a scene inside a cafe in Paris with a prominent subject of a foreign woman dressed formally in pink sitting on a couch overshadowing 3 men with top hats in the background of the scene. Other than these are 2 glasses of beer and empty beer mug. There is an emphasis on the woman’s situation or experience in this café with her companions.

            The subtle detail of beer mugs points out that the woman was accompanied by men as the woman was also identified as a prostitute which represented “fallen womanhood”. The woman was a symbolic image of a mirrored Philippine archipelago and the darkened neck, aligned to the mullion of the window behind her silhouetting a rope, as if the woman was strangled, portrayed the idea that the Philippines was under stress. 

  It was told that the 3 men were Juan Luna, Jose Rizal, and Ariston Bautista Lin in an expedition in Paris as he became renowned in Europe, during this time, Luna moved away from the usual dark mood of works while participating in Rizal’s movement. In relation to Filipino identity, the scene shows the 3 men embracing the Western lifestyle yet remaining Filipino at heart hence looking at the woman symbolized the Philippines. A subtle portrayal of one’s patriotism and national consciousness is common to Filipinos especially abroad or OFWs today. During the creation of this painting as well, was the rise of social upheavals in the country under Spanish colonization, it reflected the aspirations of Filipinos for freedom abroad yet battling the crisis of the country under the grasp of the Spaniards. The Spanish colonization was a big chunk of influence in the Filipino Identity, despite being “Spanish”, these were still significant influences that molded what is still the “Filipino” identity.

Below is another group of students’ interpretation that’s similar to most analyses of the said painting.

2. People Power Monument by Eduardo Castrillo (1993)

Steel sculpture | 18m(59ft) | epifanio de los santos ave, mandaluyong, metro manila.

            The People Power Monument is designed in a pyramidal composition elevated in steps. Each tier of the pyramid composition are composed according from bottom to top, civilians with arms linked together, young and old with different background, and one towering figure of a woman with arms wide open towards the sky with shackles on the wrists that are unchained. It emphasizes on what looks like a community readily coming together for a purpose.

            The unchained shackles represented freedom, with the people of different backgrounds around supporting together a protest fighting for freedom about an issue. 3 towering steel arches behind represent the 3 branches of government namely legislative, executive, and judiciary expressing the protest against the government.

            Renowned steel sculptor, Eduardo Castrillo, an alumnus of the University of Santo Tomas created a monument in memorial to the revolution that happened around 1986. Due to the issues of martial law that caused chaos and human rights violation, people took it upon their hands to act and had a protest along the streets of EDSA thus the creation of this monument to commemorate the memory of the EDSA People Power Revolution that supported democracy further in the country battling and calling out the violations of the government. A call for peace and freedom in the country. Another event and artwork showcasing the Filipino’s perseverance amidst chaos and their love for the country’s overall peace. Up until today, the Filipino people continued to protest for their right to voice their concerns in a democratic country. The events during the Marcos regime reshaped Filipino identity, mostly in the creation of different “Filipino architecture” and social events such as martial law, and the revolution.

            The video below shows a brief documentary of the events in the People Power Revolution.

3. Bayanihan by Fernando Amorsolo

Oil on canvas | university of santo tomas museum, manila.

The Bayanihan painting by famous artist Fernando Amorsolo shows a Filipino community helping together in carrying a “kubo”, or hut in daylight to transfer the hut from one place to another. The painting emphasizes a community helping the owner in transferring the hut.

            The simple painting of a common practice in the Filipino community is the act of helping one in need. The concept of bringing a community together to help someone is the idea of “bayanihan”. The warm, golden light of the atmosphere set a sense of harmony and serenity in the act of helping a person, not forced to help/enslaved, but rather a voluntary act of kindness.  

            The creations of Fernando Amorsolo are usually realistic scenery of Filipino life and community. An artist who is famous for showing the daily life of Filipinos and the positive traits of Filipinos hence the warm bright atmosphere of most of his paintings. The Filipino identity showcased in most of his paintings is what brings Filipinos to a positive light from a global perspective. The kindness, hospitable, and simple lifestyle of Filipinos. The painting reflected the unity and peacefulness of the Filipinos through the act of Bayanihan. In present times, bayanihan may be shown at different events simply gathering together to help others commonly neighbors in need.

Here is a song to support the bayanihan trait of Filipinos that makes up our identity by Christian Dumaplin. In Fernando Amorsolo’s painting, he showed this helpful identity of Filipinos in a traditional way, in this song, it expounds where this trait can be seen in other things in a Filipino’s life. No matter who you are or what you are, as Filipinos, we can be trusted as we are generally helpful throughout the history of the Philippines.

4. First Mass at Limasawa by Carlos “Botong” Francisco (1965)

Oil on canvas | 33 x 63.5 cm. (13 x 25 in.) | national museum of fine arts, manila.

            Last but not the least is the painting of Botong Francisco, the First mass at Limasawa. It shows a mass among the Filipino natives and Spanish soldiers. An emphasis on a religious event happening among the two communities.

            In the said painting, the people are the Spaniards alongside Ferdinand Magellan in his exploration and discovery of the Philippine islands according to Antonio Pigafetta’s historical documents. The priest is Fr. Pedro Valderrama, who officiated the first mass during this historical event. Magellan, in the foreground with a sword piously bowing to the mass in prayer. Among the people in the painting, on the leftmost and rightmost sides are the natives including the chieftain Raja Kolambo was present during this mass. This event was referenced in Pigafetta’s writings including the details of an improvised altar using bamboo. The first-ever religious event that shaped and influenced the Philippines onwards.

            The painting was created at a request by the Philippine government in celebration of the 400 th year of Christianity in the country. As a country colonized by the Spaniards for the longest time, religion was one influence that significantly changed the country in the aspect of beliefs and values which are crucial in the decision-making of things such as the issues of LGBTQ in today’s time. Despite the controversies between politics and religion, the fact that such religious events had influenced the country became also the identity of Filipinos. Filipinos are religious, anchored in the teachings of Catholicism and Christianity, people began to celebrate and seriously took the scriptures, masses, and religious events yearly in the country from then up until today.

  The Filipino Identity is still quite debatable as a concept due to the different issues that arose around it such as the influences that weren’t “truly Filipino” Yet overall, the complexities of historical influence and culture of the Philippines are things that made our Filipino identity unique. These are just some of the visuals that depict the Filipino identity. Filipinos had gone through a lot, throughout the struggles of different colonization, social, and political issues, Filipinos have also built themselves as a community, showing bayanihan, perseverance, and great hospitality.

Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts on the matter, are these artworks enough to show and explain Filipino identity? What is the Filipino identity?

Leave a comment

Ready for more?

Essay on Philippine Culture

Students are often asked to write an essay on Philippine Culture in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Philippine Culture

Introduction.

Philippine culture is rich and diverse. It is a mix of various influences from its history. This makes it unique and interesting. The culture includes traditions, languages, festivals, and art forms.

Traditions and Customs

The Philippines is known for its customs. These are rules that guide how people behave. Some customs include respect for elders and hospitality. Filipinos are known for being friendly and welcoming.

Languages and Dialects

The Philippines has many languages. Filipino and English are the main ones. There are also over 170 dialects. This shows the country’s diversity.

Festivals and Celebrations

Festivals are a big part of Philippine culture. They are colorful and fun. Each festival has a story behind it. This makes them special and meaningful.

Arts and Crafts

Filipino arts and crafts are beautiful. They show the country’s creativity. Examples include weaving, pottery, and carving. These crafts are often passed down through generations.

Philippine culture is a blend of many influences. It is unique and diverse. It is a culture that values respect, hospitality, and creativity. It is a culture to be proud of.

250 Words Essay on Philippine Culture

Introduction to philippine culture.

The Philippines is a beautiful island country in Southeast Asia. It is known for its rich culture that is a mix of many influences. These influences come from its history, people, and its location in the world.

Historical Influence

The Philippines was a Spanish colony for over 300 years. This Spanish rule has left a big mark on the country’s culture. Many Filipinos have Spanish names, and the country’s main religion is Roman Catholicism. This shows the strong Spanish influence.

People and Traditions

The people of the Philippines, called Filipinos, are known for their friendliness. They love to celebrate and have many festivals throughout the year. These festivals are filled with music, dance, and colorful costumes. They also have a tradition called “Bayanihan”. This is where everyone in a community helps each other. It shows the strong sense of community in Filipino culture.

Food in the Philippines

Filipino food is a big part of their culture. It is a blend of many different styles, like Spanish, Chinese, and native Filipino. Rice is a staple food, eaten at almost every meal. Adobo, a dish made from meat, vinegar, and soy sauce, is a popular Filipino dish.

Philippine Art

Art is also important in the Philippines. Their art includes weaving, pottery, and music. The “kundiman” is a type of love song that is very popular. It shows the Filipino’s love for music and their emotional side.

In conclusion, the culture of the Philippines is a rich mix of history, people, and traditions. It is a culture that values community, celebration, and art.

500 Words Essay on Philippine Culture

Philippine culture is a beautiful mix of different influences from its history. It is unique and rich because of the combination of Eastern and Western cultures. This essay will explain the culture of the Philippines in a simple way.

The Philippines has over 170 languages, but Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English are the official languages. This means that most people in the Philippines speak at least two languages. This is a big part of their culture because it shows how they can adapt to different languages and still keep their own.

Family Values

Family is very important in the Philippines. Filipinos have strong family ties and they often live with their extended family. This includes grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. They believe that the family is the basic unit of society. They also show respect to their elders by doing the “mano po”, where they take an elder’s hand and touch it to their forehead.

Festivals, or “fiestas”, play a big role in the culture of the Philippines. There are lots of fiestas all year round. They have these to honor their local saints, to give thanks for a good harvest, or to celebrate history. During a fiesta, there is often music, dancing, and lots of food. The “Sinulog” and “Ati-Atihan” are two of the most popular festivals.

Filipino food is a blend of different flavors. Rice is a staple food and is usually eaten with meat, fish, or vegetables. Some popular dishes are “adobo” (meat stewed in vinegar and soy sauce), “sinigang” (sour soup), and “lechon” (roasted pig). They also have sweet desserts like “halo-halo”, which is a mix of shaved ice, evaporated milk, and various fruits and beans.

Arts and crafts are also a part of the culture of the Philippines. Filipinos are known for their weaving, pottery, and jewelry-making. They use local materials like bamboo, rattan, and shells. They also have unique dances, songs, and stories that they pass down from generation to generation.

Philippine culture is a wonderful mix of different influences. It is rich in traditions, languages, foods, and arts. Even with all the changes over the years, Filipinos have kept their unique culture alive. They are proud of their history and traditions, and they continue to share them with the world.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Federalism
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Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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