PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINOCONTEMPORARY ARTS FROM THE PHILIPPINE REGIONS

FOCUS QUESTIONSWhat are the main characteristics of a Filipino artwork?How do we idealize in reference to distinguishing Filipino art?Why is tradition and culture considered factors in questioning identity in Philippine art?

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINO

Is Philippine art considered 100%

authentic art?

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINOAre the landscape paintings of Fernando Amorsolo or the historical depictions of Carlos Botong Francisco genuinely Filipino?

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINOAre the stories and poems written in English by N.V. Gonzales or Edith Tiempo considered Filipino?

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINO

Speculation on the “Filipino-

ness}”Colonial history

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINO

Spanish, American,

Asian countries

Influenced Philippine

Culture

Spanish inspired

architecture, American influenced poetry and

music

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINO

Migrant Reality of

Globalization

Filipinos adapted to

foreign culture

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINO“The idea was that the depiction of scenes of everyday life and the surroundings without idealizing them was closest in spirit to the Filipino soul and native soil.” - Leo Benesa, Filipino poet, essayist, and art critic

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINO

Filipino way of living

Not idealizing them = Not

perfect

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINOWhen a Filipino artist paints a farmer in the fields or writes about a fisherman casting nets, the subject is Filipino.But the medium of expression should portray the subject as true to what it is in reality.

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINOBenesa describes Amorsolo works as the “most expressive of the ethos of the race and the predominantly agricultural countryside”Men and women are portrayed as hardworking with smiles on their faces.Landscape in Amorsolo’s paintings are rural lands in the Philippines, vegetation and nature.

GROUPACTIVITY: FILIPINO-NESS

GROUPACTIVITY: FILIPINO-NESSStudy these two paintings by Fernando Amorsolo and Leonardo Da Vinci and answer the questions that follow:a. What do these paintings share in common?b. How differently did Amorsolo treat the subject?c. What makes the Palay Maiden truly Filipino?

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINOMany art critics still doubt the Filipino-ness of the artworks produced by Filipinos.Tradition where works and artists came from makes one to question its authenticity.For example, our painters learned Western painting tradition (canvas, paintbrush, easel) blemishes the authenticity of the Filipino works.

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINOIn Philippine literature written in English, the language itself doubt the Filipino-ness of the literary work.Many regarded the works written in Filipino or regional languages more Filipino than in English.But as Filipinos learned and adapt the usage of English usage, regardless of language, is truly Filipino.

PHILIPPINE ART AS FILIPINOThe identity of the Filipino arts is constantly changing, struggling and evolving.Filipino artists try to bring the nation’s experience and talent in the global arena.