essay about arts in the philippines

Essay on Role Of Art In Philippine Society

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100 Words Essay on Role Of Art In Philippine Society

Introduction.

Art in the Philippines plays a significant role in society. It is a way for Filipinos to express their feelings, beliefs, and ideas. It also serves as a tool for communication, allowing people to understand and appreciate the culture and history of the Philippines.

The Cultural Significance

Philippine art represents the country’s rich cultural heritage. It tells stories of the past, showcasing traditions and customs. These works of art, such as paintings and sculptures, help younger generations understand their roots and maintain a sense of national identity.

Art as a Form of Expression

Art is a powerful means of expression in the Philippines. Artists use it to voice their thoughts on social issues, politics, and human rights. This makes art a catalyst for change, encouraging people to think and act.

Art in Education

Art is also essential in the Philippine education system. Schools use art to foster creativity and critical thinking among students. It helps children to express themselves and develop their skills, promoting overall growth and development.

In conclusion, art plays a vital role in Philippine society. It is a reflection of the country’s culture and history, a tool for expression, and a significant part of education. It enriches the lives of Filipinos, fostering a deeper understanding of their identity and values.

250 Words Essay on Role Of Art In Philippine Society

The importance of art in philippine society.

Art holds a significant place in Philippine society. It is a beautiful way to express thoughts, emotions, and ideas. Art in the Philippines is not just for beauty, it also has a deep connection with culture, history, and daily life.

Art as a Reflection of Culture

In the Philippines, art is a mirror of culture. The rich and diverse cultural heritage of the country is reflected in different forms of art. From traditional weaving, pottery, and carving, to modern painting and sculpture, each piece tells a story about the Filipino way of life.

Art as a Historical Record

Art in the Philippines also serves as a historical record. Many artworks depict important events and periods in Philippine history. These artworks help us remember the past and understand how the country has evolved over time.

Art as a Tool for Social Change

Art in the Philippines is also a powerful tool for social change. Many Filipino artists use their talents to highlight social issues and inspire change. Through their work, they raise awareness about problems like poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation.

Art in Everyday Life

Finally, art is a part of everyday life in the Philippines. From the design of houses and public spaces, to the colorful jeepneys on the streets, art is everywhere. It adds color and joy to the lives of Filipinos, making everyday activities more enjoyable.

In conclusion, art plays a vital role in Philippine society. It reflects culture, records history, inspires social change, and brings joy to everyday life. Through art, we can better understand and appreciate the rich and diverse heritage of the Philippines.

500 Words Essay on Role Of Art In Philippine Society

Art plays a vital role in any society, and the Philippines is no exception. Art in the Philippines is a mirror of the country’s history, culture, and the spirit of its people. The forms of art in the Philippines range from dance, music, visual arts, literature, to theater. Each of these art forms has its own way of influencing and shaping Philippine society.

The Reflection of History and Culture

Art in the Philippines holds a significant place in reflecting the country’s history and culture. Traditional Filipino art forms, like folk dances, music, and visual arts, tell stories of the past. They show the struggles and triumphs of the Filipino people. For example, the Kalinga dance, a traditional Filipino dance, tells a story of bravery and honor. Similarly, the visual arts like sculptures and paintings depict the rich history of the Philippines.

Art is also a powerful tool for social change. Many Filipino artists use their work to highlight social issues and promote change. These artworks serve as a voice for the voiceless. They raise awareness about issues like poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses. For instance, street art in the Philippines often carries strong social messages. These artworks inspire people to think critically about these issues and take action.

Art plays a crucial role in Philippine education. Schools in the Philippines use art to enhance learning and develop creativity among students. It is also used to teach students about their cultural heritage. For example, traditional Filipino dances and music are taught in schools. This helps students understand and appreciate their culture. It also encourages them to preserve and promote their cultural heritage.

Art for Economic Growth

Art also contributes to the economic growth of the Philippines. The art industry creates jobs for artists and other professionals. Art festivals, exhibitions, and sales attract tourists, boosting the tourism industry. Filipino artworks are also exported to other countries, generating income for the country. The success of Filipino artists on the international stage has also raised the profile of the Philippines globally.

In conclusion, art plays a multifaceted role in Philippine society. It is a reflection of the country’s history and culture, a tool for social change, an integral part of education, and a driver of economic growth. Art in the Philippines is not just about beauty and aesthetics; it is deeply rooted in the life and spirit of its people. It is a powerful expression of the Filipino identity and a testimony to the resilience, creativity, and spirit of the Filipino people.

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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

About the Writers

Patrick D Flores is Professor of Art Studies at the Department of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines and Curator of the Vargas Museum in Manila. He is the Director of the Philippine Contemporary Art Network. He was one of the curators of Under Construction: New Dimensions of Asian Art in 2001-2003 and the Gwangju Biennale (Position Papers) in 2008. He was a Visiting Fellow at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 1999. Among his publications are Painting History: Revisions in Philippine Colonial Art (1999); Past Peripheral: Curation in Southeast Asia (2008); Art After War: 1948-1969 (2015); and Raymundo Albano: Texts (2017). He was a Guest Scholar of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles in 2014. He was the Artistic Director of Singapore Biennale 2019 and is the Curator of the Taiwan Pavilion for Venice Biennale in 2022.

Patrick D Flores

Carlos Quijon, Jr. is a critic and curator based in Manila. He is a fellow of the research platform Modern Art Histories in and across Africa, South and Southeast Asia (MAHASSA), convened by the Getty Foundation’s Connecting Art Histories project. He writes exhibition reviews for Artforum and Frieze. His essays are part of the books Writing Presently (Philippine Contemporary Art Network, 2019) and From a History of Exhibitions Towards a Future of Exhibition-Making (Sternberg Press, 2019). He has published in MoMA’s post (US), Queer Southeast Asia, ArtReview Asia (Singapore), Art Monthly (UK), Asia Art Archive's Ideas (HK), and Trans Asia Photography Review (US), among others. He curated Courses of Action in Hong Kong in 2019, co-curated Minor Infelicities in Seoul in 2020, and In Our Best Interests: Afro-Southeast Asia Affinities during a Cold War in Singapore in 2021.

Carlos Quijon, Jr.

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A painting of two women playing sungka by Vicente Manansala, an example of contemporary arts in the Philippines.

Arts & Culture

Contemporary arts in the philippines: an introduction, discover the rich tapestry of contemporary arts in the philippines, where traditional filipino art meets modern expression., february 18, 2024.

Contemporary arts in the Philippines encapsulate a vibrant and diverse spectrum of artistic expressions. They reflect the nation’s rich cultural heritage, social issues, and modern-day challenges. Characterized by its dynamic use of various mediums, styles, and themes, Philippine contemporary art transcends traditional boundaries to explore new forms of expression. Accordingly, this period of art is particularly marked by its engagement with current events, technology, and globalization.

Evolution and Development of Contemporary Arts in the Philippines

The late 1960s and early 1970s are recognized as a pivotal era for contemporary arts in the Philippines. It marks a departure from classical forms and the emergence of new artistic movements. At the same time, it was an era of significant social and political change, which artists responded to with innovation and critical discourse.

The period saw the rise of influential artists and collectives who challenged the status quo. They experimented with new materials and techniques, and addressed pressing societal issues through their work. As a result, they laid the groundwork for a flourishing contemporary art scene that continues to evolve, reflecting the complexities of Philippine society and contributing to the global art landscape.

Pre-war Period Influence

BluPrint Art Artist Self-portrait of Victorio Edades, master of contemporary arts in the Philippines.

The pre-war era in the Philippines witnessed the emergence of the “Triumvirate” – Victorio Edades, Carlos “Botong” Francisco, and Galo Ocampo. These pioneering artists broke away from the conservative art norms of the time, introducing modernist concepts and techniques. Their works, characterized by bold experimentation and a departure from classical themes, laid the groundwork for modern Philippine art, influencing generations of artists to come.

Post-war Innovations

An abstract painting by HR Ocampo. Contemporary arts in the Philippines.

The post-war period saw significant contributions from six artists associated with the Philippine Art Gallery (PAG) in Ermita, Manila. Cesar Legaspi, Hernando Ocampo, Ramon Estella, Romeo Tabuena, Vicente Manansala, and Victor Oteyza were instrumental in furthering the modernist movement. Each brought their unique perspective and innovative techniques to the fore. Their collective efforts helped diversify the artistic landscape in Philippine art. They blended local themes with modernist styles to create art reflective of the nation’s post-war reality.

International Recognition

BluPrint, abstract expressionist art by Jose T. Joya for contemporary arts in the Philippines.

The international stage took notice of Philippine art with the landmark participation of Jose Joya and Napoleon Abueva at the 1964 Venice Biennial. Earning critical acclaim, Joya’s abstract expressionist works and Abueva’s modernist sculptures showcased burgeoning contemporary arts in the Philippines to the world. This participation marked a significant milestone for Joya and Abueva, and for Philippine art as a whole. It heralded its arrival on the global art scene, fostering international collaborations and exhibitions.

Artist Napoleon Abueva at home in his studio. featured

These pivotal moments in Philippine art history highlight a journey of evolution and innovation. From the groundbreaking works of the “Triumvirate” to the international acclaim of Joya and Abueva, the legacy of these artists continues to inspire and shape the vibrant, diverse, and dynamic contemporary art scene in the Philippines.

Key Institutions and Movements in Philippine Art

The Cultural Center of the Philippines, a home for contemporary arts in the Philippines.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) , established during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos, plays a pivotal role in promoting Philippine art and artists. Since its founding, the CCP offered a platform for artists to showcase their work, from Filipino traditional art to contemporary forms. Its impact extends beyond exhibitions, encompassing performances, workshops, and educational programs. All foster a deeper appreciation and understanding of Philippine art across diverse audiences.

Under the guidance of Raymundo Albano, the CCP saw innovative curatorial practices and the birth of Developmental Art. These challenged traditional Filipino art forms and embraced experimentation. Albano’s “Art of the Regions” initiative sought to decentralize the art scene, highlighting regional artists and their unique contributions. This approach diversified the types of art showcased and broadened the audience for Philippine art. It made it more inclusive and reflective of the nation’s rich cultural tapestry.

Conversely, Alice Guillermo defined social realism in the Philippine context as an artistic movement that captures the struggles and aspirations of the marginalized. The collective Kaisahan , embodying this definition, used art as a means of social commentary and activism. It addressed issues of poverty, injustice, and political strife. Their work is a testament to the power of art in effecting societal awareness and change, highlighting the critical role of artists as social commentators and activists.

Independent Art Spaces and Collectives

Paintings exhibited for the Karen H. Montinola Selection at Art Fair Philippines 2024.

The late 1990s and early 2000s witnessed the emergence of independent art spaces and artist collectives. Among them, Green Papaya Art Projects, provided alternative venues for artistic expression and collaboration. These spaces fostered a sense of community among artists, encouraging experimentation and multidisciplinary projects. They played a crucial role in expanding the reach of contemporary arts in the Philippines, making it accessible to a broader audience and further enriching the country’s art scene.

A colorful work of art depicting a person whose head appears to be a human heart.

By now, Philippine art showcased a remarkable diversity in themes, materials, and forms, reflecting a blend of traditional Filipino art and modern innovations. Artists freely navigated through a variety of mediums, ranging from classical painting and sculpture, to digital art and multimedia installations. This eclectic mix highlighted the Philippines’ rich cultural heritage while addressing contemporary issues.

Multimedia Arts: Pushing the Boundaries of Traditional Filipino Art

By incorporating video, sound, and interactive technology, artists engage audiences in immersive experiences that traditional mediums cannot offer. This expansion into digital and multimedia forms allows for a more dynamic exploration of topics relevant to the modern world. They include identity, migration, and the impact of technology.

Featured art work at the Elemento indoor gallery

Moreover, the integration of these new forms and technologies with traditional Filipino art elements creates a unique and vibrant art scene. It challenges artists and audiences alike to reconsider the definition of art and its role in society, ensuring that Philippine art remains relevant and responsive to the changing times.

Art Appreciation and Public Engagement

By engaging with contemporary and traditional Filipino art, individuals gain insights into the cultural, historical, and social contexts that shape the contemporary arts in the Philippines. Appreciation involves observing, interpreting, and connecting with the emotions, stories, and values depicted in various art forms. This process enriches our cultural literacy and fosters a deeper connection to our heritage and contemporary societal issues.

Moreover, galleries, museums, and art fairs are instrumental in promoting Philippine traditional arts and contemporary expressions. These venues serve as accessible platforms for the public to encounter and engage with art. Galleries often focus on showcasing contemporary artists, offering them a space to explore and present their work to diverse audiences.

Museums play a crucial role in preserving and displaying traditional Filipino art, providing educational resources that help visitors understand the historical and cultural significance of these works. On the other hand, Art fairs, offer a dynamic environment. Artists, collectors, and art enthusiasts can converge, facilitating the discovery of new talent and the exchange of ideas.

Together, these institutions contribute to a vibrant art ecosystem in the Philippines. They support artists by providing visibility and opportunities for collaboration while educating and engaging the public. Through exhibitions, workshops, and interactive events, they encourage active participation in the arts. Perhaps more importantly, they foster a culture of appreciation that spans the rich tapestry of Filipino artistic heritage and its evolving contemporary landscape.

Icons of Contemporary Arts in the Philippines and Their Contributions

Vincente manansala.

Posthumously declared a National Artist in 1981, Vicente “Mang Enteng” Silva Manansala rose to become one of the most financially successful artists of his generation. His art, deeply rooted in the socio-economic shifts of the late-19th century, spanned genres such as landscape, still life, and portraiture. His signature “Transparent Cubism,” learned in Paris from Fernand Leger, used cubistic shapes to create a decorative, overlapping effect.

Known for his charming and gallant demeanor, Manansala combined the academic rigor of his schooling with the lively street language of his youth. Over the course of his career, his unique artistic style greatly resonated with both high society and ordinary people.

His genre scenes, often depicting cockfighters, street vendors, and families in humble settings, established him as a master of genre. But his works also carried a social critique, reflecting his empathy for the working class. Manansala’s exploration of themes such as the female nude and the crucifixion showcased his range and depth. He balanced commercial demand with personal faith and artistic integrity, elevating simple folk to sophisticated subjects of social change.

Anito by National Artist for Visual Arts Arturo Luz

Arturo Luz , another National Artist for Visual Arts in the Philippines, stands out for his distinctive Modernist approach. Characterized by the simplification of natural forms into geometric shapes, lines, and bold colors, his work reflects his personal artistic journey.

A significant influence on Philippine Modernism as a curator, designer, and educator, he founded pivotal cultural institutions such as the Design Center of the Philippines and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila . These organizations continue to nurture new generations of artists and designers under his Modernist ethos. His works, ranging from genre paintings to geometric sculptures, blend Western and Eastern aesthetics into a minimalist yet profound expression of form and space.

Without a doubt, his meticulous craftsmanship and disciplined design process allowed him to explore various themes. He portrayed cityscapes and abstract landscapes with a consistent stylistic integrity. Collaborating with architect Leandro Locsin, Luz’s artworks harmoniously complemented Locsin’s architectural masterpieces. Further, it illustrates the seamless integration of art and space in Luz’s oeuvre. This synthesis of Western modernism and Eastern principles, particularly Zen aesthetics, underscores Luz’s unique position as an artist who successfully married diverse influences into a distinctly Asian Modernist style.

Benedicto Cabrera (BenCab)

Widely known as BenCab , Benedicto Cabrera is a pivotal figure in Philippine contemporary art, celebrated for his profound impact on the scene. Awarded the title of National Artist for Visual Arts, BenCab’s work encompasses a variety of themes, including social commentary, Philippine folklore, and scenes from everyday life.

His style blends realism with expressionistic strokes, capturing the essence of Filipino identity and experience. BenCab’s Sabel series, inspired by a real-life scavenger, stands out as a testament to his ability to humanize marginalized figures. Today, he remains a beloved and respected artist in the Philippines and beyond.

Ronald Ventura

Ronald Ventura emerges as one of the most dynamic contemporary artists from the Philippines. Known for his intricate, layered works, he explores the interplay between reality and fantasy. Ventura combines hyperrealism with cartoons and graffiti. He creates complex, visually arresting pieces that delve into issues of identity, consumerism, and the clash of cultures. His record-breaking sales at auctions speak to his global appeal, and his contributions significantly elevate the status of Philippine art on the international stage.

Nona Garcia

Nona Garcia is renowned for her ability to capture the ephemeral and the overlooked in her photorealistic paintings and installations. Garcia’s work often investigates themes of memory, displacement, and the passage of time. Furthermore, she employs a range of media from traditional paint to x-rays. Her meticulous attention to detail and skill in rendering subjects invite viewers to reconsider their relationship with the ordinary. Garcia’s exploration of transparency and obscurity serves as a metaphor for the complexities of human experience.

These artists exemplify the rich diversity and vibrancy of the Philippine contemporary art scene. As a result, through their unique styles and profound thematic explorations, they each contribute to broadening the appreciation and understanding of Filipino art. Their works reflect the socio-cultural landscape and engage with universal themes that resonate with a global audience.

Contemporary Art’s Role in Society

A work by Mark Justiniani at the "Void of Spectacles" exhibit at Ateneo Art Gallery. Photo by Patricia F. Yap.

As noted, contemporary art acts as a mirror to reflect societal issues. It is a catalyst for critical thinking and a vehicle for promoting cultural heritage. Through various forms and expressions, contemporary artists challenge viewers to confront social, political, and environmental issues. They stimulate dialogue, fostering a deeper understanding of the world around us. Altogether, this engagement encourages audiences to question assumptions, consider different perspectives, and engage in critical discourse about pressing global and local concerns.

Moreover, contemporary art serves as a steward of cultural heritage, preserving traditional practices while integrating them into modern contexts. Artists often draw on historical themes, techniques, and motifs, reinterpreting them through a contemporary lens. This fusion of past and present enriches the cultural landscape.

Art fairs, galleries, and museums support artists and generate revenue for communities. This enhances the vibrancy of urban environments and contributing to the growth of creative economies. Art tourism, in particular, is a pivotal aspect of cultural exchange. It draws visitors keen to experience the rich artistic heritage and dynamic contemporary art scenes of different regions.

In summary, contemporary art’s role in society extends far beyond aesthetic appreciation, impacting economic development, cultural preservation, and intellectual engagement. Its capacity to reflect and shape societal values underscores the importance of supporting and fostering the arts within communities worldwide.

The Future of Contemporary Arts in the Philippines

Paintings from the Tarzeer Pictures exhibit, contemporary arts in the Philippines.

The future of Philippine art is poised for exciting developments. Driven by emerging trends such as digital art and increased global recognition, artists increasingly leverage technologies to create innovative works. They blend traditional Filipino art with various media to explore new dimensions of expression. This digital shift expands the creative possibilities and democratizes art by making it more accessible to wider audiences.

Furthermore, contemporary arts in the Philippines are gaining significant international attention. Filipino artists prominently feature in global exhibitions, biennales, and art fairs. This global recognition fosters cross-cultural dialogues and opens up opportunities for collaboration, positioning Philippine art firmly on the world stage.

The potential of art as a tool for social change and sustainability is increasingly recognized. Artists are using their platforms to address environmental concerns, advocate for social justice, and promote sustainable practices. Consequently, they inspire communities to reflect on pressing issues and envision a more sustainable future.

Philippine Art in the Global Context

Colorful abstract expressionist artwork, contemporary arts in the Philippines.

Significantly, Philippine contemporary art contributes to the global art scene. It showcases the unique cultural heritage and diverse perspectives of the Filipino people. The infusion of local themes with universal concerns resonates with international audiences, highlighting the rich cultural narrative of the Philippines.

Conversely, the adoption of new media and technique express thematic explorations of global issues such as migration, identity, and climate change. This global-local interplay enriches the artistic discourse, allowing Filipino artists to contribute meaningful insights to the global conversation.

Cultural exchange and global recognition of Filipino artists promote understanding and appreciation across cultures. As Filipino artists participate in international platforms, they showcase the vibrancy of Philippine art. Furthermore, their work also facilitates cultural exchanges that foster mutual respect and understanding among nations.

In conclusion, the future of contemporary arts in the Philippines is bright. Digital innovation, global recognition, and the power of art for social change all pave the way for a dynamic and impactful art scene. Philippine art continues to evolve in the global context. Today, it remains a powerful medium for cultural expression and dialogue, reflecting the nation’s unique identity while engaging the broader global community.

Read more: Art Fair Philippines 2024 Opens to the Public This Weekend

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Exploring Six Major Contexts in Philippine Contemporary Art

Contemporary art in the Philippines emerges as a vibrant and diverse sphere that effortlessly transcends conventional boundaries, continually evolving and adapting to the ever-changing milieu that envelops it. A crucial element consistently shaping and defining contemporary artworks is the context within which they originate, are displayed, and are subsequently interpreted. The exploration of the multifaceted nature of contexts in contemporary Philippine art will unfold, shedding light on how these contexts wield influence over the inception of artistic endeavors, their reception by audiences, and the broader discourse encompassing the Philippine art world.

1. Cultural Context

Philippine contemporary artists frequently draw inspiration from their cultural milieu, engaging with socio-political issues, historical events, and cultural traditions. The cultural context provides a rich source of material for artists seeking to express their perspectives on identity, belonging, and societal norms. This aspect of context is particularly evident in the works of artists such as BenCab, who addresses issues of cultural identity and heritage through his evocative paintings and installations.

2. Social Context

The social context of contemporary Philippine art encompasses the broader social landscape, including societal structures, movements, and collective experiences. Artists often explore activism, human rights, and social justice themes, contributing to the discourse on relevant societal issues. Activist-artists like Alwin Reamillo, for instance, incorporate social and political commentary into their artworks, addressing the pressing concerns of their time.

3. Technological Context

Technology plays a pivotal role in shaping contemporary art in the digital age in the Philippines. Artists leverage various technologies, from virtual and augmented reality to artificial intelligence, to create innovative and interactive experiences. The works of artists like Leeroy New, who explores the intersection of technology and traditional Filipino folklore in his installations, exemplify the dynamic relationship between art and technology in a contemporary Philippine context.

4. Institutional Context

The spaces in which Philippine art is exhibited, such as galleries, museums, and alternative art spaces, significantly contribute to the interpretation of artworks. The institutional context influences how viewers engage with art, shaping their understanding and appreciation. Some Filipino artists challenge traditional exhibition formats, opting for unconventional venues or digital platforms, thereby redefining the relationship between art and its institutional context.

5. Economic Context

The economic landscape impacts the production, distribution, and consumption of contemporary Philippine art. The art market, collectors, and funding sources shape artistic practices and trends. Artists may respond to economic challenges by adopting unconventional materials, collaborating with local brands, or exploring alternative funding models. Some contemporary Filipino artists, like Patricia Perez Eustaquio, navigate the economic context by engaging with local industries and craft traditions.

6. Personal Context

Filipino artists’ personal experiences, emotions, and perspectives contribute to contemporary art’s subjective nature. Artists infuse their work with elements of autobiography, self-reflection, and introspection. The confessional and introspective artworks of Mark Justiniani, for example, exemplify the intimate connection between a Filipino artist’s context and creative expression.

The intricacies of contemporary art contexts in the Philippines are complex, varied, and constantly in flux. As Filipino artists traverse the diverse terrains of culture, society, technology, institutions, economics, and personal experiences, their artworks mirror the dynamic interplay inherent in these contexts. Grasping and valuing the environments in which contemporary Philippine art takes shape enriches our capacity to interact with the art world, nurturing a profound appreciation for the myriad voices and stories contributing to the continually evolving tapestry of contemporary artistic expression in the Philippines.

Written by Cherry Fulgar

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A one-stop resource on Philippine arts and culture is finally online

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A one-stop resource on Philippine arts and culture is finally online

GOING DIGITAL. The Cultural Center of the Philippines launches the Digital Encyclopedia of Philippine Art

Photo courtesy of the Cultural Center of the Philippines

In 1994, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) released the Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (EPA), a 12-volume set containing comprehensive information on Philippine architecture, visual art, film, music, and theatre, among many others

It was a promising project – giving people from all walks of life a one-stop resource for Philippine arts and culture. Nearly 3 decades later, the encyclopedia is finally available in digital form (known as the EPAD), making it more accessible to the public.

This updated version will come in three forms: a subscription-based website , an upcoming on-ground digital installation, and an offline version in flash drives.

How the encyclopedia started

The EPA project started out in the late 1980s as a brainchild of then-CCP artistic director Nicanor Tiongson, and was an answer to the growing need to collate our knowledge on Philippine arts and culture. Scholarly information on the subject was scattered across coffee table books, journals, and other special materials.

“There was a need for a resource on Phiippine arts and culture because it was virtually nonexistent,” says Chris Millado, the Vice President and Artistic Director of the CCP. “We wanted to enrich the curriculum and disseminate information.”

A large group of scholars and editors were consulted for the project, and over 300 writers contributed to the published body of work. Research encompassed various fields, including indigenous peoples, architecture, broadcast, visual art, film, music, dance and literature.

The first edition of the encyclopedia came out in 1994, and became a staple in libraries and resource centers.

“It helped promote the different histories that might have shaped our consciousness,” adds Chris. “The first edition was even found in universities abroad that offered Philippine Studies programs.”

The EPA includes entries on 54 ethnolinguistic groups in the country, from the Aetas to the Yakan. Other sections showcase information on Philipine architecture, visual art, film, music, dance, and literature.

“There’s this feeling when you read an entry and it’s about your hometown,” said Chris. “When you look at it, it develops a sense of pride for the places we hail from.”

Going digital

Work on the second edition of the encyclopedia started in 2013, nearly two decades after the first version was published. It was during this time that talks of a digital edition surfaced.

“We were already thinking of coming up with a digital edition even before the second edition came out,” said Chris. “Print encyclopedias are quite expensive and it was the time people were looking into digital formats.”

However, the suggestions to abandon the print format was met with resistance from the project’s team of researchers.

“Our researchers told us that we should go print first before going digital, because there is still a value in having a print edition,” said Chris. “After a back and forth between the editors, we agreed that a digital version will come first.”

The second edition was released in print in 2018, containing information updated up to 2015.

“The digital edition, in terms of content, will have at least a thousand new entries,” added Chris. “Digital makes it easier for us to edit and keep on updating. There are also no printing costs.”

The EPAD website contains 5,000 articles and 5,000 photos across nine sections. Videos from the vast archive of the CCP are also included in the EPAS. such as excerpts from plays and performances.

Besides articles on specific works, art forms, and traditions, the EPAD also has entries on Philippine personalities. Users can read up on historical figures like Jose Rizal and Juan Luna, or contemporary artists like Regine Velasquez and Sarah Geronimo.

A more portable learning resource

With the print edition being composed of twelve thick volumes, it is not exactly portable.

“You would have to get a large wheelbarrow just to move these around,” Chris joked. “In the digital version, you can access it on your mobile or tablet if you have wifi.”

The full set of the print version was available on the CCP website for Php 51,000. By contrast, the digital version is a subscription-based service with three tiers depending on the duration. A 1-month subscription is priced at Php75, while 6-month and 12-month subscriptions are available for P350 and P675, respectively.

Besides being more affordable and accessible, the encyclopedia also boasts features such as content bookmarking, auto-citation tools, and hyperlinking. Users may copy and paste portions of entries for research purposes, but a citation and copyright notice will be generated automatically. The site uses the 16th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style for citations.

“We value the intellectual property rights of the ones who own the images and wrote the essays,” said Chris. “But these features also make it easier to do citations, as opposed to writing them down.”

The bookmarking feature allows users to save content for later reading, and an “explore” tab allows for faster skimming and scanning. Users also have their own profile page, and a teams function is also available. Entries can also be easily shared by users through email, Facebook, and Twitter.

The interface is sleek and organized, and entries are easily searchable. The website also has a navigation guide, showing how the website categorizes its contents. Writers are also properly credited at the bottom of each entry.

The language used is very straightforward, and translations of localized terms are placed neatly in parentheses. Entries also have clear headings and subheadings, and key terms are typed in boldface. This makes the EPAD very easy to use, especially for students.

The EPAD project also has plans for an on-ground installation featuring a historical timeline, shown on eight 43-inch screens. A 12-volume PDF set placed in flash drives will also be available for offline access, aimed at those living in far flung areas.

The encyclopedia and the future of learning

While the EPAD has already launched, it will be updated with new entries twice a year. New features will also be rolled out periodically, as well as software and security updates.

“Even as we speak, we find out we need to keep updating,” said Chris. “There’s also the technical side of things, like security. We don’t want anyone hacking into it and changing entries.”

In spite of these, the release of the encyclopedia was not affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The shift of institutions to distance learning has made the project even more lucrative.

“The quarantine period made even more essential the use of online communication platforms for classroom learning,” said Chris. “Because of that, the digital version of the encyclopedia became even more relevant and necessary.”

Chris believes that the pandemic has changed the way learning is done, with online learning being used even after the pandemic is resolved.

“Even during the great pandemic lockdown, we continued with the work as scheduled,” he said. “Even after COVID, online platforms might remain as one of the primary ways for communication.”

“We’re offering something that might be in line with that,” he added.

The artistic director hopes that those who are enthusiastic about Philippine arts and culture will use the digital encyclopedia in their quest for knowledge.

“If you’re an institution or an individual, this digital version practically opens up a lot of portals for a deeper, broader, and wider understanding of our heritage.” – Rappler.com

Check out the EPAD here

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Peoples of the Philippines

Architecture, visual arts, broadcast arts, introduction to sections, introduction.

The peoples of the Philippines refer to the more than 100 known groups living in one or more of the 7,641 islands that are the Philippines. They are identified principally by their languages whose names often allude to the nature or characteristics of the territory which these groups occupy or used to occupy. Thus the names by which they now call themselves, their language and their culture: Tagalog , meaning “Taga-ilog” or “from the river”; Bukidnon , “from the hill or mountain”; Tausug , “from the current”; and Mandaya , “from upstream.”

Based on available literature, there are at least three major groupings of these peoples. The biggest is composed of the Christianized groups, found mainly in the lowlands and coastal areas of the archipelago. Constituting more than 90% of the total population, these include the Ivatan , Ibanag , Ilocano , Kapampangan , Pangasinan , Tagalog, Bikol , Cebuano , Ilonggo , Karay-a , Aklanon , Capiznon , Waray , Cuyunon , and other partly Christianized groups. The second grouping is the Islamized or Muslim-influenced groups, whose settlements are found in the Sulu archipelago and in southwestern Mindanao. Constituting less than 10% of the total population, these include the Maguindanao , Maranao , Tausug , Sama/Samal , Sama Dilaut/Badjao , Jama Mapun , and Yakan . The third grouping is comprised of the so-called cultural communities or indigenous peoples, also called lumad in Mindanao, who inhabit the hilly and mountainous interiors of Luzon, Mindoro, Negros and Panay in the Visayas, and Mindanao. Still possessing cultural traits which characterized the first two groupings before the coming of Islam and Christianity, these peoples include the various Aeta groups scattered in the archipelago; the Tinguian , Ibaloy , Bontok , Ifugao , Kalinga , Isneg , Gaddang , Itawit , Isinay , and other groups of northern Luzon; the Mangyan groups of Mindoro; the Tagbanwa and Palawan of Palawan; the Manobo , Bukidnon, and Bagobo and related groups in Mindanao.

Up to the present, the actual number of ethnolinguistic groups in the country cannot be ascertained. One obvious reason for this is that not all ethnolinguistic groups have been studied systematically and comprehensively. Some have not been researched at all. A few are questionable because researchers have not reached a consensus about them and they have not spoken for themselves. For example, some anthropologists have hailed the Tasaday of south Cotabato as a “stone-age people in the Philippine rain forest”; other scholars have questioned the authenticity of the group.

Another reason for the uncertainty is the shifting identities of some of these groups. As with any minority, the ethnolinguistic group identity that is accepted both by outsiders and by the group as a collective self-identity is not static or permanent. On the contrary, it is an identity that necessarily keeps changing or metamorphosing as the group comes into increasing contact with the cultures which are perceived to be dominant. Thus many traditional village communities lost their economic self-sufficiency and self-reliance as they adopted to the lowlanders’ market economy which is characterized by extensive and intensive resource extraction and the use of high-level technology for profit. Moreover, changes in the natural environment which originally provided the raw materials for economic, political, and cultural adaptations, including artistic expressions, have also contributed to the modifications, if not loss, of group identity.

A third reason for the confusion is the fact that outsiders project their opinions about groups which they have not studied from the inside. To most Filipinos, the indigenous peoples of Mindoro are called Mangyan. But the Mangyan think of themselves as either the Iraya, the Alangan, the Tadyawan, the Hanunuo, the Bukid or Batangan, or the Ratagnon. Similarly, most people would refer to all the dark-skinned and curly haired groups found in many islands of the country as Negrito, when in fact there is no group with the self-identity of Negrito. Each group has its own name.

A final reason for the difficulty in identifying groups is the fact that Filipino citizens as individuals and as groups generally have a number of identities which may differ in importance depending on a person’s needs and circumstances. Thus the daughter of an Ilocano father and a Gaddang mother may decide to take on a Gaddang identity because the government offers more educational privileges to cultural minorities, while she may emphasize her Ilocano father when she tries to get a job in a company owned and operated by an Ilocano. Similarly, a wealthy entrepreneur who grew up in Manila speaking Manila Tagalog may suddenly be recognized as a successful son of an Iloilo town which needs funding for the renovation of the parish church , even if that individual does not speak a word of Ilonggo and has never been to the Iloilo town that he is supposed to be a “proud son of.”

In the face of all this uncertainty, the editors and consultants decided that the best way to identify a group is still by its tongue. As the adage goes, by their speech you shall know them. While this cannot be an absolute criterion, it is still the most practical, and definitely the least unclear, at this point in the development of anthropological research.

Since the publication of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art in 1994, new research data on the peoples of the Philippines have become available to scholars through a range of publications from universities and research centers of various persuasions. Books, journal and magazine articles as well as theses and dissertations have shed light on newly documented aspects of both the material and nonmaterial culture of all ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines, both large and small. To these have been added a string of pioneering anthologies and critical studies of literatures, oral and written, gathered from groups from all over the archipelago and published by public as well as private institutions. For their part, government institutions have offered valuable data through official local government websites and publications and through revitalized agencies like the National Statistics Office whose censuses have gathered and summarized the latest data on the ethnolinguistic groups of the Philippines, including their number and distribution.

The last two decades have also witnessed significant developments in the political, social, and economic fields which have impacted the lives of many ethnoloniguistic groups, specifically, their social institutions, languages, and cultures. These developments include the establishment and operation of the Cordillera Autonomous Region and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao; the passage into law of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), which has defined the rights of the cultural communities to their ancestral lands and cultures; and the establishment of indigenous or sectoral organizations that address specific political or economic issues like the HAGGIBAT of the Mangyan in Mindoro, the Ibanag Heritage Foundation, and the Isinai Federation of Nueva Vizcaya. On the other hand, human displacement and/or disruption or destruction of the economic lives of the cultural communities have resulted from continuing militarization of many areas because of the conflict between the government and the New Peoples Army on the one hand, and the Muslim separatist movements as well as bandit groups in Mindanao on the other; from often state-sanctioned logging, mining, and other extractive industries that have resulted in ecological degradation; globalization; climate change; and natural calamities like the Bohol earthquake and the Typhoon Haiyan of 2013.

On another note, indigenous cultures have received some recognition from government with the establishment of the Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA), which honors and supports folk masters in the traditional arts like weaving , kulintang playing, epic chanting, carving, and metalcraft . To make sure that the skills of these folk artists are transferred to the next generation, the government has also opened Schools of Living Traditions in the towns where these artists reside. Tourism-sponsored festivals have capitalized on indigenous cultures found in specific areas, packaging them in standard street-dancing format often influenced by the Ati-Atihan festival of Aklan. As a result, many traditional dances, customs, and costumes have given way to such exoticized and commercialized expressions of “ethnic cultures.” In media, on the other hand, inexpensive digital video technology has democratized filmmaking , allowing regional artists to depict many aspects of their regional culture from the inside, often with the help of film festivals like Cinemalaya , Cinema One , Cine Filipino, and, most of all, Cinema Rehiyon.

In spite of much criticism and cynicism that has grown around the construction/deconstruction of notions of nations and canons, today is an age in which the completion of the online edition of a work such as the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art retains an urgent and imperative value. This encyclopedia presents itself as both a history of the life processes of the nation—a living archive and catalogue of various sites of memory—and a history of ideas. In the context of a growing vacuum of social memory, especially in the face of rapid “internationalization” and “globalization”—in so many ways, rhetorical extensions of the empire—such a project is indispensable.

As a cultural canon, the encyclopedia makes no secret of its nationalist project. The very title of the series foregrounds its cultural agenda. The fact that a section was devoted on the Peoples of the Philippines signifies its emphasis on local cultures in the process of producing the nation. It gestures conspicuously toward regional memories so that they are accounted for in articulations of Philippine national identity, and insists on the mediation of the national through the local. All this is obvious. Yet the work does not insist on the immutability and permanence of certain knowledges; rather, it anchors itself on the dynamic processes by which cultural canons evolve in relation to historical phenomena. The encyclopedia’s challenge to readers and critics is to understand and examine the ways in which the work intervenes in history.

Ultimately, the project of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art is situated within the broader struggle of securing the place of the indigenous people in the nation. Benedict Anderson’s formulation of the nation as an “imagined community” ought to point us less toward the failure of ever “truly” forming the nation because it is perpetually deconstructible, than to the material relevance of actively imagining the nation—that remains, by our continuing efforts, a progressive, even revolutionary, exercise.

This area of the encyclopedia of Philippine art aims to put together in coherent and succinct fashion standard information on the peoples of the Philippines. While it is true that many theses and dissertations, books and monographs, tapes and records have been made on one or more aspects of various groups in the Islands, there is no one place where the student can go to get a “bird’s-eye view” of any group that includes all the basic information he or she needs to know—geographical location, history, economic system, political system, social organization and customs, religious beliefs and practices, architecture and community planning, visual arts, literary arts, and performing arts. In short, these volumes seek to paint a holistic picture of each ethnolinguistic group, including and combining its material and nonmaterial forms.

In the other areas of this online encyclopedia where the eight arts—architecture, visual arts, dance, music, theater, film, literature, and broadcast arts—are treated principally as art forms, this section on the People of the Philippines is meant to situate the arts in the context of the communities that gave birth to them. Here they are seen as expressions by a group or by individuals chosen by a group, who create in response to the needs—economic, political, social—of the community. In short, the arts are here presented both as the products of a culture in process and as catalysts for change in the community.

With these basic data on the groups assembled online, it is hoped that the student will get a better understanding of what gives a cultural community its identity, and by extension, what in the culture of the ethnic groups could form the base for a national identity. There is no denying that the natives of the Philippines have been divided by the events of their history. Islam made the Tausug different from the Tboli . Spanish Christianity reshaped the Kapampangan so that they now find it hard to identify with the Ifugao and the Maranao. But even a cursory reading of the essays in this section will show that through all the changes and fragmentation wrought by history, analogous patterns of behavior and value systems, as well as parallel institutions springing from similar environmental conditions or social changes, prove that a continuity does exist between and among Philippine cultures. It is hoped that these communalities will yield a more scientific basis for Filipinos working together as a people, so that the country may finally become a full-fledged nation in terms of culture.

In addition to the objectives already set by the 1994 edition of this encyclopedia, this edition seeks to update all the entries of that first edition by rewriting the entries to incorporate data from researches done previous to 1994 which were overlooked for one reason or the other and from studies made after 1994. Updating was done in all the sections of each essay, enriching the data both on the social institutions as well as the arts of each group. Names were also updated based on the latest NSO census which identifies the names by which some groups now want to be known by. Thus, the Ilongot are now Bugkalot , the Pampangos are now Kapampangan, the Kinaray-a are now Karay-a, the Badjao are now Sama Dilaut

A second objective of this edition is to include new ethnolinguistic groups that have new research data on them and/or the writers to put together such data. Three groups have been added to the original 51 of the 1994 edition: the Agta , found mainly in Luzon; the Ifiallig , who are related to the Bontok of Bontoc Province; and the Ata Manobo who are found in Davao in Mindanao. Another addition to the essays on certain groups is the Media Arts section, which comes right after the Performing Arts section. Research done on the Broadcast Arts yielded data on the radio and/or television stations that cover the areas where certain ethnolinguistic groups are found. Furthermore, the new Media Arts section includes the films, both mainstream and independent, that have been made on certain groups, sometimes by members of those groups themselves. Films have been made on the Ivatan , Ilocano, Pangasinan , Pinatubo Aeta , Kapampangan, Ilonggo, Cebuano, Bikol, Mangyan, Maguindanaon, Tausug, and Sama Dilaut, among others.

A third objective of this edition is to provide not only verbal but visual information on each of the ethnolinguistic groups. Black and white as well as color or colorized images of the groups show them as they were documented in sketches made by foreign artists for foreigners who visited the country or by photographs from the period of reform and revolution against Spain, the Philippine-American war, and the American colonial period. In using pictures made during the Spanish or American periods, the editors consciously avoided sketches or photos which had an obvious colonial agenda (e.g., Worcester pictures showing the “backward” and “half-naked” native standing beside a tall, white American in full military attire) and photos which were colorized in hues and tones that would not have been possible, probable, or logical during the period when the photo was taken. Effort was also expended to include pictures of the group as they are in our day, wearing, not ceremonial costumes, but everyday clothes as they work in the fields or on their baskets and textiles. Exoticized and “abject” images taken mainly by foreigners were outrightly rejected. Finally, to better understand the location of the settlements of each group, the maps of the first edition were revised and interpreted in color for easy identification of their areas of habitation or migration.

In updating, expanding, and illustrating the essays on each of the 54 groups in this edition, the encyclopedia hopes to a) show the groups dynamically evolving in history as they respond to the many challenges (economic, political, social) that confront them from the inside and the outside; b) describe the architecture, visual arts, literary arts, performing arts, and media arts of each group in the context of their history, economic, political, social, and religious systems; and c) present a synthesis of their culture that will define their unique identity as a group in the larger nation.

Content and Division

This area on the Peoples of the Philippines features ethnographic sketches of 54 ethnolinguistic groups in the country. Each essay has 11 parts: a short introductory section detailing the basic ethnolinguistic features, geographic locations, and demographic distribution of the group; a section on history tracing the development of the group from the precolonial period, to the colonial eras, to the republics; a section on economy looking at the groups’ various modes of production across history; a section on political system examining the traditional, or indigenous, leadership structures and laws and their transformations vis-a-vis the colonial governments and the development of the Filipino nation-state; a section on social organization and customs surveying the groups’ kinship patterns, social codes, and conventions; a section on religious beliefs and practices fleshing out indigenous cosmologies and world views and the later interventions of institutional religions; a section on architecture and community planning describing traditional conceptions of space, structure, and spatial organization; a visual arts and crafts section, which surveys expressions of their material cultures; a literary arts section, which gives an account of their mythologies, folk narratives, and poetic traditions; a performing arts section, which records songs, dances, and mimetic rituals; and a new section on media arts , providing a preliminary look at how these indigenous identities have been represented, or have represented themselves, in film, video, television, radio, and other mediated formats, to constitute the knowledge of these indigenous communities in the popular imagination. The essays on the Peoples of the Philippines encapsulate the spirit in which the other art forms hope to be appreciated: as situated within distinct histories, sociopolitical, and economic systems, and cultural worlds out of which they emerge.

Certainly, the project is an ambitious one, but the Peoples section do not intend to comprehensively cover all aspects of the lives of indigenous group, nor purport to present a complete discussion of all their art forms. The work is a survey, signifying toward possibilities rather than exhausting them.

The updates to the original articles in the 1994 edition serve an important function in rendering these indigenous groups, their histories and cultures, as dynamic and in constant movement and struggle, especially in relation to the developing nation-state. For too long, they and their material cultures have been relegated to museum pieces and cultural commodities, their customs and traditions to visual spectacles, and their domains of life to rich sources of raw materials. In textbooks, they appear as historical footnotes, as if they continue to signify an inaccessible “past” rather than participate in the continuing struggles of the nation and in nation-formation.

As part of a conscious counter-narrative to such touristic, exoticizing, and reductivist framings of the life processes of indigenous groups in the Philippines, this section painstakingly trace the demographic shifts, geographic movements, cultural osmoses, linguistic adjustments, and sociopolitical engagements of each ethnolinguistic group. A multitude of data was processed for each of the articles: comparing and contrasting accounts of different ethnolinguistic groups, drawing out historical facts from opinions in accounts mangled with religious or political bias, exploring links between folk references and historical occurrences, and accounting for gaps and contradictions in translations of oral narratives despite limited access to the native languages.

The updating of the encyclopedia involved the conscious writing of a critical history for each of these groups, with a conscious eye toward their narratives of resistance and struggle, to circumscribe their acts of and will to power, and to glean the systematically enforced constraints upon their agency. Rather than romanticize the marginality and victimization of national minorities, it highlights the ways in which their marginality and victimization relate directly with developments in the socioeconomic, political, and cultural realms of the nation-state.

All these hard data of historical-social-political context are embedded in the arts and their development/transformation—and pointing toward this embedding is precisely the encyclopedia’s invaluable contribution to discourses on indigenous studies and on Philippine arts. The Sama Dilaut diaspora accounts for the mass appropriation of Sama music, collectively called the sangbayan, in popular imagination. The pakiring has become known nationwide as the song “Dayang Dayang” (Princess) since it became a radio hit in the late 1990s. While the lyrics of the popular version are nonsensical, they are based on those of the Sama Dilaut original, which was traditionally sung during weddings and other joyful occasions. Since then, the pakiring has found itself adapted and remixed even to disco and rock versions, and spurring parodies such as Yoyoy Villame ’s “Dayang Daya” (Much Cheating), about a stereotypical Indian merchant and moneylender dealing with customers who renege on their payments.

Methodology

The whole project of seeking and writing the indigenous peoples of the Philippines in a state-sponsored project like the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art inevitably surfaces the tensions between the beautiful but necessary myth of the nation and the historically oppressive and violent hand of the nation-state. But it is also precisely within the nationwide scale of the canonization project of the encyclopedia that such tensions and contradictions are negotiated.

Most of the essays in the Peoples volumes were written collaboratively, drawing from locally produced researches and regional publications to internationally circulated journals. Very significantly, the Peoples volumes were produced, not only by “outsider” (i.e., Manila-based, non-indigenous) scholars, but also by indigenous scholars and contributors. Among these are Vel Sumingit (Subanon), Scott Saboy (Kalinga), Jimmy Fong (Ibaloy), Stanley F. Anongos (Bontok), Alex Castro (Kapampangan), Ruchie Mark Pototanon (Capiznon), Kristoffer Esquejo (Romblomanon), Ma. Crisanta Nelmida-Flores (Pangasinan), Dandan Masinaring (Mansaka), and Michael Jude Tumamac (Tboli). Davao-based John Bengan updated Resil Mojares ’s Cebuano essay and added data on the Cebuano in Mindanao. University of the Philippines (UP) Baguio-based Analyn V. Salvador, contributor to Isinay update, is an established researcher and author on Isinay blankets and Cordillera tattoos . John Barrios updated Aklanon (with Alex de Juan), Ilonggo (with Rene Trance, who is with the West Visayas Studies Center, UP Visayas), and Karay-a. All eight Bikol co-writers and updaters are Bicol-based, except Raniela Barbaza, who teaches Bikol regional literature at UP Diliman.

Style and Use

The encyclopedia was designed specifically for the student, and hence it avoids obfuscation. Ideas are outlined clearly in each essay and subheadings used. The language is simple and the style is straightforward and declarative. Technical terms or native terms are immediately explained with their meaning in English. As a rule, the encyclopedia follows the oldest way in which a name is spelled. Thus in the case of the so-called Aeta, Ayta, Ita, and Ati, the encyclopedia chose Aeta because this is the oldest recorded spelling of the name of the group. In the same vein, the encyclopedia used Maranao instead of Maranaw, Bulacan instead of Bulakan, because the first terms are older. If the contemporary spelling is the only version of the name used today, it was followed: thus, Pakil instead of Paquil, Palawan instead of Palauan. Excerpts from texts illustrate specific points or artistic forms. Photographs and captions sum up and serve as guideposts to the article. Sources of data or quotations are placed in parentheses right after the sentence which uses them, and provide the family name of the author, year of publication of the work, and page numbers which correspond to entries in the references at the end of each article. These references serve as acknowledgment and lead the student to more important sources of information.

Terms native to the language of the group are set in boldface the first time they appear in the essay; other native and non-English terms not related to the group are set in italics the first time they are mentioned. Translations of the native terms are usually enclosed in parentheses: thus kaluluwa (soul). Titles of books, plays, dance pieces, large musical works, and paintings are set in boldface italics each time they are mentioned; if they are in a native language, they are followed by English translations, enclosed in parentheses, of the title and the year of publication or performance, separated by commas; thus, Banaag at Sikat (Glimmer and Light), 1907. Proper names, including names of publications, are not translated. For consistency, diacritical marks on native terms have been omitted, since they were available and complete only for certain groups, like the Palawan.

For the researcher, the Search function of this online encyclopedia is the most helpful first stop. It lists all the major terms, forms, names, concepts, and books found in the various areas of the encyclopedia.

Philippine architecture is the sum total of the domestic and public buildings that have been built by natives of the Philippines on Philippine soil and over the centuries, in response to various climatic, geographical, and cultural conditions prevailing in a given place and time.

The term “Philippine architecture” has been the subject of discussion and debate. One extreme view denies that there is such a thing. Buildings of the indigenous or precolonial tradition are not considered architecture because, according to this view, they lack magnitude, durability, and aesthetic value. The architecture of the Hispanic period is regarded as entirely European in the case of forts and the Intramuros churches, or, in the case of provincial churches and houses, poor imitations of Spanish architecture. The architecture of the American and contemporary periods are viewed as unabashed copies of Western buildings. While colonial and contemporary buildings are accepted as architecture, they are not acknowledged as authentically Filipino.

The extreme opposite view contends that any architecture produced in the Philippines is Filipino, not only because of its geographical setting, but also because it is, for better or for worse, a part and expression of the culture. The essays in this volume are founded on the premise that there is such a thing as Filipino architecture, and that this encompasses ethnic, Spanish, and American colonial and contemporary architecture.

This area of the encyclopedia aims to enable the reader: first, to be familiar with and to appreciate and be concerned with Filipino architecture; second, to appreciate architecture as such; and third, to be aware of what is Filipino in architecture.

In addition to the above, the principal aim of this area on Philippine architecture is to revise the entries in the 1994 printed edition, by rewriting or updating them and by including new entries to the different sections of the encyclopedia—all based on the most important developments in Philippine architecture in the last two decades, including but not limited to, the new researches that have come out both here and abroad, the new declarations of heritage buildings and sites by the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) , the most recent achievements of Filipino architects and organizations, and the notable events that have affected historic structures, like the earthquake of 2013 and the typhoon Yolanda of Nov 2013.

A secondary objective of this area is to call attention to the need of preserving, restoring, and conserving historic structures . Toward this end, 29 more historic structures have been added to the list of architectural works, in the hope that their inclusion in the encyclopedia will convince the decision makers in church and government of the areas where they are found to cherish them as heritage structures that are part of the history of their towns. Similarly, the new subsection on Heritage Areas has been added to foreground the significance of particular buildings in these places to the history of the town as well as that of the nation.

This area is divided into the following sections: Historical Essays , Forms and Types , Aspects of Production , Works , Heritage Areas , Artists and Organizations , and General Sources . The Historical Essays include first, an overview, then the essays on the indigenous, Hispanic, American, and contemporary traditions. Three essays have been added in this edition: Republic III, 1946-72 ; Republic IV or the martial law era, 1972-86 ; and Republic V, 1986 onward . The focus is on “tradition” rather than “period” since architectural styles introduced in one period could extend their influence into the next periods. There are also essays on allied arts, namely, interior design , and landscape architecture , and an essay on the evolution of communities . The historical section also includes a study of sources and influences , namely the Southeast Asian, the Islamic, the Chinese, and the Hispanic; the various styles that influenced Philippine architecture during the Hispanic period, namely, the classical, gothic, renaissance, baroque, rococo, and revivalist styles, and the 20th-century movements, like art nouveau, art deco, and modern architecture.

The section Forms and Types describes in alphabetical order various kinds of shelter and structure, again belonging to the traditions: indigenous, hispanic, American, and contemporary. The indigenous buildings include caves, lean-tos , treehouses , boathouses , and the houses on stilts; the Spanish colonial covers the bahay na bato (stone house), churches , government buildings, forts , bridges , cemeteries , and lighthouses ; the American colonial and contemporary include government edifices, private commercial buildings and theaters , schools , apartments , tsalet (chalet), one and-a-half-story houses , and bungalows .

The section Aspects of Architecture deals in alphabetical order with various aspects of the art and profession of architecture as well as the professional formation of the architect. The creation of a building begins with the process of planning and design , an activity that involves both art and science. The outcome of this process is the set of drawings which the builder follows in the construction of the building, providing the materials that are specified and employing particular methods that are prescribed. Through the process of construction, the architect’s ideas are translated into a functioning reality. Organizations serve to promote the development of the profession and determine standards for professional practice. Outstanding achievements are recognized through the awards granted by professional organizations or by government or civic entities. Research is undertaken by scholars for the purpose of documenting the country’s architectural heritage and fostering historical consciousness to enrich creative endeavor.

The section Works is further divided into two subsections: Structures and Studies . Structures describe notable buildings in alphabetical order. A new subsection, Studies, was also added which lists down and documents architecture studies. These include specific books or articles on an aspect of Philippine architecture written by Filipinos and foreign scholars both here and abroad, which can be considered “must-read” materials for anyone wanting to have a deeper grasp of Philippine architecture.

A new section— Heritage Areas —has been added to this edition. Heritage areas situate buildings and other sites in a landscape or town setting rather than as stand-alone structures. In this section, important structures, that can be classified under Major Works but cannot be written yet as independent entries because research on them is still inadequate, can be briefly discussed or at least mentioned. The heritage zones included are sites which have been declared either as historic centers, heritage areas or heritage zones by the National Historical Institute (NHI), later the NHCP, as well as by the NMP.

The section Artists and Organizations gives brief accounts of the life and works of major architects who are listed in alphabetical order, as well as profiles of organizations related to the promotion of Filipino architecture. A major architect is one who has produced works of magnitude, particularly public buildings, and works notable for their originality or for their significant application of a current style. A large number of works, a consistently high level of performance, recognition by professional organizations, leadership in the architectural profession, and at least 20 years of professional practice were among the criteria in the selection of architects to be included in this category.

In addition, the architect must have shown an orientation toward community, which, in the present context, involves concern for the environment where a community lives and works. Furthermore, a major architect strives toward creating a Filipino style that connects with tradition, shows knowledge and concern for heritage, even as the architect remains open to foreign influences which is adapted to and appropriated for the Philippine context. A major architect may also play a pivotal role in the development of architecture by introducing creative and innovative works as well as fields and programs that subsequently affect the direction of Philippine architecture. The contributions of major architects are reflected in the recognition accorded to them by their peers, historians, and the nation. Major landscape architects and interior designers are included in this section.

The section General Sources lists down all the works used as sources in the essays and includes titles of other books deemed important as sources for the study of Philippine architecture.

Most of the information contained in this area was drawn from books, periodicals, and journals. In addition to library research, the authors of the essays and articles on architecture went on field trips to various parts of the country. Some trips had been undertaken in past years in connection with other publications, and the information unearthed then proved to be still useful. For the biographies, published sources were consulted for data on the early architects. Living architects were requested to furnish their curriculum vitae or in some cases were interviewed. Relatives of recently deceased architects were requested to provide information.

This area, however, had to work within certain limitations. Although this area contains an essay on the indigenous tradition in architecture and an article on the indigenous house in the section on forms, it does not contain detailed descriptions of the various types of indigenous house, such as the Ifugao , the Mangyan , and the Maranao . These will be found in the area Peoples of the Philippines under the entry for each group.

A number of outstanding houses of the Hispanic colonial period are not featured among the major works because no historical data are available. On the other hand, a large number of churches of the Hispanic colonial period are included, first, because many of them are unique, and second, because historical data are available and generally reliable.

A number of buildings of the Hispanic and American colonial periods that could qualify as major works are not included in this area either because historical data are not available or the buildings are no longer in their original state, having been modified inside or outside, or having been allowed to deteriorate. However, some buildings that no longer exist are mentioned because of their acknowledged historical importance and because information on them could be gathered. One example is the Crystal Arcade .

The area on architecture does not have as large a number of biographical entries as the other volumes, since professional Filipino architects emerged in significant numbers only in the 20th century. Sources from the Hispanic colonial period mention architects and builders, most of them Spaniards, whose works are of historical and architectural value. The biographies include persons who are not major architects under the criteria, but whose buildings are of special significance in Philippine architectural history. Landscape architects and interior designers are included in this section.

The names of architects or builders of important buildings are not always known. Neither are the dates of construction. Some buildings have been rebuilt or reconstructed more than once. In such cases, the date of construction that is supplied is of the present structure. Many new buildings are not mentioned in the section on contemporary architecture; neither are they listed among major works. Similarly, some biographies lack such information as date or year of birth and death, or names of parents, because no records are available or the sources did not provide them.

The encyclopedia editors followed the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition). The language is simple and the style straightforward. Technical terms are explained either in synonyms or equivalents or in the context in which they appear. Subheadings help to clarify the organization of ideas and ease the search for particular data. Pictures and captions illustrate the principal points being made by the essay. Sources of data or quotations are placed in parentheses right after the sentence that uses them and provide the family name of the author, the year of publication of the work, and the page numbers, which can be checked against the sources at the end of an article.

Architecture-specific terms, such as panolong , sabungan , and simbahan , are set in boldface the first time they appear in an essay; Filipino and foreign terms not specific to architecture, such as komedya and gobernadorcillo , are set in italics the first time they are mentioned. Translations or equivalents of terms, whether architectural or not, are usually enclosed in parentheses: thus, bahay na bato (stone house). Titles of books and periodicals are set in boldface italics each time they are mentioned; if the titles are non-English, they are followed by English translations, enclosed in parentheses, of the title and the year of publication, separated by commas. All diacritical marks on native terms are removed until such time as they are consistently and systematically recorded by scholars, especially among the smaller ethnolinguistic groups.

For the researcher, the Search function of this online encyclopedia is the most helpful first stop. It lists all the major terms, forms, names, concepts, and books in Philippine architecture as well as in the other areas of the encyclopedia.

The term visual arts includes both the canonical forms adopted by Filipino artists from the beaux-arts academies of the West as well as the many and varied indigenous and folk expressions evolved by the native peoples of the Philippines over the centuries. The volume endorses a broader and more democratic concept of art, one that is not confined to “fine arts” productions of a Western or elite mold. In this way, this volume gives due and ample recognition to the many traditional arts, like pottery , woodcarving, metalcraft , mat and textile weaving of the indigenous artists, and the religious sculpture , furniture , embroidery , and fiesta art forms of the Christianized folk as well as to the more recently developed technologically based arts, like photography and komiks .

Since the publication of the first edition of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art in 1994, a wealth of research data on the Philippine visual arts has been published in books, pamphlets, catalogues, and articles or made available in theses and dissertations from various academic institutions. These have brought to light, among others, early forms of the visual arts like the Maitum jars , folk art creations such as the palaspas and carved santos, art movements such as social realism and protest art, periods of art production such as the Japanese occupation , photography in the Spanish period like that of Felix Laureano or the American period such as that of Harrry Whitfield Harnish, and dress such as those on the baro’t saya , terno , and barong tagalog . The bulk of these publications, however, have concentrated on the life and works of 19th-century artists, such as Damian Domingo , Honorato Lozano , Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo , and Isabelo Tampinco ; the early moderns like H. R. Ocampo , Botong Francisco , Vicente Manansala, Cesar Legaspi ; and the generations after them including Napoleon Abueva , Federico Aguilar Alcuaz , BenCab , Ramon Orlina , and many others.

Over the last two decades new art forms and art practitioners have expanded the scope, typology, and meaning of the visual arts. In addition to the established forms of painting and sculpture, more and later artists have ventured into or opened new directions: in assemblage , artists such as Gabriel Barredo and Jose Tence Ruiz ; in installation , Leeroy New and Mark Salvatus ; in performance art , Lyra Garcellano and Judy Sibayan ; in video art , Yason Banal and Martha Atienza; in sound art , Tad Ermitaño and Lirio Salvador ; in multimedia or transmedia art , Kawayan de Guia and Alwin Reamillo ; and in effigies used for rallies and demonstrations, artists of UGATLahi Artist Collective and Tutok. In these new genres, the borders of the traditional art forms are transgressed, with visual arts merging or interacting with the performing arts, the literary arts, and the cinematic and broadcast arts.

Notable developments in the field of visual arts since the 1990s have affected the production, dissemination, and validation of Philippine art works. The rise and proliferation of new collectors in the Asia Pacific, both institutional and private, has led to the phenomenal growth of the market for Philippine art, especially in established and new art auctions. The rapid increase in the number of art exchanges, residencies, biennales, and festivals that feature visual artists from all over the world, including Asia and the Pacific, has stimulated the production of new art, exposed Filipino artists to new concepts and styles of art, and introduced a new way of validating artists and their art works. With the emphasis on the decentralization of art making after the EDSA revolt of 1986, artist collectives have taken the initiative to establish, expand, or consolidate their own groups and exhibition venues all over the archipelago. In Metro Manila, significant are Surrounded by Water , the Green Papaya Project , and Big Sky Mind; in the Cordilerras, the Baguio Arts Guild , the Tam-awan Village , and the BenCab Museum; and in the Visayas, the Mariyah Gallery and Viva Excon . All the above developments underscore the need to revise the first edition of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art .

The Visual Arts area of this encyclopedia aims to present the totality of the achievements of the Filipino in the visual arts and to show how these visual arts sprang from, shaped, and enriched Philippine culture. It presents a consolidated view of all Philippine visual arts and the varied forms which were developed by Filipinos in the indigenous , Spanish , and American colonial and contemporary traditions. Given this objective, this edition attempts to present the latest and most comprehensive documentation of the Philippine visual arts, which has been needed by Filipino students and scholars for a long time now.

Through the wealth of information and examples offered by the essays and photographs in this compendium, the editors also hope to inform young Filipino artists about the country’s rich history and heritage, in the hope that they can draw inspiration and technique from the past for their own contemporary expressions. Critics have noted that many contemporary Filipino artists tend to be heavily influenced by art concepts and trends emanating from the art centers of the West. With this edition, the editors hope to encourage artists to study their own indigenous folk traditions and see how these can help them create art works which will be distinctly and palpably Filipino.

Even as this edition seeks to showcase the many and varied researches already done on Philippine visual arts, it also hopes to infect students and enthusiasts in academic institutions all over the archipelago with the passion for further research. A cursory reading of the volume will reveal the many areas that have hardly been touched by scholarly documentation, much less written about or published. The volume especially wants to convince and conscript scholars in the regions to devote more time and effort to the discovery and dissemination of art works and artists in their region whose artistic achievements may have enriched the culture not only of their region but of the country as a whole. Such local researches are ideally undertaken by scholars born and bred in those areas.

In a wider perspective, the Visual Arts area of this encyclopedia also hopes to remedy the acute lack of information on Philippine visual arts in international art studies. This lack of materials has resulted in the marginalization of the achievements of Filipino artists in the history of world art. In fact, in most discussions of oriental art, the Philippines is hardly ever mentioned, in spite of the rise of interest in Philippine art works sold at auctions in commercial centers of the West. It is hoped that the present compendium will rectify this situation by making available to the general public basic knowledge about the history, forms, and practitioners of the Philippine visual arts.

The Visual Arts area is divided into these sections: Historical Essays , Forms and Types , Aspects of Production , Works , Artists and Organizations , and General Sources .

The section Historical Essays focuses on the various traditions that have contributed to and enriched Philippine culture. The division into traditions has been favored over periodization because traditions imply artistic contributions which, while associated on the whole with a particular time frame, such as for instance, the Spanish colonial period , have a continuing influence and viability to the present. What began as foreign influences, even interventions, became, with their adaptation to the local context, indigenized as traditions. On the whole, traditions imply a cultural layering that creates the rich polyphonic density characterizing Philippine culture. On the other hand, periodization would tend to confine these cultural and artistic contributions to strictly bounded time frames and would allow for much less fluidity and interaction between the art of the different periods when, in fact, a good grasp and comprehension of Philippine art, especially contemporary Philippine art, demands precisely this sensitive perception of the different traditions as they continually interact and fuse with each other in the cultural process.

The historical essays include: the general essay on Philippine visual arts, and the essays on the indigenous, the Hispanic, and the American traditions and transformations, and sources and influences. For this edition, new essays were also developed for the following historical periods: the Ancient Past and Cultural Links which utilized the archaeological studies on precolonial Philippine artifacts; the visual arts during the Japanese Occupation (1942-45) ; the martial law period as the crossroads of Philippine visual arts (1972-86); and the condition of globalization and transnationalization of the visual arts ( 1987 Onward ). While the scope of periodization was based on important political events, the chosen nodal points were useful to demarcate one period from another with the full understanding that some art forms can transgress the parameters of time and space. Thus, the thematic thread of traditions and transformations in art serves as guide posts in understanding Philippine art.

The section Forms and Types covers a wide range of forms, from indigenous and folk to contemporary modern, arranged in alphabetical order. The approach to each form and genre traces their beginnings, which can go back to precolonial times, and gives an overview of their development to the present day. Woodcarving, pottery , basketry , bamboo art , textile art , tattoo art , personal ornamentation are discussed from earliest beginnings to the present. The category of painting includes easel painting introduced during the Spanish period as well as other contemporary “two-dimensional expressions” in oil, watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, and collages. Sculpture includes traditional anito anito and santo , as well as modern works in stone, steel or glass, assemblages , installations , earthworks, and the Paete taka . The popular visual art forms of komiks and photography are also treated in historical fashion. The section was also expanded to include contemporary art forms such as effigies , assemblage, installation and site-specific art, video art , sound art , and performance art . Tattoo as an art form merited its own chapter to acknowledge its importance in our cultural heritage. Changes of terms from “Costume” to “Dress” and “Multimedia” as “Transmedia” reflect the shifting discourses in the field.

The section on the Aspects of Visual Arts has been revised and updated to reflect a continuing flow of the narrative based on the following themes: Medium and Materials of Art; Knowledge and Discourse of Art which include discussions on art education, art criticism, art scholarship, collections, and archives; Modes of Validation which include discussions on patronage, the art market, awards, law, censorship, and ethics; and Initiatives and Engagements , which discusses organizations and collectives, regional art organizations, public art initiatives, and community-based projects. Art scholarship in the form of book publications was also included in this section.

In the section of Works is incorporated a layered discussion of the artwork, how it contributes to our understanding of Philippine art history, and its importance to the development of Philippine visual arts. Admittedly, there are more works that can be included in the revised edition, given the vast amount of art activities since 1995. But given the limitations of publication, art scholars from various academic institutions vetted the new entries which are considered either important in the art history of the Philippines, or exemplify best practice in a particular form. Selected works are not strictly confined to art collections and museums, but may be found in churches , as in the case of popular religious icons, or may be effigies which were used in political rallies.

Significant artifacts unearthed through archaeological methods are included because of their importance to our art history. Photography, used in art practice and photojournalism, was expanded in the new entries. In particular, iconic images of the Filipino which circulated through the print media were given importance as these images constructed Filipino representations in our collective memory.

In general, the works were arranged alphabetically. However, some art works are more known for their moniker or shortened names, in which case, these were used together with the original name.

The selection of art works followed a number of criteria. To be included, the work should have been recognized, particularly within the period in which it was produced, as an outstanding work of art through notices, criticisms, government recognition, and institutional awards; or it is considered by art scholars as a milestone in the stylistic or thematic development of Philippine art. Care was taken to include most of the major works produced in the country. If any have been inadvertently omitted, this has been due to the limitations of research.

The section Artists and Organizations presents the biographical sketches of individual artists as well as basic data on important art organizations, such as the Academia de Dibujo y Pintura and the Art Association of the Philippines . For this edition, the section was expanded to include new entries not just on individual artists, but also scholars, organizations, and collections, which had an impact on the development of art in the Philippines.

A number of criteria were evolved for this section. To be included, artists should have created works that contributed to the stylistic development of Philippine art and have been recognized during their lifetime as major artists through notices, criticisms, government recognition, and institutional awards.

New entries for this section were vetted by art scholars with the following general criteria: 10 years of creative output in visual arts with an extensive body of work, and awards and recognition accorded to them by reputable institutions. Exemption to these guidelines were made for artists whose practice may not be considered part of the art world, but represents an outstanding art practice in an emerging field or in the regions. Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) winners in the field of indigenous and folk arts are included in the new entries to give proper recognition to their contribution to Philippine art and culture. The entries were alphabetically arranged using their last names, except for artists who are known for their professional names such as BenCab.

Art scholars included in the new entries are those who practice art history, art criticism, curatorship, art management, and art education. The criteria that were used were: 10 years of active study and publication on visual arts; two books or 10 refereed articles on visual arts; awards and recognition; and significance of their contribution to art scholarship. Art scholars, who participated in the vetting process, chose not to be included in the entries for ethical reasons.

A significant addition to this volume are the collectives and organizations in recognition of their role in facilitating art engagements with different communities and for the advocacies they represent. The criteria that were applied to the selected groups include sustained activity for at least 10 years, body of works, and level of engagement with communities and advocacies they represent. A certain leeway was given to groups who were not able to meet the 10-year criterion but nevertheless became part of the fabric of Philippine art history.

Lastly, art collections and art archives are recognized in this volume as key players in the production of knowledge on Philippine art. The criteria that were applied are 15 years of active collection and maintenance of collection; quality and extensiveness of collection; and the significance of collection to art history and contemporary creativity. By including these resources on Philippine art, this online encyclopedia hopes that more research can be done by accessing and studying them by other art scholars.

For this revised edition, the editor-in-chief invited the then chair of the Department of Art Studies (DAS) of the College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman, to serve as principal area editor of the visual arts volume. She in turn invited another colleague from the same department to assist her as co-area editor, and the two, in democratic spirit, held three long meetings to consult the members of the DAS faculty on how the old entries should be updated, expanded, reorganized or rewritten, what new entries (artists, organizations, art works) should be added, and how these new entries should be vetted.

After a consensus was reached on these matters, the faculty members, all of whom had published research articles on some aspect of the Philippine visual arts, then chose the topics they wanted to write on, based on their completed or on-going research or their research interest. The rest of the articles were farmed out to DAS lecturers and other writer-researchers and experts from other academic institutions. Guidelines were formulated and disseminated to all the assigned writers, specifying the coverage, organization, language, and references needed for each type of article—historical, biographical, and analytical. It was decided the twin approaches of historical and art criticism would be used. As the articles were submitted, they were first edited for content and style by the area editor, then passed on to the editor-in-chief who suggested changes, additions, or deletions or simply reedited the entries himself.

Research was done in libraries for all kinds of materials, including the published (books, journals, periodicals) and the unpublished (theses and dissertations). To augment data from the libraries, interviews were held with art experts as well as with artists themselves. For the biographies of artists, questionnaires were sent out to particular artists. The internet was used extensively but also selectively. Data from Internet sources were usually checked against other authoritative sources. While the majority of sources on the Philippine visual arts were consulted, this revised edition still cannot claim to have complete data in all the entries, because many lacunae remain in visual arts studies that need to be filled by future research. Moreover, there are topics that cannot have entries either because they have not been studied at all or because the subjects to be studied have vanished, having been destroyed by natural calamities, neglect, or human conflict, such as the Battle of Manila in 1945 when priceless art works and architectural masterpieces in Intramuros were bombed out of existence by American planes.

The form of presentation is designed for the student. The language is simple and the style straightforward. Technical terms are explained either in synonyms and equivalents or in the context in which they appear. Subheadings help to clarify the organization of ideas and ease the search for particular data. Pictures and captions illustrate the principal points being made by the essay. Sources of data or quotations are placed in parentheses right after the sentence which uses them and provide the family name of the author, the year of publication of the work, and the page numbers. The complete details of this source may be checked against the sources at the end of each essay or in the General Sources section. The references at the end of some essays not only serve as an acknowledgment but also lead the student to more sources of information in the general bibliography.

For the researcher, the Search function of this online encyclopedia is the most helpful first stop. It lists all the major terms in the visual arts, the art works, names, concepts, and books in the visual arts area as well as in the other areas of the encyclopedia.

Philippine film includes all the motion pictures produced by residents of the Philippines for exhibition in the country or in other parts of the world. These may be in silent or talking format, black and white or color, in the commercial mainstream or alternative cinema. Although most of these are features, they also include the documentary , animation , experimental , and other types of films.

The youngest of the Philippine arts, film was introduced into the country only in 1897 but it has now outpaced all the other art forms in popular acceptance. From one tip of the archipelago to the other, its millions of viewers cut across classes and age groups. As an art form, it reflects the concerns of the audiences it caters to, even as it shapes their consciousness and taste.

Since the publication of the first edition of the film volume of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art in 1994, major developments have happened in Philippine Cinema. The second half of the 1990s signaled the advent of digital technology that would influence filmmaking in the country. The new technology made possible the democratization of filmmaking. Shooting equipment, as well as editing software and post-production facilities, became accessible and this development had a tremendous impact on independent filmmaking and, consequently, on Philippine Cinema.

The activity in filmmaking resulted in a more lively scholarly work. The Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Critics of Philippine Cinema) came out with three more of its Urian Anthology covering the years from 1980 to 2009. Pelikula: A Journal of Philippine Cinema was published in 1999-2001 by the College of Mass Communication , University of the Philippines. Ideya: Journal of the Humanities at De La Salle University devoted a special issue on Philippine Cinema in 2005. Moreover, various books on Philippine Cinema have been published, led by critics like Bienvenido Lumbera , Nicanor Tiongson , Rolando Tolentino , and Nick Deocampo .

The primary objective of this online edition is to revise the film volume of the first edition by updating or rewriting existing essays and by including new entries, to reflect the most significant developments in the Philippine Cinema in the two decades after 1994, in the matter of cinematic output, institutional or organizational changes, the continuing growth of productivity of veteran actors, and the rise of a new breed of filmmakers.

The secondary objective of this revised and updated edition is to serve as a source of information on Philippine Cinema for film students, teachers, cineastes, scholars, and the general public. There is not one source book today that has the range and wealth of data on Philippine Cinema that this encyclopedia offers.

The third objective of the present work is to provide the historical framework for film scholars, filmmakers, and film enthusiasts alike that can make their appreciation of Philippine Cinema much deeper. This edition is aimed at providing a sense of Philippine Cinema that can inspire and inform other works.

The film area of this online encyclopedia discusses the various aspects of the film in the following sections: Historical Essays , Forms and Types , Aspects of Films , Works , and Artists and Organizations .

In the first section, the re-periodization of the existing historical essays was made. Originally, the Historical Essays were composed of three essays. The first presented a historical overview of Philippine Film . The second and third were detailed articles on two main periods: Philippine Film 1897-1960 and Philippine Film 1961-92. This periodization was deemed too broad and had to be revised to cover shorter periods that witnessed major historical developments in the country. While the content of the original essays was retained, the division was revised into the following periods: Philippine Film 1897-1945 , to cover the pre-World War II period; Philippine Film 1946-72 , to cover the period of the Third Republic; Philippine Film 1972-86 , to cover the martial law period or the Fourth Republic; and Philippine Film 1986 Onward to cover the period after martial law up to the present. The essays on the martial law era and the post-martial law period are practically new essays written for this edition.

Other historical essays were written for this edition to give emphasis on recent developments in these fields: Independent Films, which continues and updates the original essay on Alternative Cinema , Gay and Lesbian Cinema , Political Films , and Regional Cinema . The essay on Sources and Influences was updated to include other sources that have recently influenced Philippine Cinema like the new media.

Similarly, revisions and additional entries were done in the succeeding sections. The section Forms and Types discusses in alphabetical order the traditional forms of Filipino films that the movie industry has explored and developed. A discussion of the definition, typology, historical development, and outstanding examples and practitioners of each form is included. This section uses terms that should be understood in the context of Philippine Cinema. Thus, terms like bomba and drama have local nuances. Bomba refers to the soft-core sex films of the 1970s while drama refers to a form of film that not only covers melodrama but includes films that, for lack of a better term, are characteristically “dramatic.” The difference between historical and period films has also been clarified. All in all, the entries have been updated with recent examples. Moreover, a new entry on the Short Film has been added since this form has risen to prominence since the 1990s among independent and student filmmakers. Raymond Red ’s Anino (Shadow), which won the Palme d’Or for short film in 2000 at the Cannes Film Festival, focused attention on this lively form of film.

The section Aspects of Production presents in alphabetical order not only the complicated process of making a film from scripting , directing , acting , production design , cinematography , to screening but also the multiple considerations which can at any point impel or retard the progress of the art of the cinema, such as audiences , distribution , criticism , censorship , and taxation . Some entries in this section like Taxation, Marketing, and Distribution have been updated and new essays on Digital Filmmaking and Producing have been written for this section.

The section on Works now has a subsection on Film Productions and another on Film Studies. From the original list of 90 Films, 10 entries were updated (e.g., A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino , Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag , and Himala which have been restored and have gained international recognition). For new cinematic works to be included, they had to satisfy at least three of the following criteria: 1) award/s from respectable award-giving bodies; 2) unusual record of popular success; 3) positive reviews and critiques; 4) contribution to a genre of film; and 5) critically acclaimed work from a regional cinema. The new film production entries total 133, which include a number of independent works and documentaries. Moreover, a new subsection has been added to this section on Works: publications that comprise important studies on Philippine Cinema. In the 1994 edition, the books on Philippine Cinema were included in the volume on Literature. It is only proper and more useful for these books to be included in the film volume of this new edition. The new entries for Film Studies were chosen based on the contribution of the work to film scholarship and/or recognition from award-giving bodies and critics. New works written after 1991 have been included, e.g., Native Resistance: Philippine Cinema and Colonialism 1898-1941 , National/Transnational Subject Formation and Media in and on the Philippines , The Cinema of Manuel Conde , and Dream Factories of a Former Colony: American Fantasies , Philippine Cinema . A total of 12 new entries have been included in this subsection.

Under the section on Artists and Organizations, the achievements of filmmakers who continued to work after 1992 have been updated. For inclusion in the list of new entries on filmmakers, at least two of the following criteria should be satisfied: the filmmaker must 1) have been recognized in major national and international festivals or by respectable award-giving bodies; 2) have at least 10 years of active involvement in filmmaking; 3) have a substantial body of works or achievements; or 4) have been recognized for making a particularly significant artistic and/or technical contribution to Philippine Cinema. Among the 332 filmmakers in the original edition, 207 entries have been updated and over 100 filmmakers have been added. As for the entries on film organizations, companies or groups that have been in existence for at least 10 years and have produced a significant body of works were included. Ten new entries have been added to the list of film organizations.

Certainly, this section on Artists and Organizations will continue to be a work-in-progress. New titles, new filmmakers, and organizations will be added in the course of time, particularly in the online edition.

While the aim of this film volume was to cover a wide range of topics to make its scope encyclopedic, it remained necessary to set guidelines in the choice of entries. At the outset of the project, the Area Editor gathered prospective writers who were active in film scholarship. The group set the criteria for the possible films, filmmakers, organizations, and publications that could be included in the revised and updated edition. The criteria and lists assembled by the group were presented to the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board composed of the Area Editors of other volumes, as well as to a group of film scholars, for suggestions and refinements. Another meeting was held with the prospective writers, and the list of new entries was drawn up following the approved guidelines.

The writers chose the films, scholarly works, filmmakers, and organizations that they felt qualified to write about. The original drafts were edited by the Area Editor and checked by the Associate Editor for adherence to the format set by the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board. Finally, the edited drafts were submitted to the Editor-in-Chief for further editing and approval.

The cut-off date for new entries was the end of 2013. New films that were produced after 2013 were not included as separate entries, except as minor mentions in the filmographies of directors and other filmmakers.

The editorial board has decided to use the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition) to maintain a standard format. The language is simple and accessible to a wide readership, including high school and college students.

Some conventions have been followed in the use of fonts. Terms related to film are in boldface on first mention; succeeding mentions are in normal font and no longer in boldface (e.g., komedi for the indigenized version of the genre, dokyu for local documentaries. Non-English words not specific to film per se are in italics only on first mention, e.g. komiks , sarsuwela ). Titles of films, however, are in boldface and italics every time they are mentioned (e.g., Giliw Ko , Tunay na Ina , Pakiusap ).

Philippine Cinema continues to be a vibrant medium in the country, a popular art that appeals to a wide audience. Its growth, which has been nothing short of phenomenal, needs to be charted to have a useful guide for practitioners, scholars, and enthusiasts and to ensure an even greater development in the future. This volume on Philippine Film aims to contribute towards that goal.

For the researcher, the Search function of this online encyclopedia is the most helpful first stop. It lists all the major terms, forms, names, concepts, and books in Philippine film as well as in the other areas of the encyclopedia.

Philippine music includes all the forms which today exist side by side though acquired during different historical periods: an old aboriginal Asian music, a 19th-century European-influenced religious and secular music, and the American-influenced popular and contemporary serious music of the 20th century. It also includes all the musical instruments, groups, artists, and works associated with the indigenous, hispanic, American colonial and contemporary traditions.

Since the first edition of the encyclopedia in 1994, vast improvements in digital technology and long distance communication made possible the acceleration of exchanges of information and knowledge on a global scale. This development happened even as people moved across nation-state borders in search of work, resources, and opportunities for advanced training and study abroad. Because of these developments, increased cultural exchanges across nation-state borders materialized, affecting the development of music in the Philippines.

In the last two decades, a good number of studies on different genres of Philippine music was initiated, completed, and published both by established music scholars like Ramon P. Santos and Ma. Elena Rivera Mirano and by younger counterparts like Ma. Alexandra Chua, Raul Navarro, Christine Muyco, Richie Quirino, and Arwin Tan. These studies have covered a wide range of musical works, genres, personalities, and historical periods—from Agusanon Manobo music to the kirial of Baclayon, from concerto and jazz music to rap and hiphop, from Nicanor Abelardo to Angel Peña, from the Spanish regime to the martial law period.

The area on music in this encyclopedia of Philippine art is an attempt to consolidate important information on Philippine music. With vast data available in the internet, the challenge has been to produce a synthesis of information. This means finding connections between the different aspects of music making and then writing a coherent account about it. In pulling together all basic data on Philippine musical traditions, forms, groups, instruments, works, and personalities, this compendium seeks to create a holistic picture of the country’s music which will serve as a handy reference for high school and college students as well as music aficionados. It is hoped that the compilation will afford its readers a balanced and true picture of Philippine music, past and present.

With the consolidation of information on Philippine music, the editors likewise hope that this edition will help to show young composers the variety of traditions, the number of indigenous and adapted forms, the many types of instruments and music groups, and the different aesthetic systems that have come into the country’s history, enriching it and offering multiple options for contemporary expressions. The researches on indigenous music of the Mindanao and Cordillera groups have inspired concertos, pop songs, and avant-garde pieces, lending a new musicality to compositions which afford glimpses of what it is to be Filipino. The volume hopes to encourage more composers in this direction.

Research on Philippine music for the last two decades has exhibited an interest in interdisciplinarity. This reflects broader patterns of thinking about the subject in the context of new developments that have interconnected things and everyone in ever deepening ways. The present edition therefore aims to offer novel and critical ways of understanding Philippine music that is in tune with the spirit of the times.

As composers may find in this compendium a rich source for creative inspiration, so may researchers discover in the essays of this volume many personalities, groups, instruments, forms, and works which need or demand further research. Although the editors tried their best to present a coherent and complete panorama of Philippine music, their best could never be good enough, not for lack of trying but for dearth of data on many aspects of the country’s music. It is hoped that the lacunae will be viewed as a challenge to be filled by future writers of masteral and doctoral theses as well as by seasoned ethnomusicologists and music scholars.

This area of the encyclopedia covers the various aspects of Philippine music under the following sections: Historical Essays , Forms and Types , Groups , Musical Instruments , Aspects of Music , Works , Artists and Organizations , and General Sources .

The Historical Essays section opens with an overview of Philippine music which in effect is a concise history of Philippine music. The remaining essays serve as a development of the initial historical exposition, dealing with each of the mainstreams of Philippine music that emerged in historical chronology. The essay on the indigenous tradition discusses the precolonial, Islamic, and Southeast Asian influences in Philippine instrumental and vocal music, from which a variety of styles, concepts, and structures were created and/or adapted by the numerous tribal groups from north to south, where this type of musical tradition has been explored and preserved. The essay on the Spanish colonial tradition touches on the three centuries of Spanish colonial rule and the conversion of the Filipinos to Christianity, which brought forth an entirely new musical culture that is European in origin and discipline, and which somehow diminished, but did not totally dislodge, the presence of the older indigenous musical tradition. This essay also provides an account on the first orchestras and conservatories of music which were established in the country, and discusses: the liturgical and extraliturgical music, which was well integrated and imbedded into the religious and diurnal life of the Christian Filipinos in many forms, like the Gregorian chant, the pasyon and the pabasa , the jota and the habanera , and the bati and the villancico , among others; and the secular music, which shows the merging of European elements and native musical styles, as exemplified by the kumintang and the kundiman .

The essay on the American colonial and contemporary traditions covers the Western classical and semiclassical repertoires, which were taught and propagated by newly established schools of music and organizations related to music; and then discusses the emergence and eventual pervasion of popular music, the growing desire to return to the indigenous roots of Philippine music, and the ways and means with which the Filipino composers have innovated on the traditions laid before them. In addition, three new essays on the musics of the three Philippine Republics appear: Philippine music during the Third Republic (1946-72); Philippine music during the Fourth Republic (1972-86); and Philippine music during the Fifth Republic (1986 onward). The essay on sources and influences traces the confluence of Asian, European, and American traditions on Philippine music, and shows how these traditions have been reshaped by the Filipinos to suit their aesthetic demands. All these essays provide the readers with the variety of traditions that have converged in the vastness of Philippine music grounds; and discuss how all these traditions have inspired the Filipino composers to create music that is distinctly Filipino. The essays also capture the varying musical ethos of particular historical periods, which is not to say that this ethos was absolutely homogeneous in a single period or that it ran continuously through a single line from one period to the next.

The section Forms and Types contains an alphabetical enumeration of principal forms and genres as found in Philippine music. The genres of Western-influenced classical music are categorized according to the performing media—art songs, chamber music, choral music, solo instrumental music, and symphonic music. Some specific forms of classical music, such as the sonata, opera, and concerto, are also included. Commonly encountered dance types of Spanish origin comprise another category— balse , habanera , jota , marcha , pandanggo , polka , and rigodon . The great variety of orally transmitted vocal and instrumental music is difficult to classify into clear-cut types. In this section, only three indigenous types—the ballad, chant, song-debate—and two hybrid indigenous-hispanic types—the kundiman and pasyon—are included. Other indigenous vocal and instrumental genres are discussed individually in other essays as well as in the area Peoples of the Philippines . Another category of genres based on function is included: protest music, Pinoy pop, and liturgical music. The impact of technology and cultural exchanges is also most evident in the new additions to the section. In the teaching of music in the past, which emphasized classical music, multimedia music failed to get proper attention because scholars shied away from music that was conjoined with images, voice, and narrative. Film music, because it occurs “subliminally,” was not considered important. The new edition takes keen interest in these topics as well as in rock music, which the academe has generally misunderstood because of its “distorted” sound aesthetics, humorous novelty songs that were once branded as “lowly” but nonetheless embody a distinctive Filipino sensibility, hiphop which has been dismissed as shallow entertainment, and sound art which is a distinctive millennial expression for it fuses electronica and ideas from the internet with performance art.

The section Groups has five essays: bands, choral groups, orchestras, rondalla, and bamboo ensembles. The articles include names of specific groups that actively participated in musical performances from the 1900s onwards. An important group that appears in this edition is the contemporary musikong bumbong (bamboo orchestra). Musikong bumbong is a local adaptation of the European wind bands whose foreign-made instruments are not easily available to poor Filipinos. Today, these bamboo bands continue to thrive in some Tagalog-speaking towns. The inclusion of bamboo music in this edition brings home the point that Philippine musical practices exist in the plural and that, to achieve equitable representation of the diversity and heterogeneity of Philippine society, dominant categorizations of music have to be questioned for their hidden ideologies.

The past decades have seen the multiplication of choirs in the country. Well-known ones have been legitimated from their experience of traveling abroad and winning in international competitions. The proliferation of wind bands and choirs in the volume shows what is considered valuable in Philippine society. In such music, Filipinos foster the value of group-centeredness and social cooperation.

A noticeable limitation of this listing of groups is the absence of indigenous-musical performing ensembles. There are numerous groups of this type, such as the Maranao kulintang ensemble, the Manobo tanggungo ensemble, the gangsa ensemble of the Cordillera highlanders or the Ibaloy sulibaw ensemble. Though these groups are not included in this section, many are described and discussed under the heading Instruments within this volume as well as in the essays on specific ethnolinguistic groups in the Peoples of the Philippines .

Twenty-nine entries appear in the section Instruments , each entry accompanied by pen-and-ink illustrations. Eighteen of the entries are categories of indigenous musical instruments, covering aerophones, idiophones, chordophones, and membranophones. English terms are used for each category—such as gongs, lutes, flutes, drums, wind instruments, string instruments, and percussions. Within each article, the native terms prevalent among different cultural groups are given. The music played on the instrument is briefly described together with its use and social significance. Aside from the indigenous instruments, specific hispanic-influenced instruments are included, particularly those that make up the rondalla —the bandurria , laud , guitar, and octavina . The most widespread Western instruments played are likewise described—piano, harp, violin, organ, and synthesizers.

The section Aspects of Music tackles the following: the process of composition, venues of performance, criticism, and awards and grants. In addition, related support which contributes towards creation, performance, and dissemination are pursued, namely, music education, research in music, music organizations, music patronage, sound studio recording, and music recordings. Other entries in this section include one on Session Musicians and String Instrument-making and repairing.

The section Works highlights 179 titles of Philippine musical compositions—classical, semiclassical, and popular. The editors followed set criteria for choosing works. In the field of serious classical music, inclusion was based on historical significance and/or the number of times a work was performed, its longevity or its revival. It must be pointed out that many other titles of serious classical music, though not separately entered in this section are included and even discussed under other entries—such as the composer’s biography, the historical essays, or forms and types. In the field of light popular music, criteria for inclusion were historical significance (e.g., first of its kind), artistry, and number of performances, revivals, and recordings.

Also included under Works are those known throughout the Philippines by young and old alike—either regional folk songs or songs whose composers are no longer known and which have been adapted as part of folk culture. These are exemplified by “Bahay Kubo” and “Ay Kalisud.” In the choice of works, care was taken to assure regional representation. Other categories under major works are best-loved kundiman pieces and songs popularized through cinema or radio through several decades which have become part and parcel of the musical consciousness and vocabulary of most Filipinos.

An important addition in the Works section is the list of key studies on Philippine music from the late 19th century to the present. This set of books, which excludes the self-promotional biographies of musicians, is mostly evidence-based and has had a wide impact. The tradition of writing about Philippine music began only in the 1880s when an awareness for things Filipino emerged, one that was secular in outlook and focused on the musical object. Beyond the travel books produced by foreigners for the foreign market in the mid-19th century, it was in the last two decades of that century when unique popular Philippine music and dance were first defined.

At the present moment, there are still lacunae in genre studies that pertain to Philippine popular music, be that in light classical music or in the popular variety espoused by alternative musicians or even by industry-endorsed mainstream artists. While this edition has partly tried to make up for this lack, the enormous dearth of scholarly work on popular music remains a challenge that future scholars must address, if the encyclopedia is to be consistent with its philosophy of inclusiveness.

The section Artists and Organizations presents a listing of Filipino composers, conductors, and performers in the serious and popular fields. It was impossible to include everyone and choice of names was based upon criteria set by the board of editors, though there were some instances when the editors exercised their prerogative to include artists who may not readily come up to the criteria, but whose achievements are deemed significant and therefore worthy of a biographical entry. In a few cases the editors also reserved the right to postpone inclusion of certain artists, especially if serious questions have been raised about them or their works.

Performers and composers in the realm of serious classical music were divided into two groups: those born before 1950 and those born after 1950. Performers belonging to the former groups included in the listing were those who had been actively participating in the musical scene for at least 25 years. This covered the various fields of performance—opera, sarsuwela , large or small ensembles, solo. Composers born before 1950 who were included had to have composed at least 15 extended works of not less than 10 minutes in duration in various categories—solo, chamber, large ensemble (i.e., band, orchestra, or chorus), or theater.

More specific criteria were adopted for performing artists of classical music born after 1950. Such artists must have been actively performing for 10 years and must still continue to hold professional performances or paid concerts, in solo recitals or with orchestra. In addition, these artists must have won at least five major awards—either locally or internationally. In lieu of an award, five additional public performances could be substituted.

Similar criteria were set for composers of serious music born after 1950. Composers included were those who had been actively composing for the past 10 years and who still continue to compose. Works must include at least 10 extended compositions of not less than 10 minutes in duration, of which five must have been for orchestra, theater/multimedia, or any other large ensemble. These works must have been featured in at least 10 separate public professional concerts. In addition these composers must have won at least five major local or international awards. In lieu of one award, three additional extended works could be substituted.

For artists and composers of popular music, the editors set the following criteria. Performers and recording artists of popular music must have recorded at least 10 albums, including one which got platinum or two gold record awards duly certified by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI). These artists must have been visibly active for the past 10 years and must have appeared in five solo concerts with a crowd of at least 2000.

Composers of pop music must have been visibly active for 10 years and must have included in their output 10 songs that have received a platinum or two gold-record awards but not necessarily coming from one album. It was earlier suggested that arrangers be included in the listing, but the lack of a standard number of arrangements on which the inclusion of an arranger could be based later led to the decision to include only those who arranged and composed music.

For jazz or alternative music which is usually performed by and for minority audiences, different criteria had to be evolved. For inclusion, these artists must have been visibly active for at least 10 years, have performed in five solo concerts in big or small venues, and have produced at least two recordings.

The section General Sources lists down the works used by the essays and provides the titles of other important works on music.

The valuable data on Philippine music in this edition was collated from varied sources: specialized studies on music—theses, dissertations, articles in journals, discography; related studies in anthropology, linguistics, and social sciences; documents, reports, and travelogues from the 17th century onwards; and valuable data and recordings made by field researchers.

Much of the material included in the biographical sections was collected from personal interviews and Internet sources like the social media. In some cases, however, not all the desired information, such as place and date of birth, parentage, schooling, was available though these were the exceptions rather than the rule.

The form of presentation is designed for the student. The language is simple and the style straightforward. Technical terms are explained either in synonyms and equivalents or in the context in which they appear. Subheadings help to clarify the organization of ideas and ease the search for particular data. Pictures and captions illustrate the principal points being made by the essay. The sources of data or quotations are placed in parentheses right after the sentence which uses them and provide the surname of the author, the year of publication of the work, and the page numbers, which can be checked against the general references at the end of the volume. The references at the end of some essays not only serve as an acknowledgment but also lead the student to more sources of information in the general references.

Music-related terms, such as pasyon , balse , bodabil are set in boldface the first time they appear in an essay; Filipino and foreign terms not related to music, such as beaterio and balyan , are set in italics the first time they are mentioned. Translations or equivalents of terms, whether musical or not, are usually enclosed in parentheses: thus, gobernadorcillo (town mayor). Titles of books and periodicals are italicized and set in boldface each time they are mentioned. Any title which is not in English is followed by an English translation, enclosed in parentheses, and the year of publication, separated by commas: thus, “Bituing Marikit” (Beautiful Star), 1926. All diacritical marks on native terms are removed until such time as they are consistently and systematically recorded by scholars, especially among the smaller indigenous groups.

Non-English common names of musical instruments and groups, such as pateteng and rondalla , are set in boldface when first mentioned in an essay. Titles of popular songs, protest songs, marches, hymns, art songs, solo instrumental pieces, short choral pieces, and ballads, as well as a minor part or a movement of a larger work, are set in normal type and are enclosed in quotation marks. Larger works of music, like symphonies, overtures, concertos, operas, suites, symphonic or tone poems, chamber music, as well as titles of movies, television and radio programs, sarsuwela, and plays, are set in boldface italics every time they are mentioned. Acronyms of schools and institutions are written after each name has been spelled out, and are used in succeeding references to the school or institution.

For the researcher, the Search function of this online encyclopedia is the most helpful first stop. It lists all the major terms, forms, names, concepts, and books in Philippine music as well as in the other areas of the encyclopedia.

Philippine dance encompasses all the dance forms that have been used by the Filipinos through the centuries to express themselves. As types, they may be classified as folk, ritualistic, occupational, mimetic, or aesthetic in nature. These dances may either be products of the people’s creativity or imagination, or may have been the result of their exposure, assimilation, and reaction to the varied cultures and traditions introduced by the waves of colonial rule that have reached the Philippine shores. They can be performed in an enclosed venue or an open space, to an appreciative and/or participative audience, and almost always to the accompaniment of music.

Philippine dance has become a more diverse field since the first edition of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art came out in 1994. Well-established groups such as Ballet Philippines and the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group continue to flourish, but other dance troupes have emerged or have tremendously prospered from their incipient stage. A number of them are based in the regions or in small communities or schools, such as Sanghiyas Pangkat Mananayaw, Sining Kumintang ng Batangas, Silliman University Dance Troupe, and Sining Palawan Dance Troupe. Many of them have reinvented existing dance forms in the country—whether rooted in the indigenous cultures or resulting from the Filipino’s exposure to various Western and Asian traditions—to cater to contemporary taste. Such organizations include Airdance Theater, AlunAlun Dance Circle, Dance Pull School of Performing Arts, KALOOB Philippine Dance Ministry, Leyte Dance Theater, and Dance Forum. Postmodern dance practices and more recent dance forms like hip-hop and cheer dance have become popular and these, together with the use of nontraditional venues like thoroughfares, basketball courts, and malls, have brought this kinetic art closer to the masses. Moreover, many unpublished theses, publications in print and digital form, as well as videos, were produced in the last two decades. These researches are about dancers and choreographers, the process of choreography, dance companies, and performances.

The general objective is to present a many-sided perspective on Philippine dance, coming from a holistic orientation that includes the broad spectrum of dances and dancing among various groups and sectors in the Philippines and among Filipinos overseas, covering precolonial times up to the early 21st century.

This edition has three specific objectives. One is to revise and update the essays published in the 1994 edition with fresh data from secondary sources and from the field. Second is to broaden the coverage by expanding the scope of dance history; increasing the essays on dance productions, artists, and organizations; and adding more dance genres from various sectors and dance forms originating from the indigenous groups of the Philippines. Third is to enrich this edition with well-chosen images—majority of which are full-color photos—as well as selected video clips, to illustrate the specific movement vocabulary, to display the beauty of the dancing form, to present the sets, properties, and costumes, and to allow the actual context of dances recorded in the field.

The area on Philippine Dance is arranged into groups of entries with the following main sections: Historical Essays , Forms and Types , Aspects of Dance , Works , Artists and Organizations , and General Sources .

The section on Historical Essays begins with a historical survey of Philippine dance, whose individual traditions and transformations are detailed by the following essays: the indigenous traditions essay, which discusses the ritual dances, the life-cycle dances, and the occupational dances found among the cultural minorities of the islands; the Hispanic traditions essay, which focuses on the types of dances introduced by the Spanish colonizers, like the jota , balse , pandanggo , mazurka, polka, rigodon, paseo , chotis , and surtido , and their respective variants; the American traditions essay, which touches on the types of dances that were introduced during the American occupation— bodabil dancing, classical ballet, modern dance, folk and social dancing—and which continue to prosper in the contemporary Philippine dance scene. These three essays trace in general how the dances belonging to each tradition came into being, how they were adapted and refashioned by the Filipinos to suit their aesthetic expressions, and how they influenced contemporary works in Philippine dance.

Four new historical essays were added in this edition. The essay “Philippine Dance During the Third Republic (1946-72)” covers the postwar era when a growing nationalist movement began to push for the preservation and promotion of indigenous dances amidst the Filipino’s neocolonial penchant for Western dance performances; “Philippine Dance During the Fourth Republic (1972-86),” which documents the 14 years of martial law, during which classical and traditional forms developed side by side with dance movements that served as militant expressions against a dictatorship; “Philippine Dance During the Fifth Republic (1986 Onward),” which covers the period after the 1986 EDSA Revolt when the dance scene became more democratized, more experimental, and more accommodating of dance practitioners from the margins; and “Filipino Dancers Abroad,” which takes a closer look at dancers in diaspora in the 21st century. The historical section ends with “Sources and Influences” which discusses the various stimuli in creating dances such as musical works, literature, visual arts, folk dances, traditional practices, religious rituals, social issues, theories and themes, and historical phenomena.

The section Forms and Types goes into a detailed discussion of a variety of dances belonging to the three traditions. The entries, arranged alphabetically, elucidate the history and development of every existing type of dance performed in the Philippines, including the steps, formation, time, rhythm, and gestures; the venues and occasions where these dances are performed; the region where these dances have evolved and are popular; the appropriate costumes and the paraphernalia attached to the performance of a particular dance; and the innovations done by contemporary artists on these dances.

The section on Aspects of Dance expounds on the aspects involved in dance creation and performance, like choreography, design, folk dance steps, gestures, and formations, and audience, time, and space. It also looks into topics related to the creation of dance, like awards, companies, criticism, education, music, and research and documentation.

The section on Works includes a listing of dance pieces deemed by the editors as significant landmarks in Philippine dance history, as well as a separate section on dance studies. The inclusion of a dance work is based on its overall importance—its scope and insight, its artistic integrity, and its historical significance. Most of these works belong to the categories of classical ballet, modern ballet or dance, modern ethnic dance or ballet, dance drama, folk dance choreography, dance suites, and rock opera ballets. The number of acts, the dates and places of performance, the names involved in the production, and the synopses of the work are also included. Quite significant is the inclusion of dance studies in the Works section, as this reflects the remarkable growth in dance publication that became evident during the Fifth Republic, when more dance practitioners started doing their own research and made use of various critical methods and frameworks in their writing.

The section Artists and Organizations presents profiles of dance personalities and institutions. In choosing the artists, the editors took into consideration that dance, especially dance theater, tends to be an art for young practitioners. For inclusion, individuals and organizations must have at least 10 years of commendable artistic record in various fields such as choreography, production, education and training, scholarship, and cultural heritage preservation. Awards and publications were also considered as well as peer recognition and professional affiliations.

In terms of institutions, the list includes only the groups that have proven their vision and influence in Philippine society. There were a few institutions which were initially considered, but upon closer evaluation were eliminated because their importance got diminished or modified when research data on them were completed. On the other hand, other groups, which had shorter lives, were included because they had great impact on the profession and promotion of the dance.

General Sources lists down the works used by the essays and provides the titles of other important works on dance.

Methodology, Style and Use

The writers gathered information and materials from primary and secondary sources. Books, articles in journals, magazine and newspapers, programs and brochures of dance companies, unpublished theses and dissertations, and online articles from official websites were consulted. Reviews of selected performances were written by those who watched the actual performances or studied the video documentation of the productions. Personal interviews of key informants were also conducted.

The master list of dance personalities found in this edition was based on certain measures agreed on by the editorial board. Dancers of ballet and other Western classical forms must have reached principal or extraordinary soloist status. Community-based dancers or dance teachers must have persevered in the preservation and conservation of indigenous or traditional dances through constant practice, with program and activities to teach the tradition to younger members of the community. Choreographers or directors must have created a substantial body of works and must have choreographed for a considerable period of time. Artist-teachers must have exerted real leadership and strong influence on their respective dance communities. The editorial board took into consideration the awards, publications and other scholarly contributions, peer recognition, and professional affiliations of all the aforementioned practitioners.

The inclusion of new dance groups was based on how these organizations created an impact on the situation and development of Philippine dance, whether through innovative works, popular acceptance, artistic excellence, compelling concept, and new theory. The temporal limit for the coverage of new entries—artists, groups, and works—was set at 31 Dec 2015. All biographic and institutional entries have been updated in this edition by scholars or experts in the field of dance who conducted either face-to-face or online interviews with the artists, or resorted to using reliable secondary sources of information found in libraries and online databases. This whole online edition on dance has been thoroughly reviewed by editors and consultants.

The style follows the prescriptions of the Chicago Manual of Style , 16th edition. The form of presentation is designed for the student. The language is simple and the style straightforward. Technical terms are explained either in synonyms and equivalents or in the context in which they appear. Subheadings help to clarify the organization of ideas and ease the search for particular data. Pictures and captions illustrate the principal ideas or forms being discussed. Sources of data or quotations are placed in parentheses right after the sentence which uses them and provide the surname of the author, the year of publication of the work, and the page numbers, which can be checked against the sources at the end of an article.

Dance-related terms, such as pangalay , subli , balse , rock and roll , are set in boldface the first time they appear in an essay; Filipino and foreign terms not related to dance, such as mambunong and convento, are set in italics the first time they are mentioned. Translations or equivalents of terms, whether dance related or not, are usually enclosed in parentheses: thus, teniente (lieutenant). Titles of books are italicized and set in boldface each time they are mentioned; they are followed by English translations (if the title is non-English), enclosed in parentheses, and the year of publication, separated by commas. All diacritical marks on native terms are removed until such time as they are consistently and systematically recorded by scholars, especially among the smaller ethnic groups.

Titles of popular songs, marches, waltzes, hymns, and one part of a larger dance work, are set in normal type and enclosed in quotation marks. Titles of complete ballets, movies, television and radio programs, sarsuwela, and plays, are set in boldface italics. Acronyms of schools and institutions are written after each name has been spelled out, and are used in succeeding references to the school or institution.

For the researcher, the Search function of this online encyclopedia is the most helpful first stop. It lists all the major terms, forms, names, concepts, and books in Philippine dance as well as in the other areas of the encyclopedia.

Philippine theater is the sum total of mimetic performances developed and presented through history on occasions and for purposes determined by social purpose and need. It ranges from the rituals, dances and customs of indigenous cultural communities, through the folk plays and dramatizations of hispanic influence, the dramas learned from the west in the American colonial period, and the contemporary performances of the present that synthesize, build on, and move beyond the influences from global theater. All of this, at least four centuries of theater, is amazingly visible—in varying degrees of availability—in contemporary Philippines.

The first edition of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art came out in 1994. Since then, significant developments in theater both as an art form and a field of study have occurred, necessitating the preparation of a new and updated edition of the theater volume of the encyclopedia.

Theater groups, both new and old, produced new plays or explored new directions and styles, and introduced a new generation of theater artists. Some of these theater groups are ENTABLADO, Dramatis Personae, and Teatro Pabrika. An expanded research in the regions revealed similar developments with the emergence of groups such as Sorsogon Community-Based Theater Group, ARTIST, Inc., Tanghalang Saint Louis University in Luzon; Portal Players, Kalingaw-ang Teatro Hiligaynon in the Visayas; and Sining Kandidilimudan and MSU Kabpapagariya Ensemble in Mindanao.

Some aspects of production, namely, costume, lighting, music and sound design, and sets, have developed significantly, so that many of them have come to be viewed not only as part of producing a play but as distinct art forms. Theater design, in particular, has been recognized as an art form and as a profession with the rise of production designers with degrees in theater design and with the proclamation of theater designer Salvador F. Bernal as National Artist for theater design.

There was also a major advancement in scholarship that focused on Philippine culture, including theater arts, mainly, with the growth of graduate studies during the period. This resulted in a considerable harvest of significant research outputs and publications, such as studies on traditional forms and practices like the luwa , moryonan , and putong . These studies provided data for updating the historical essays in the present edition, as well as for the articles on theater forms and types, and aspects of production. A whole new sub- section was added to highlight this body of theater scholarship.

The preparation of this online edition is anchored on several objectives. First is to gather in one site basic and relevant data on the development of Philippine theater, specifically on its aspects, forms and types, scholarship, major productions, artists, organizations, and venues. Since most of the data are dispersed in various sources, some of which are no longer available or are not easily accessible to contemporary readers, this site becomes an indispensable resource for teaching, research, and production.

The second objective is to provide the historical framework for a deeper understanding of theater as an art form and a cultural expression through the historical essays, as well as articles on forms and types and aspects of theater which are written with a historical perspective. These essays may also help scholars or researchers identify silences and gaps which they can fill through their own research undertakings.

A third objective is to aid artists in need of information for their projects and productions. In conceptualizing and mounting their productions, the sections on historical essays, forms and types, and aspects of production could be of great help in establishing the period, acting style, and design of their own productions.

The articles on Philippine theater are grouped under the following sections: Historical Essays , Forms and Types , Aspects of Theater , Works , and Artists, Organizations, and Venues .

The Historical Essays start with a survey of Philippine theater, tracing it from the indigenous theater of rituals that follow the cycle and landmarks of community life; to the plays and dramatizations from the Spanish colonial tradition; and the performance pieces in adaptive and modern styles of the American colonial era and the contemporary theater. This is followed by essays that focus on each component part—the indigenous, Hispanic, and American traditions and transformations—with more detail and analysis, following the development, citing the trends and achievements, naming the major works and influences, groups and artists, and finally examining the epilogues: manifestations and developments in current theater. The essay on American Traditions and Transformations in Philippine Theater was further divided into three essays: Philippine Theater during the Third Republic (1946-72), Philippine Theater during the Fourth Republic (1972-86), and Philippine Theater during the Fifth Republic (1986 Onward). This periodization allowed for a more detailed narrative of the dialectical relationship of theater and its various historical and social contexts, because each of these periods introduced social changes that had an impact on the arts. Another new essay, Philippine Theater in the Diaspora, focused on performances and other cultural activities mounted by Filipino artists in sites of migration such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, France, Netherlands, and Australia, which have become much more commonplace in the last 20 years or so. A final essay on the sources and influences that shape the theater—history, folklore, foreign and indigenized literature, global theater trends and styles, Philippine lifeways and real-life events—closes this section.

Essays on Forms and Types present, in alphabetical order, the more important styles of expression, their artistic guises, their conventions of presentation, the theatrical shapes they took through the years. There are, for example, indigenous forms like the ritual, the Philippine Ur-drama, and mimetic dances, customs, games and jousts, examined as theater and for their social purposes. The large number of forms adapted from Spain is evidence of the hispanic influence on staged drama. There are religious dramas and dramatizations, like the dapit , flores , hudas , huling hapunan , moriones , osana , paghuhugas ng paa , pangangaluluwa , panunuluyan , pastores , salubong , San Roque , siete palabras , sinakulo , soledad , tatlong hari , and via crucis that follow the events of the liturgical year. These show that costumed and scripted drama started, as it did in Europe, in the church, then moved out into the courtyard and the community. Other forms of the era often also have had religious overtones and connections, but became the forebears of secular theater: the carillo , drama , komedya , loa , moros y cristianos , sarsuwela , saynete , and velada . From the American colonial period come forms of Western drama that may be said to have “modernized” Philippine theater, some of them linking earlier traditions (e.g., theater with music) to newer forms, like bodabil or the stage show , the political drama simboliko , and musical theater. The contemporary theater, which draws from all past traditions in adaptation, synthesis and renewal, and then invents the forms called for by contemporary events, includes such forms as theater of the absurd, Brechtian theater, children’s theater, dramatic monologue, tula dula, political theater, puppet theater, realism, street theater. In each case the foreign form is reshaped by the Philippine reality it presents, and the audiences it seeks to reach. None of the forms and genres, however, is contained in its period, since revivals have often resulted in updating, as well as in influence and development. Ritual has influenced contemporary theater; the sinakulo and sarsuwela have become vehicles for current issues; musical theater stretches from the mimetic dance to the rock opera. The articles on forms and genres, therefore, journey back and forth through time, illustrating the liveliness of theater that feeds on its own history and grows to create its own future.

The section Aspects of Theater focuses on individual aspects of production and shows them in the contexts of traditional and contemporary theaters. Each article also names the major figures who, in this relatively young theater, contributed to the art and the profession.

Acting is shown as imitation or mimesis in the ethnic tradition, representational in the folk plays of the Spanish colonial theater, and the fruit of method, philosophy or ideology in the contemporary period. Directing takes different guises in the hands of the master of ritual, the direktor who occasionally is also author, prompter, and producer of the folk play, and the contemporary director who directs art and craft, and provides vision. Lighting is traced from the general illumination of the sinakulo and komedya, to the lighting of indoor theaters for the sarsuwela, and the ingenious or high-tech devices of the present. Music in theater is shown to include background music, incidental music, songs that accompany or replace dialogue, and other combinations. Costume for theater ranges from the shamanic robes of the babaylan, which delineated his function, to the identifying colors and accessories of the sinakulo and the komedya, to the social indicators of the sarsuwela, and the mood and character dressing of the contemporary play. The written script did not exist in indigenous theater, but assumed primacy in the folk theater, where it developed conventions of performance, style, and structure and the notion of authorship. Sets started with the clearings and fields of ritual, dance and ceremony, and developed into the biblical settings of the sinakulo, the kingdoms of the komedya and the special miraculous or magic effects to go with both, the living rooms of the sarsuwela and drama, and the scene designs of contemporary theater.

The article on audience, time, and space considers viewers and spectators, the times and occasions for theater, and the space—indoor or outdoor—since these define the context of theater and to some extent shape it. Awards and grants are seriously considered, since these forms of recognition and support give considerable life to playwriting and theater in the context of a developing country. Theater organizations are shown to supply not only players and workers, but support and continuity, whether they be community samahan, school- or community-based troupes, semiprofessional or sector-based groups, or government institutions. Training has developed from the exposure to and participation in indigenous theater, to the apprenticeship of folk theater, and the schools, workshops, seminars, training abroad, and outreach programs of the present.

A piece on criticism, and another on scholarship, trace the efforts at research, documentation, and evaluation of Philippine theater, and thus the growth towards criteria for and theories of, theater. An article on translation and adaptation shows that this form of learning started in the Spanish period, with translations into Spanish from European theater, and translations into the vernacular from the metrical romances, which resulted in the komedya. Translations—mainly from English, but also from other vernaculars—went into high gear in the American period, and much later evolved into adaptation, which made theater an intercultural and not just an interlingual experience.

In the Works section, entries were chosen according to a specific criteria. One criterion was the significance of the work in terms of starting a new style, form or movement in Philippine theater or in representing the apogee of best practice or creativity in that particular style, form or movement. In the selection of entries, the editors also paid attention to the recognition or awards received by a production from respected critics and/or award-giving bodies. An added consideration was given to regional productions which were considered valuable in Philippine theater history by critics or scholars from the regions. Those productions which could not make it as separate entries were given spaces in the introductory essays. There are some plays which, though deemed significant, did not make it as separate entries, as the data on them were inadequate.

The Works section now includes as well important scholarly works on theater. The abundance of scholarly works in the form of books, articles, video documentaries, theses, and dissertations within the last four decades made necessary the inclusion of a distinct Scholarship and Publications section with 61 new entries in this edition. These works provide vital historical and critical frames for a deeper understanding of the various topics presented in this volume and show research as a valid and crucial concern of the Philippine theater community in the coming decades. Some of these works first appeared in the Literature volume in the 1994 edition.

In the Artists, Organizations, and Venues section, the editors created criteria for inclusion for groups and individual artists. For new theater groups, an active existence for 10 years was deemed necessary, and seasons of two to three productions a year to qualify. Awards and recognitions were also noted and considered, as well as the overall significance of the repertoire of the group. However, regional and sectoral groups working under different contexts and conditions from those in Manila required a different basis for inclusion, mainly, significance of the group to their region of origin as declared by credible artists and cultural workers from the region. In addition to the above criteria, artistic merit mattered as well.

Generally, the overall criteria for inclusion of playwrights, translators, and dramaturgs are body of works produced, as well as the mandatory 10-year active participation and production in Philippine theater which is required of all artists. Actors should have appeared in several major roles. For directors, designers, choreographers, song and music composers, their body of works were considered. Awards received from credible and prestigious local or international award-giving bodies and other forms of recognition were noted, as well as reviews by established scholars and critics in journals or reputable magazines and newspapers. Theater groups and artists who were qualified, but for one reason or another, failed to make it in the first edition are included in the present volume: groups, such as the Far Eastern University Theater Guild, DLSU Harlequin Theater Guild; artists, like Herminio Hernandez, Fonz Deza, and Leo Rialp. Some artists were not included if they failed to provide information on themselves or due to limitations of time, editorial allotments, and resources. A number of entries on individual theater artists who worked in different art forms were transferred to other volumes or to this volume from others, depending on which art form they were more productive in. Because of their significance in the production of Philippine theater, the most important theater venues (e.g., of the Spanish era) were included in this section.

Traditional artists, groups, and works that had a long history were given priority. Komedya and sinakulo groups, with available data on them and existing for many decades, were assured entry. Seasoned theater artists who were unreachable during the production of the first edition are finally making their appearances in the pages of the second edition. Entries on artists like Vicente de San Miguel and Jose Quirante, who practiced theater arts before the war, were finally included, thanks to research by Edward B. Defensor and Wilhelmina Q. Ramas, respectively. In hindsight, more entries on traditional artists could have been included if researches had already been done on them.

The preliminary listing of possible entries for the sections Historical Essays, Forms and Types, Aspects of Production, Major Works, and Artists and Organizations was done by the area editor, and then presented in general consultation to the editorial board. The lists were refined and revised, and then assigned to writers, the area editor, the editor-in-chief, and other authorities in the field. Researchers were fielded as needed to retrieve written material in libraries, archives, theater programs, private collections, and the like, and also to interview authorities, artists and heads, or members of organizations. All articles list references briefly; these references appear in complete form at the end of each article. The majority of the articles were edited by the area editor, and then submitted to the editor-in-chief and his staff for verification and finalization, and in some cases for merging and rewriting.

A select group of scholars specializing in theater, performance critics, theater directors and cultural administrators was tasked to draw up a possible list of new entries in 2013 to start the process of updating for the second edition. From there, the work force expanded. Some people were tapped to collect information, and many were encouraged to write new articles, update existing ones, validate articles, and contribute visual materials. In particular, the contributions of theater practitioners who have earned graduate degrees were especially valuable. Consultations with old timers, heads of seasoned theater groups, and a theater union took place.

The cut-off date for new data was the year 2015. However, certain pieces of information which came after 2015 such as awards and years of demise are reflected in a few entries, but only in the Artists, Organizations, and Venues section. The three-year working period caused some unevenness among the entries, but all means possible at our disposal were taken to even out the playing field.

Many entries have multiple authorship, specially those which involved the updating of 1994 entries. This is due to the fact that many first edition writers were no longer available for the updating of entries they wrote. In some instances, the current pool of writers shared the by-lines with 1994 writers, if the revisions made comprised roughly 50% of the entry.

An obvious limitation in the work was the fact that early theater has no written sources. Theater of the Spanish period may survive in scripts, but without evidence of production dates or methods. Even contemporary theater groups do not always maintain archives and records. There was therefore great dependence on the work of scholars, researchers, and writers as well as thesis writers, teachers, and journalists. Still, the limitation in this is that not all regions of the country, nor all ethnolinguistic groups, nor all periods of theater have been the objects of theater research. There is no repository for the physical evidence of theater: costumes, props, sets, stage devices. Since theater is often a community enterprise, and not supported by the government, there are no official records, except those relating to people and edifices (e.g., the protocols of the National Archives have material on playwrights, but not on their work).

The data and documentation contained in this edition, therefore, is a first sweep through the evidence of all kinds, through the history and through the story of Philippine theater. It is hoped that this effort will invite others to sweep through their regions, their family records and treasures, and their memories, to fill in the blanks, close the gaps, and complete the history in some future volume for which this one is simply prologue.

This encyclopedia was designed specifically for the student. Ideas are outlined clearly in each essay and subheadings used. The language is simple and the style is straightforward and declarative. Technical terms and native terms are immediately explained with their meanings in English, with or without parentheses. Photographs and video clips illustrate specific points or act as artistic guideposts to the article. In text citations, the second name of the author, year of publication and page numbers are placed in parentheses right after the sentence which uses sources that need to be identified. The complete data of these citations may be found at the end of some articles.

Theater-related terms are set in boldface the first time they appear in the essay: thus, komedya . Other native and non-English terms not related or specific to theater are set in italics the first time they are mentioned: for example, comite de festejos. Translations of native terms are usually enclosed in parentheses: thus, pusong (trickster). Titles of books and plays are set in boldface italics each time they are mentioned; if they are in a native language, they are followed by English translations enclosed in parentheses, and the year of publication, all separated by commas: thus, Tanikalang Guinto (Golden Chain), 1902. Proper names, including names of groups and publications, are not translated or italicized. For consistency, diacritical marks on native terms have been omitted, since they were not available for all native languages.

For the researcher, the Search function of this online encyclopedia is the most helpful first stop. It lists all the major terms, forms, names, concepts, and books in Philippine theater as well as in the other areas of the encyclopedia.

More than twenty years ago, the Cultural Center of the Philippines published the first edition of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art . It included volumes on Visual Arts, Literature, Music, Dance, Theater, Film, Architecture, and the various arts and cultural expressions and practices of indigenous groups in the Philippines. The second edition—available in print and digital formats—not only expands and updates the first. It also includes this new compendium on Broadcast Arts. This is so far the most public recognition in the Philippines of broadcasting as an art form. Often dismissed as superficial media of entertainment that dumb down their listeners and viewers, radio and television are regarded more for their role in the economy and their political or even propaganda function, and less for their value as art.

This view may be understandable given that the structure of broadcasting is that of a commercial enterprise, such that the various broadcast stations and networks are collectively called the broadcast industry. This model developed in the United States, which has been the mode of broadcast operations followed in the Philippines since its beginnings in the 1920s, and now increasingly in other parts of the world. The business of broadcasting is capital intensive, and businessmen who invest in it expect returns on their investments, often through advertising that depend on the patronage and loyalty of large audiences. Of course, there are noncommercial broadcast stations such as those operated by the State and religious organizations that do not expect financial profits from their broadcast operations. But even they expect a kind of income from the tremendous amounts of capital required in the running of broadcast stations. The State hopes for political acquiescence while religious organizations crusade for the conversion of souls. All produce programs that they believe appeal to mass audiences. This is often the explanation given for the quality—or, put another way, the lack of redeeming artistic quality—of most broadcast programs, which presumably necessarily appeal to the so-called “least common denominator,” a disparaging reference to the allegedly undiscriminating masses, who supposedly have appreciation only for the simple, the banal, the predictable, and, to use a colloquial term, the “baduy.”

Others who might concede to apply the term art to broadcasting consider it as popular art or popular culture, a label many scholars use to refer to the culture widely accepted in a society at a given time. The products of popular culture are mass-produced. Some examples are popular music, comic magazines, video games, the mass media, and today countless cyber sites; as well as concepts like superheroes and the supernatural, the so-called kitsch, celebrities, and spaces like amusement parks and malls. A common characteristic of popular art, apart from its accessibility, is its operation as economic activity, fueled by its popular subscription. The term popular culture or popular art is loaded because it implies an opposite, which is high culture. In the binary high culture/low culture, popular art occupies the realm of the latter, that of low culture; and broadcasting is oftentimes counted in this category.

The dichotomy high art/low art may be traced to the distinction between fine art and craft, or functional art. The former is appreciated for its sake, thus the saying “art for art’s sake,” and is valued for its ability to induce aesthetic contemplation. Products of high art are deemed as complex and unique, with moral and spiritual value. Its audience is small and limited to the highly educated, sophisticated, and with “cultivated and discriminating tastes.” Craft or functional art, on the other hand, is merely entertaining instead of edifying, utilitarian rather than aesthetic, formulaic and simple rather than complex and intricate. The first in the high art/low art binary is valued more highly than the second. Examples of this binary are symphony music versus rock music, classical paintings versus comic strips, ballet versus hip-hop dance, and Shakespearean theater versus telenovela.

Telenovelas, which can be traced back to the soap operas created decades ago in the early stages of commercial radio by advertising of laundry detergents and bath soaps, is one of the more pervasive genres of broadcast texts. Others are sitcoms, comic gags, and variety shows, which in turn evolved from bodabil or the Filipino version of vaudeville; reality shows, game shows, song and dance competitions, sports coverage; and various permutations of talk shows and news programs. All have popular appeal. Some can be sensational or controversial. Some are criticized as cliched, trivial, trite, and pedestrian, yet most have high entertainment value. Even the news is produced with entertaining production values. It is all these that relegate broadcasting to the category of low art or popular culture.

So why is broadcasting found in this edition of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art ?

First, the CCP Encyclopedia has the audacity to do away with the traditional distinction between high art and low art, a dichotomy which places broadcasting in the latter category. While recording, examining, and celebrating all artistic and cultural expressions of the Filipino today, the CCP Encyclopedia ignores the high culture/low culture binary, equally valuing all artistic products and performances regardless of function and utility, and no matter their diverse meanings and histories. This places the CCP Encyclopedia in the transgressive and defiant role not only of expanding the meaning and realm of art but, perhaps more importantly, in recuperating the traditional Filipino concept of art that is lived in the everyday, and in examining and illustrating the implication of art on the concept of a Filipino nation. This stance has made the CCP one of the first Philippine institutions promoting and nurturing Filipino culture and the arts, to have the foresight and conviction to name and recognize broadcasting as art. In 1986 the CCP included Broadcast Arts in its reorientation and reorganization, which became the basis for its incorporation into the concerns of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 1992.

The second point is that, in broadcasting is actually found a convergence of the other art forms, a meeting point of expressions, meanings, feelings and thoughts evoked by art, and even actions. Broadcasting expands the circulation of sounds and images that carry the other art forms—music, dance, theater, literature, visual art, film, and even architecture. Broadcasting may in fact be seen as an amalgamation of re-expressions of all art, whether high or low, in the process erasing such a boundary. To give just a few memorable examples: Short stories and novels were early favorites on both radio and television. Severino Reyes ’s short stories for children published in Liwayway Magazine were produced for both radio and television for many years with the title Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (Stories of Grandma Basyang). One of the 1960s television drama anthologies on then Channel 5, Balintataw (The Mind’s Eye), whose style is still copied in today’s telenovelas, includes among its episodes Alberto Florentino’s adaptation of Nick Joaquin’s “May Day Eve,” titled “Isang Gabi ng Tagsibol” (One Night of Spring) and Lino Brocka’s adaptation of Bienvenido Santos’s “The Day the Dancers Came,” titled “Kudyapi” (Lute). The first miniseries on television, Malayo Pa ang Umaga (The Morn Is Yet So Far), aired on then RPN 9 in 1979, was based on Stevan Javellana ’s World War II novel Without Seeing the Dawn .

It may be argued that, as broadcasting re-circulates performances of art, it transforms art such that the resulting form exists in liminal space, creating new spaces; in the process eliminating hierarchy in art, and demolishing the binary. Consider how the technology of broadcasting and the resulting conventions of textual production transform the performance of music, dance, and plays. Not only do the broadcast microphone, the multiple moving cameras, and the special effects provide distinct audience perspectives. The interaction between text and audience alters the adapted art form. One result is that countless narratives have been specifically written for broadcast, such as those based on true-to-life events. Early examples of this are the programs Kasaysayan sa mga Liham kay Tiya Dely (Story of the Letters to Aunt Dely), Lovingly Yours , Helen , and Kahapon Lamang (Just Yesterday), which were all based on tear-jerker stories of life’s challenges confronting letter-senders, for whom advice was dispensed by Dely Magpayo, Helen Vela, and Eddie Ilarde.

Moreover, the conditions of reception of broadcast signals in the everyday spaces of home, work, community, and other public and private spaces allow audiences various levels of engagement with the broadcast text, ranging from absent-minded connection when broadcast sights and sounds are relegated to the background, to full attention when, for example, one is watching a favorite show or watching out for announcements of typhoon signals in the hope of enjoying class suspensions. Because broadcast signals are woven into the daily lives of audiences, the broadcast text alternately saturates our spaces or seep into the backdrop of our everyday.

Which brings up the third point—that broadcasting functions to forge a nation of the everyday. Broadcasting, as the art of the everyday, or the quotidian, provides a common cultural experience among diverse and even dispersed Filipinos. Physical and ideological distances separate Filipino audiences from each other, whether within the country or throughout the world. Filipinos speak over a hundred languages and dialects, not to mention the languages they have adopted and adapted from other lands. The conditions of the Filipinos’ political, economic, and social lives are disparate. Their aspirations and visions of the future diverge and even clash. Yet, to use Benedict Anderson’s concept of imagined communities, Filipinos are able to imagine themselves as one nation, with a common identity as Filipinos, and this imagination, this volume claims, is largely facilitated by the media, and particularly by broadcasting.

But the extraordinary moments are always preceded by a long lead-up embedded in the ordinariness of everyday broadcasting. The Filipinos’ engagement with broadcasting, whether as content producers or as audiences, creates a hub or a meeting point for the articulation of common dreams, but also of conflicting desires, thus generating debates and competing discourses on and off the air, and opening up spaces for dissident undercurrents, resistance, negotiation, accommodation, and change. These possibilities, however, often remain unnoticed in the dailiness of the art of broadcasting. Consider, for instance, the slow but steady shifts in the worldviews expressed in the media, particularly broadcasting, which are in turn woven into and debated about in day-to-day conversations—such as views about gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, children as well as aging, poverty and human rights, war and the seeming unattainability of peace, work and love, leisure and the daily reality of struggling to survive. A comparison of programs produced at different eras, and how audiences engaged with the texts, may illustrate this point. Perhaps one of the most dramatic and liberating examples are the shifts in the imaging of gender and audience readings of such images, such as in programs like the telenovela My Husband’s Lover , the unlamented variety show Wowowee , the various programs where the gender identities of LGBTQ like Ice Seguerra and Jake Zyruz are taken for granted, and even in the anchor panel of news programs, where women now have an unmistakable presence, whereas until the 1990s, women had merely a token presence in newscasts. Doubtless, contending views about these issues remain, but spaces for radical ideas have also been etched into everyday programming.

This area of the Encyclopedia has the ambitious objective of serving as the first comprehensive record of the broadcast art and industry in the Philippines, to document as painstakingly as possible and collect into one volume the scattered histories of the men and women, the organizations and institutions, and the contexts in which they produced and sustained the practice of broadcasting, mirroring the rhythms of the everyday, no matter the political conditions of the times. The volume attempts to examine this practice to offer an understanding of how radio and television have seeped into our consciousness. On the other hand, it is conscious of where broadcasting is today, and thus it claims the digital, interactive media as new arenas for broadcasting, rather than consider them as new media, even though they present new challenges and alter both the production and distribution of texts, as well as audience experiences.

The Broadcast area of the CCP Encyclopedia tries to illustrate, particularly through the historical narratives, how radio and television are inextricably linked to the politico-economic elites of the country, and how broadcast texts are produced to serve the interests of the powerful. Conversely, this area, like the other areas, aims to document and account for how an art form is shaped by, and in turn helps define the contours of, the concept of a Filipino nation. In the process, it is shown that broadcasting’s particular contribution to the project of nation is its daily immediacy and proximity to citizens, the personal and intimate familiarity it inspires, and the imagination of connection and oneness it arouses among its listeners and viewers.

The Broadcast Arts area is divided into six sections: Historical Essays , Forms and Types , Aspects of Broadcast Arts , Works , Artists and Organizations , and General Sources .

The Historical Essays begin with Philippine radio’s birth in 1922 during the American colonial period; through the frightful years of World War II under Japanese occupation; its tremendous growth and the entry of television after the war; through the dark period of media control during the martial law years; and the remarkable time of growth and change following the EDSA revolt in 1986, not only because of the radical changes in the political environment but also because of technological advances in telecommunications and the transnationalization of media and communication that such technologies and the economies behind them have tended to impose upon nations. The essay on sources and influences of broadcast content, as well as appropriations from other art forms, such as folklore and literature, theater, komiks, and film. The sources of broadcast material include true-to-life events, religion, legal cases, and today the social media. Radio and television’s influence on each other, as well as content and style inspired by foreign broadcasting, are also in this section.

Even as new forms and types and hybrids of existing ones are forged everyday on the air, the volume attempts to discuss as exhaustive a list as possible of formats and genres of programs. Among these are the various renderings of drama such as soaps, telenovelas, horror and fantasy narratives, action dramas, drama anthologies that are commonly integrated with counseling or legal advice, animated narratives, and sitcoms. Music program types that are part of the section include musicals, music-and-dance in variety shows as well as arts and culture shows, music videos, and music on radio. The talk shows that are found among the essays come in many genres, such as magazine programs, documentaries, news, investigative reports, and talk shows about entertainment. This section has essays on programs that are classified as educational and instructional, as well as those that are about health and agriculture. Other essays are on children’s shows, reality TV, game shows, faith-based programs, and sports. The balagtasan, which survives today’s programming mix, is also in this section. The teleradyo, a hybrid of radio and television, is discussed in this section, as well as programs called specials, which are not part of regular programming but are produced to celebrate special events of high audience interest. While not considered a program, ads, which permeate programming, are also described in an essay in this section.

The third section tackles the aspects and issues of production that impinge on the conduct of the broadcast business (it remains a business, after all), the ideological and technological production of content, and audience experience. Many of the essays are about issues that concern legal, regulatory, and economic considerations, such as intellectual property rights, censorship, ethics codes, labor issues, advertising, audience ratings, audience research, blocktiming, franchising, management, and transnational broadcasting, which today pose challenges as well as promising potentials. The other essays focus on the creative aspects such as scriptwriting, directing, editing, performance, production design, sound design and musical scoring, and videography. Essays on education and training for careers in broadcasting, broadcast studies and criticism, and broadcast awards are included in this section.

The fourth section is about Works which was further divided into two subsections: Programs and Studies. A key consideration in selecting works is their social relevance. Of particular scrutiny were the contexts in which the artists, programs and organizations attempted to re-invent the medium, particularly in moments of national crisis, such as World War II and the EDSA revolt. Resistance to the invading Japanese during the war produced historical pieces like the announcement of the Fall of Bataan in Salvador P. Lopez’s “Bataan Has Fallen” on the Voice of Freedom . The uprising on EDSA inspired the four-day marathon programming annotating the progress of the rebellion on Radyo Bandido. The aftermath of such crises also produced historical watersheds, such as the rise of Tagalog programming on radio following the war and the bold appearance of television documentaries critical of the social condition immediately following the EDSA revolt, which actually began to bravely appear on the air in the late martial law period.

Significant works produced in moments of peace and safety and when formats and genres themselves required a re-assessment of their contents and aesthetics and the processes of their production and distribution are in this section. For example, pivotal to a major change in programming is the introduction of imported telenovelas in the mid-1990s, which pushed the early evening news off its traditional airtime and which incidentally gave birth to an adjunct television industry that dubbed imported programs such as dramas and cartoons to Tagalog and other Filipino languages. Some works are included due to their longevity, such as soap operas and noontime variety shows that aired daily for many years or even decades, with a few still on the air as of this writing. This resilience also implies a sizable and loyal audience, whose daily reception of the programs help construct the everyday. Early programs have also been selected to help the reader imagine what radio and television were like in their infancies, restricted however by the limited availability of data.

The last section contains entries on important artists (broadcasters) and their organizations. A critical objective of the volume is to recognize the broadcasters, their programs, and the stations, networks and other organizations that have made broadcasting lively and dynamic, that in many occasions have made the media controversial and impossible to ignore, and that have woven broadcasting into our everyday. This is the part of the volume that will perhaps generate the most interest, although it may also be the source of much disappointment as the volume admittedly is an incomplete collection of all the broadcast minutiae that matter to different people.

Many artists in the field of broadcasting, particularly those in the first several decades, came from the grassroots or from pop culture—considered low art—such as bodabil. Unfortunately, they were and are largely invisible and ignored. Many, deceased or alive but retired, have faded into oblivion, so finding them or their families and colleagues and accessing their personal narratives, which could have also provided narratives of broadcasting, was a struggle. On the other hand, selecting who and what to include among the broadcasters and programs of recent decades was also problematic. In consultation with colleagues in the Department of Broadcast Communication of the University of the Philippines and the editorial team, the vetting process was initially based on awards. However, it quickly became clear that awards are not the only, or even always, reliable indicator of the value of the artists, organizations, and their works. There were no award-giving bodies until the mid-1960s, so this selection criterion would have excluded the significant broadcasters and works prior to the 1960s. At present, there appears to be a proliferation of awards, so distinguishing the merit of each one is a delicate task.

The editors began work on this volume by conducting workshops with their colleagues in the UP Department of Broadcast Communication and the encyclopedia’s editorial team to prepare a list of entries that they judged should be part of the volume. The initial list underwent many revisions not only in the process of evaluating and re-evaluating the merits of each entry but also considering their viability in terms of the availability of data required to complete an entry. At the outset, the volume attempted to be national in scope, consciously including programs and broadcasters from the regions or the areas away from or far from the central position of Manila. It also tried to include not only the most highly rated programs and most popular broadcasters but also those less well known.

However, the limited availability of materials, especially primary sources, was challenging, especially for the historical essays. Very few records and materials during the American colonial period and World War II, for example, survived the war. Moreover, live broadcasting does not require a record of the programs, so archiving has not been part of the practices of broadcast stations, especially radio, except beginning in the 1990s when digital technologies made archiving less costly, but mostly only in big television stations.

Research even for the postwar and later years was also trying. A lot is forgotten or unrecorded. Some have more details than others, such as names of the production staff of programs. There are also inconsistencies on dates, names, and other details, which may be partly explained by the changes in program titles, program hosts, production crew, and broadcasters and programs moving stations or networks. Even photographs and recordings of programs are uncommon. There are only a handful of scholarly materials and historical studies that served as sources. The scarcity of both primary and established secondary sources forced the editorial team to guardedly use sources that are usually regarded as less reliable, such as various wikis online.

Data gathering in the regions presented other limitations. In some parts of Mindanao, for example, security concerns kept researchers away. The mere act of asking for data about station and artist provoked suspicion and put their lives in danger, reminding us of one aspect of all arts—that they can be politically provocative and, consequently, potentially dangerous.

Contributors from academia—faculty and students—as well as some media practitioners researched and wrote the entries following a format established for the encyclopedia. Apart from fact-checking and polishing the submissions, the editors of this volume led the teams that wrote the historical essays as well as other long articles.

This volume, admittedly, is an incomplete record of broadcasting in the country. However, it is a beginning, and the CCP treats it as a living document, subject to addition of those forgotten and missing, so they can be accounted for in the reckoning of the everyday. The everyday may seem constant, durable, normal, and automatic, like tuning in to radio while rushing to school or work in the morning, watching one’s favorite television show while having dinner, or unwinding before going to bed. Broadcasting helps maintain this apparent predictability and stability in everyday life, but the constant flow and interruption of often incoherent sounds and images ironically also provides the gaps and breaks in the text that allow questions to seep in, demanding answers that ultimately alter and adjust the everyday, even if imperceptively. And it marches on—the airwaves forging a nation of the everyday.

This volume was designed specifically for the student. Ideas are outlined clearly in each essay. The language is simple and the style straightforward. Technical terms are explained either in synonyms or equivalents or in the context within which they appear, for example, in several essays, blocktiming is explained as the network practice of selling durations of airtime to individuals or groups. Other terms not in English are either followed by English translations, enclosed in parentheses, or translated within the same sentence, such as in the essay on arts and culture shows: “The balagtasan or poetic joust, usually about a social issue or a cultural tradition, is one of the early forms of arts and culture shows on radio beginning in 1934.”

Subheadings make the search for particular data easy. Photos, video clips, and captions complement the text. Sources of data are in parentheses after the sentence or paragraph which uses them, with the family name of the author and the year of publication, or the identity of a primary source such as the family name of the interviewee and the year of the interview or the name of the collection of an archival material. The citations may be checked against the reference list at the end of each essay and in the General Sources . They serve not only as acknowledgement but also to guide the student in searching for more sources of information.

Titles of programs, films, and musical compositions as well as books and periodicals are italicized and set in boldface each time they are mentioned. Titles of works not in English are followed by English translations, enclosed in parentheses, for example, Eskuwelahang Munti (The Little School).

For the researcher, the Search function of this online encyclopedia is the most helpful first stop. It lists all the major terms, forms, names, concepts, and books in Philippine broadcast arts as well as in the other areas of the encyclopedia.

Philippine literature is that collection of texts, both oral and written, whether published as books, serialized in periodicals, recorded in tapes, mimeographed in loose sheets, etched on bamboo, chanted at home, or recited around a fire, which are created by Filipinos of all ages and stock, in languages local and foreign, in forms indigenous, borrowed, or adapted, which portray the experiences of Filipinos.

Since the first edition of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art saw print 24 years ago, the Philippine literary terrain has changed seismically. In some places, it has become less rugged and has proved to be more habitable—or rather to have been long inhabited but hitherto ignored. The clearing of ground reveals new vistas but also puts old plots in sharper focus.

For encyclopedia editors, the passage of 20 years has meant accretion and revaluation. First, much has been added to the store of Philippine literature—more fiction, poetry, and essays written, new forms invented, and traditions renewed or revised. More scholars have also recovered or recorded literatures from the regions whether these be oral or written. Second, the renewed vigor of the local publishing scene since the EDSA Revolt of 1986 and the emergence of nontraditional modes of publishing, including self-publishing, have resulted in the exponential increase in writers and texts. Third, currents in literary theory and criticism have given birth to new modes of perceiving literature, authorship, and reading. This edition of the encyclopedia reflects those developments.

The general goal of this edition is to guide the pilgrim of Philippine literature, specially the student, along familiar terrains, such as the landmark works of Rizal and the Revolutionists, as well as along those shaded, secluded pathways where only a few have hitherto trod, such as Chinese-Philippine literature, the komiks, and translation.

Consciously avoiding the equation of Philippine literature with modern expressions in English, this volume covers the literatures of the different Philippine languages, whether majority, like the Tagalog, Cebuano, Bicol, Ilocano, Ilonggo, Waray, Pangasinan, and Kapampangan, or minority, like the Aeta, Ivatan, Ifugao, lbanag, Mangyan, Tausug, Maranao, Maguindanao, Bagobo, and Manobo (the full treatment of these and other literatures may be found in Peoples of the Philippines ). It also covers literature written by Filipinos in foreign languages, namely, English, Spanish, and Chinese. The volume includes the various literary forms and modes—whether “legitimate” or not—produced in these languages, such as sugilanon , komposo , prosa romantica , pasyon , balak , guman , songs, letters, and “underground poems.”

The specific objectives of this edition are: to plot the development of the principal literary traditions in the Philippines and highlight the major achievements and the key figures who introduced, crystallized, revolutionized, or broke away from trends, traditions, and significantly affected the Filipino consciousness; to show these developments within the larger context of Philippine history and society, for literature is inextricably enmeshed with sociopolitical and economic forces; and to acquaint scholars and literary enthusiasts with so-called “regional writing,” and thereby give a more comprehensive picture of the country’s literature, and generate more research into often marginalized regional lore.

In sum, this area on Philippine literature is a chronicle, with attempts at more equitable representation in language, form, and tradition. The essays included in this edition primarily aim to inform. Interpretations or judgments implicit in the essays, as for instance the classification of poetry into the following traditions: ethnic, Spanish colonial, reform and revolution, American colonial, and postcolonial, is generally agreed upon by respected scholars of Philippine literature.

The volume is divided into five sections: Historical Essays, Forms and Types, Aspects of Literary Production, Major Works, Artists and Organizations, and General Sources. This scheme was devised to systematically cover as many facets of Philippine Literature as possible, including often neglected or subordinated topics.

The historical essays, arranged chronologically, survey the general developments in Philippine literature. The first essay on Philippine literature provides a sweeping, if cursory, profile of the different literary traditions, each of which is treated at length in the succeeding essays: the indigenous tradition, which describes, with a garland of examples, such indigenous forms as the folk speech (e.g., the riddle and the proverb), the various kinds of lyric poetry (e.g., ambahan , laji , tagay ), and the narrative forms (the epic, folktales, legends, and myths); the Hispanic tradition, which describes the entry of newer forms (e.g., ladino or bilingual poetry, pasyon , awit , manual de urbanidad , the exhortative essay, among others) side by side with the imposition of a new political order, and their continuing legacy in Philippine letters, as evidenced, for instance, in the romantic and didactic tendencies of many a vernacular novel in the 20th century; and the American tradition, which recounts the arrival of a new colonial conqueror, the emergence of writing in English and the marginalization of literature in Spanish and, for a time, in the vernaculars. The last essay also discusses the introduction of modern literary forms, largely inherited from the West (e.g., the short story, free verse, and literary criticism), the formation of literary societies (e.g., Ilaw at Panitik, UP Writers’ Club), the literary revolutions (e.g., the appearance of Alejandro G. Abadilla’s terse and cryptic verses in defiance of floridly sentimental, linguistically puristic, and formally restrictive balagtasismo ), and the literary debates of the time (e.g., Villa’s aestheticism versus Lopez’s relevance), which continue to concern critics and writers today.

Three essays—“Philippine Literature during the Third Republic (1946-72),” “Philippine Literature during the Fourth Republic (1972-86),” and “Philippine Literature during the Fifth Republic (1986 Onward)”—bring the story of Philippine literature forward to the present time. More than an enumeration of titles and authors, these articles situate literary activities and output in historical contexts and cardinal events: the postwar reconstruction in the 1950s, the rise of activism in the 1960s, the imposition of martial law in the 1970s, the glorious EDSA Revolt of 1986 and its less than glorious aftermath. The literature produced by the exodus of millions of Filipinos is described in another new article, “Literature of the Diaspora.”

There are also essays that show the historical development of Philippine Literature in Spanish, Philippine Literature in English, and Chinese-Philippine Literature. The first covers works in Spanish produced from the three centuries of Spanish rule to the present. Attention is given to the poetry and prose of the so-called “Golden Age of Literature in Spanish,” 1900-1940, and the factors that led to the rise and quick decline of this literature. The second essay chronicles the struggles and the triumphs of a group of writers grappling with and then mastering a foreign tongue which was to become one of the leading world languages-English. The formal innovations initiated by Jose Garcia Villa and Paz Marquez-Benitez, the sociopolitical thrust of Zulueta da Costa and Lopez, the future of this literature in an increasingly nationalistic milieu—these and other issues are here presented and explored. The third essay dwells on a still amorphous body of works, written in Chinese, English, or in any of the local languages, by the Chinese Filipino—from its origins in Spanish times to its development in the 20th century.

The essay on children’s literature focuses on the many forms of literature for children as these have evolved throughout the ages: from the caton of the Spanish times to the adaptations of folktales (e.g., the Adarna series) today. The essay on sources and influences traces the diversity of Philippine literature to borrowings from and adaptations of Asian literatures, as well as the Spanish and Anglo-American literary traditions. Germinative figures in Philippine literature, such as Jose Rizal and Alejandro G. Abadilla, who greatly influenced generations of artists, are also discussed.

The section Forms and Types consists of essays, alphabetically arranged, on the epic, the essay, folk narrative, folk poetry, folk song, the komiks , the metrical romances, the novel, the pasyon, poetry, and the short story. The essays cover the indigenous forms, the Western genres traditionally accorded an esteemed place in literary studies, and the popular genre. Discussion of the drama has been reserved for the volume on Theater .

The essays on the indigenous forms offer generous samples to highlight their characteristics. These are on the epic, which outlines the conventions and gives brief summaries of the longest and possibly the oldest form of oral lore; the folk narrative, which classifies the different kinds of folk stories into myths, legends, and folktales, further divided into numskull tales, trickster tales, fables, and marchen; the folk poetry, which describes the different kinds of folk speech (e.g., riddles and proverbs), poems (e.g., loa and bulong ), and poetic jousts (e.g., the balagtasan and the dallot ); the folk song, which discusses both the ballad or sung narrative (e.g., komposo , idangdang ) and the many species of nonnarrative songs (e.g., oyayi , ida-ida wata , kundiman ), which relate to love, marriage, work, play, childhood, death—indeed to every phase, pleasure, and pang of Filipino life.

The forms inherited from the West are surveyed in the following entries on: the essay, which discusses the formal, the informal, and the critical essay; the metrical romance, which details the conventions of the awit and korido, such as their formulaic titles and patterns of plot, while showing how these have been affected by Philippine mores and customs; the novel, which follows the four streams of didacticism, romanticism, realism, and radicalism that make up the genre; the pasyon, which not only outlines the development of the religious verse narrative but also describes how radical artists have molded it from a means of subjugation into a potent tool for liberation; komiks, which discusses the popular genre derived from the American comic book, and its history, its form and function, its conventions and contents, and its many transformations into the big screen. The essay on poetry showcases the bounty of poetic forms, ranging from the indigenous to the modernist, burgeoning in the different regions, tongues, and historical periods. But as certain forms decline, others take their place. For example, the komiks, once the best-selling form of Tagalog literature, has faded owing to both internal and external pressures; its near kin, the graphic novel, serves a different readership and draws on a different stock of references from those of the komiks.

The section Aspects of Literature contains various essays on subjects essential to but often neglected in literary studies. They are on: audience, which describes the readers or listeners of Philippine literature as they act and react to, and are in turn formed and influenced by, oral and/or written texts; awards and grants, which surveys the different organizations and groups that bestow recognition and give support to writers; criticism and scholarship, which describes the ways by which Philippine texts have been perceived and studied through the centuries; organizations, which lists down the literary coteries representing the multifarious, sometimes conflicting, concerns of writers, such as PAKSA, WOMEN, and GUMIL; publications and publishing, which explores the routes through which writers have displayed their works; training, which details how writers have honed their craft and whet their skills; and translation and adaptation, which mentions works that have been translated or adapted either from foreign languages into the Philippine languages or from the local languages into world languages.

The Works section is composed of summaries of texts deemed significant in Philippine literary history by the editors and consultants of this volume. The range of works spans both oral and written lore, and considers “legitimate” and “illegitimate” forms, either in local or in foreign languages. For easier access, these are compartmentalized into Poetry, Short Story, Novel, and Essay. The first includes epics like Hudhud , awit like Ibong Adarna , single short works like “Mi ultimo adios,” long verse narratives like the Pasyong Genesis, and collections or anthologies of poetry like Kutibeng and Poems 55 . The second includes collections of short stories in the different Philippine languages. The third includes novels from the different regions as well as those written in English and Spanish. The last includes critical works like Literature and Society , editorials like “Aves de Rapifta,” speeches like “Homenaje a Luna,” single works like “Sobre la indolencia de los Filipinos,” and collections of essays both formal and informal.

Of the 266 new entries in the Works sections of this edition of the encyclopedia, 60 (or almost a quarter) pertain to literature written or produced in languages other than English or Tagalog. Included here are works originally in Spanish, Bikol, Ilocano, and the Visayan family of languages like Waray, Ilonggo, Cebuano, and the Visayan variety in Mindanao called Bisaya. The updates made to the articles in the sections Historical Essays, Forms and Types, and Aspects of Literature likewise testify either to the vigor of literary production in places outside of Metro Manila or, where it has not been so robust, its increased visibility through translations and commentary.

Among the guidelines for the selection of works were regional/linguistic representation and generic representation. Thus, oral forms and works considered in their regions as significant were included. Key works which influenced other works or began a trend, such as Abadilla’s Ako ang Daigdig at Iba Pang Mga Tula , were included, as were works of historical and literary significance, such as Rizal’s two novels which moved the Filipinos to forge revolution and a nation. The popularity of a work, in spite of negative critical feedback, was also a guideline in the selection of works. Thus, an awit like Gonzalo de Cordoba was included, as it spawned a host of adaptations despite its failure, in New Critical esteem, as an artefact. In making its choices, the editorial board was guided by the conviction that there can be no absolute, ahistorical standards of significance or greatness, especially when scholars are confronted with a multitextured literature woven from various cultural and linguistic strands.

The selection for the section Artists and Organizations was done along similar lines. Traditionally canonized authors such as Francisco Baltazar, Inigo Ed. Regalado, Lope K. Santos, Antonio M. Abad, Jesus Balmori, Jose Garcia Villa, and Nick Joaquin, were included. However, added to the list were regional writers, considered significant in their respective regions, such as the Ilocano Pedro Bucaneg, Leon Pichay, and Leona Florentino, the Pangasinan Maria Magsano, the Kapampangan Zoilo Hilario and Amado Yuzon, the Cebuano Vicente Sotto and Vicente Ranudo, the Ilonggo Ramon Muzones and Magdalena Jalandoni, and the Waray Eduardo Makabenta. Included too were epic or ballad chanters like the Karay-a Elena Gardoce and the Palawan Usuy.

Contemporary writers, or writers who began to publish in the 1980s, were chosen according to more objective, numerical criteria. To be included, these young writers should have won at least six national awards or have published at least two books (but not by their own funds), or have won three awards and have a book published. Editorial work was also considered. There were, however, a few very exceptional cases where the editorial board included young writers who may not have accomplished all of the above, but were deemed significant.

For this encyclopedia, only writers in the traditionally accepted literary forms were considered. Although these writers were easy enough to pinpoint in poetry and fiction, they were not as readily identifiable in the essay, which theoretically encompasses all forms of prose that is not fictive, including journalistic, historical, economic, political, anthropological, sociological, and psychological writings. Thus, this encyclopedia has decided to focus only on essayists whose writing is more expressive rather than merely analytical or scientific. A few anthropologists and historians have been included, not primarily for their scientific studies but for their poetry or fiction or essays written on certain forms of oral or written literature.

The expansion of the corpus of Philippine literature owes in no small measure to the presence of book publishers. University presses like the Ateneo de Manila University Press and the University of the Philippines Press, trade publishers like Anvil and New Day, “small presses” like Giraffe and High Chair, and institutions with publishing as part of their activities or mission like the Iligan National Writers Workshop and Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran—these and other groups, whether independently self-sustaining or state subsidized, have kept writers in print. The last 20 years also saw new players, like Visprint, joining the field and some of the older publishers striking out.

The Internet and other technologies have also provided platforms for self-publishing and conditioned the emergence of new forms and even new aesthetics. The new article “New Media” recounts these developments.

Critical theory has reshaped the way literature is studied, challenging traditional notions of authorship and distinctions between “high” and “low” cultures, among other things. Thus, in the thoroughly revised overview article, “Philippine Literature,” Urbana at Feliza is treated in relation to street signs. The updates in “The Indigenous Tradition” and “Folk Narrative” reflect a more nuanced understanding of what “indigenous” and “folk” signify, avoiding their easy slippage into the “precolonial.” After all, epics continue to be chanted or sung, heroes and antiheroes take on fresh avatars, and new versions of old tales are spun and respun—the weft of novelty woven around the warp of tradition, which makes for textures of vibrant colors.

The principal and assistant editors began by constructing a master list of Filipino authors and works that can conceivably be described as “major” in the purview of Philippine literature. Combed and consulted anew were library catalogs, serials databases, and winners’ lists, in all the major Philippine languages and in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

The preparation of the master list was guided by the following criteria, which were approved by the new edition’s editorial board:

For authors: (1) sustained literary activity over 10 years; (2) two major awards; (3) two major book or book-length publications; (4) recognition of peers, scholars, or critics; and (5) influence on fellow authors or on the development of a literary tradition, a form, a trend, a movement, or a genre.

For organizations: (1) sustained activity in the form of publications, recordings, conferences, or workshops; (2) influence on the literary community; and/or (3) the membership of major or canonical writers.

For scholars and critics: (1) 10 years of active study of an author, a body of works, or a field; (2) two books or 10 articles in journals of significant value; (3) awards and similar evidence of recognition; and (4) citation count.

For works: (1) possession of a “pivotal” quality (are they trailblazing, form defining, or trendsetting?); (2) status as the “epitome” of a form, trend, movement, or genre; and (3) possession of national and/or regional significance.

For this edition, the temporal limit for the coverage of new works and writers was set at 31 Dec 2015. This new master list was then cross-checked with the first edition table of contents for the editors to avoid duplication.

To update, verify, and, in some instances, correct details in the 609 biographies and organizations in the first edition, questionnaires were sent to the writers themselves or to close relatives. Where there was no response or a way to get in touch with the writer, the updaters resorted to secondary sources of information found in libraries and to reliable online databases and institutions like the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The task of making this edition of the encyclopedia more inclusive and more accurate was aided by regional editors, consultants, and reviewers.

The style follows the prescriptions of the Chicago Manual of Style , 16th edition. The writing was designed specifically for the student, and hence it avoids obfuscation. Ideas are outlined clearly in each essay. The language is simple and the style straightforward. Technical terms are immediately explained either in synonyms or equivalents or in the context within which they appear, as, for example, in the overview essay: “Many complimentary verses were written by the so-called ladino, poets versed in both Spanish and Tagalog.” Subheadings ease the search for particular data; bountiful excerpts from the texts illustrate specific points. The illustrations and captions adorning each essay are visual guideposts to the article. Sources of data or quotations are placed in parentheses right after the sentence which uses them, and provide the family name of the author, year of publication of the work, and page numbers which can be checked against the sources at the end of the article and in the General Sources section.

Literary terms such as daniw , crissotan , and costumbrismo are set in boldface the first time they appear in an essay; Filipino and foreign terms not related to literature, such as pamlang, diwata, and pere are set in italics the first time they are mentioned. Translations of the terms, whether literary or not, are usually enclosed in parentheses: thus, manananggal (a self-segmenting ghoul).

The encyclopedia uses headline style capitalization even for works that are not in English (e.g., Noli Me Tangere , “Ang mga Biyaya ng Fraile”). Titles of books and periodicals are italicized and set in boldface each time they are mentioned. Titles of works not in English are followed by English translations, enclosed in parentheses, of the year of publication, separated by commas: thus, Ing Capalaran (Fate), 1923. Book titles are also set in boldface and italics whether they appear as part of the title of a short work (e.g., Agoncillo’s essay “Ang Banaag at Sikat ni Lope K. Santos”) or they are part of a translation (e.g., Banaag at Sikat : Metacriticism and Anthology for Banaag at Sikat : Metakritisismo at Antolohiya). Chinese words and names are generally rendered in pinyin, except when the alternative form has become standard (e.g., Mao Tse-tung versus Mao Zedong) or when the author in question has a preferred transliteration.

All diacritical marks are removed until such time as they are consistently and systematically recorded by scholars, especially among the smaller ethnolinguistic groups, but are retained where they occur on words that have entered the English language (e.g., vis-à-vis, coup d’état).

Filipino words that have entered the English language and whose meaning in English match their Filipino originals’ are no longer set in italics (e.g., aswang, babaylan, tuba). When a book is bilingually titled, a slash separates the titles (e.g., Writing the Nation/Pag-akda ng Bansa ) and no other translation is given. Titles that appear across volumes are uniformly translated (e.g., Marcelino Pan y Vino [The Miracle of Marcelino], Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang [Stories of Grandma Basyang]).

In discussions of the Commonwealth Literary Contests, titles of book-length works are enclosed in quotation marks when they were entered as manuscripts but set in boldface and italics when they were entered as published books (e.g., Salvador Lopez’s Literature and Society versus R. Zulueta da Costa’s “Like the Molave,” which though copyrighted in 1940 was actually published in 1941).

When authors use multiple names or aliases, the encyclopedia alerts readers to the fact (e.g., “Rogelio Sikat aka Rogelio Sicat”).

For the researcher, the Search function of this online encyclopedia is the most helpful first stop. It lists all the major terms, forms, names, concepts, and books in Philippine literature as well as in the other areas of the encyclopedia.

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Culture and Arts Education in the Philippines

Related Papers

Glorife S. Samodio

The future of the creative industries shows much promise in the Philippines. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the creative industries more than doubled its size from 2003 to 2012 (UNCTAD, 2016). Thus, its development is now carefully monitored, and programs are being created by different government agencies, with the goal of making the Philippines competitive in the creative field versus other countries in the region. Despite the continuous growth of the sector, the expected increase in financial outcomes is quite low as the creative industries in the Philippines and Southeast Asia do not seem to be maximizing their growth potential due to the absence of structures and policies for business development, piracy, and the general lack of entrepreneurial spirit (Fleming, 2017). Thus, the role of education has become important in the development of those involved in the culture cycle of creation, production, dissemination, transmission, and the consumption/participation of cultural and artistic products and services (Sigdel, 2017). With these developments, I decided to examine the existing cultural education policies and programs of several government agencies and their roles pertaining to the development of the creative industries; I sought to discover convergence points for these institutions to prepare a conducive business environment for the future movers of the creative industries to thrive. In this research, I interviewed key officials assigned to the implementation of cultural education policies and programs of the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Glorife Samodio

For over a decade, the creative industries have steadily transformed into avenues for boosting the Philippine economy, and have thus been recognized as one of the seven industries expected to boost growth and investment in the country. The education sector plays a key role in fueling these industries, acting as a source of fresh talent while also providing jobs for arts practitioners. In the Philippines, the educational system triumvirate (Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) works with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Department of Trade and Industry for policy development and program creation pertaining to culture, arts, and the creative industries. This paper discusses the status of existing policies through consultations with the involved sectors in culture and the arts, creative industries and education. It also recommends improvements based on the current developments in these sectors. This study reveals that: (1) the Philippine creative industries are indeed flourishing, and is already at the onset of getting full support from the government's business and trade institutions, but structures and governance in consolidating the programs and policies of the government's education-related institutions, cultural institutions and trade institutions should be in place; (2) sectoral collaboration among these institutions is needed to plan the critical next steps to boost the creative industries. ABSTRACT

Russel Pamulaya

Emerlyn Lincallo

Jereme Montoya

Khrys Vincent

Exlyn Belga

Representation, Meaning, and Identity

Steven Patrick C . Fernandez

Organic frames and concepts in the study of Culture, Art, and Performance Studies proposing a Philippine school-of-thought. These are the same frames scaffolding the Culture and Arts Studies Program of the MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology, a pioneering Philippine pioneering venture, by its Founding Director and proponent. From communication specialist Victor Sugbo, Ph.D, : "... bold theoretical design which maps out a field, a road, and a space for one interested in apprehending Philippine culture and art... ."

Leodinito Cañete

The paper reviews the cooperation agreement in cultural affairs between Cebu Normal University (CNU) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). In the summers of 2011 and 2012, CNU's College of Teacher Education, as authorized by the CNU Board of Regents, implemented the NCCA-designed two-summer 24-unit post-baccalaureate program which offered foundation and major courses to enhance the participants' understanding of the basic theories, processes and applications of arts, culture, and heritage in the culture-based teaching of the basic education curriculum. It was evident that through this unique program, CNU contributed to ensuring the widest dissemination of artistic and cultural products of the Philippines. The spatial relationship between CNU and NCCA in the governance structure of cultural affairs in the Philippines was a legitimate means of advancing, preserving and developing the culture and the arts of the country through the training of Filipino educators that is responsive to the multicultural needs of the Filipinos to improve their quality of life.

Jellie Molino

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ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES

By Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development (CANVAS)

Looking for Juan

On its 7th year, the Looking for Juan Outdoor Banner Show – CANVAS’ annual effort to encourage the use of art to reflect on our national identity – asked the participating artists, “What things, spirit, or attitudes can be found only in the Philippines?”

The phrase “Only in the Philippines” can be read in various ways – as an expression of pride in what we feel are activities, attitudes, and aspirations that are uniquely Filipino; yet also as an expression of frustration and exasperation about systems and situations that we know are corrupt, unjust, or simply not good enough. The answers have come in all shapes and colors. They come in the vibrant hues of parols that point to our fascinating way of celebrating Christmas – over four months, starting in September; in the curious ways we turn our plates when somebody leaves the table before one is finished with his or her meal; in the image of a boxer as national hero who could, if imagination and votes meet, be the country’s next president. Good or bad, major or minor, these images collectively afford us a glimpse into the richness and diversity of our culture. They also assure us that pride and frustration are not mutually exclusive feelings toward our country and ourselves. Rather, they are two sides of the same coin; and both are necessary elements to motivate us in steering our nation into a brighter, peaceful, and just future.

The carabao is the national animal of the Philippines. It symbolizes strength, power, efficiency, perseverance, and most of all, hardwork. Until now, many Filipinos use the carabao in the farm since the technology is expensive. It has been one of the many things that picture the Filipino life--representing many Filipino ideas, characteristics, culture, and tradition.

Filipinos always find ways to make tragic incidents bearable and somehow find reasons to stay positive. Our houses and possessions may drown after strong typhoons and floods, but we will still manage to keep our hearts and hope afloat.

The parol is a traditional star-shaped lantern made of bamboo wood and paper, and comes in different sizes, shapes, and colors. It symbolizes the star of Bethlehem that guided the three wise men to the manger of Jesus Christ.

Kundiman is a Filipino love song.

Though not only found in the Philippines, the duster has been commonly associated with our mothers, titas, and grandmothers. They are the women of a typical/traditional Filipino home. These women, too, work to earn and are usually our all around helpers here in the country and even abroad. The newly washed duster shown seems resting for before another day's work.

This work is about a young gypsy girl that is commonly seen riding a jeepney to play music and ask for alms.

This portrait challenges Filipino youth in achieving the stature of Francisco Balagtas as the great poet and role model to the youth.

"You name it, we have it."

"We are fearless, we are brave, we are warriors." This work is a challenge to confront adversities and kill the negative innuendos that haunt Filipinos. We are not cockroaches, we are not pests.

This artwork is about the Filipino’s penchant for building hopes and dreams on “tingian” and “sari-sari” endeavors with a certain amount of risk-taking, hence the allusion to the Tower of Babel and the modern Filipino metaphor, “drowing”, which refers to a sketchy plan.

We are a nation of possibilities. Filipinos are generally innovative, strategic and imaginative.

Together with our innate adaptability, we can adjust to any situation, make use of resources at hand, and create something from nothing.

A Filipino showcase of ingenuity and crafstmanship at its best as we see everyday in the streets from food vendors and jeepneys in colorful designs and of good taste.

The procession of the Black Nazarene is the largest procession in the country. It takes place on January the 9th and on Good Friday through the streets of Quiapo, Metro Manila. During the feast of the Black Nazarene, thousands of barefoot men join the annual procession. Walking barefoot during the procession is seen as a sign of humility. The men yell, "Viva Señor!" People believe that a miracle can happen after touching the icon.

Monsters can be seen everywhere; there is a monster in every Juan.

We are artisans, craftsmen, artists living and loving (and hating, once in a while) our country. It is a family portrait that pays tribute to Filipino creativity and imagination.

Made from glutinous rice (kalamay), brown sugar, and coconut milk, sundot kulangot literally means “poke a snot” or “pick a booger,” describing the bizarre way of eating it. Packaged within small wooden orbs, they are actually sweet, pinch-sized delicacies that taste like traditional coconut jams. One must break the orb and use either a popsicle stick or one’s own finger to get a taste of the candy. Thanks to its tedious preparation, sundot kulangot is now becoming a rarity with limited supply being sold in Baguio City and in other Northern Luzon provinces.

The Laguna Copper Plate bore an ancient debt released. Among many interpretations, it is a testimony of an advance trading culture with laws that governed relationships and transactions; and a sign of a generous act which we could only wish the debtors would take heed.

Ryzza Mae, a Filipino child actress, as a St. Louis Exposition (1904) participant

This represents strong women, past and present, who are confined and controlled by social standards on one hand, but persevered and took control with the other. It is part of a series of archival explorations inspired by the iconic and very controversial history of the Manila Carnival Queens (1908-1939).

From the term "Juan Tamad" to Juan the Mad, here is an illustration of a daydreaming or floating man. Is it falling or flying from the sky?

Despite all adversities in life, Filipinos remain positive and hopeful.

The "Lectern" shows us what we, the audience, cannot usually see from where we stand. It is the artist's interpretation of what the lectern would look like from the public speaker's point of view. For the artist, the lectern is not only where speeches are delivered, it is also where a sophisticated creole of death and capital takes form.

"Kapit-bisig" is a gesture often used to represent a Filipino trait called "bayanihan". It sets aside cultural, political, and other differences to show unity and compassion mostly in times of calamity. Filipinos are known to have this trait/spirit since time immemorial.

As a culture, our overall tastes lean toward excess, filling up every nook and cranny of every nook and cranny. Our maximalist sensibilities fill up our living rooms with figurines and wall hangings that not only display our histories (family photos and party souvenirs) and our achievements (framed diplomas), but our aspirations (posters and knick-knacks from loved ones abroad).

"Hala bira! Pwera pasma!" is originally associated with the Sto. Nino Ati-Atihan Festival as revellers and devotees join the festivities all over the town, from morning to wee hours of the next morning, rain or shine, for one week or even more.

Every one of us has a path to take to be in a certain place in our lives. Whether we take the hard way or the easy way, we still have this process to go through. This work is about that path that Filipinos take. It is a perception of the experiences we acquire and the choices we make along the way in order to succeed.

Only here in the Philippines, in all its glorious idiosyncrasies, can this perspective thrive: a curious amalgamation of positivity despite what is oftentimes gloom. Filipinos always manage to thrive, if not flourish, despite unfavorable conditions. This is the strength of our perspective.

Ginebra San Miguel, also once known as La Tondeña Distillers, Inc. has become, through the years, an iconic fixture in the Filipino’s culture of celebration, camaraderie and tenacity.

Few things mortal evoke ideas so eternal as a rose. It blooms but briefly, shines and fades away. It is both an offering and a metaphor. A symbol of passion, purity and joy; of secrets of the heart and things unspoken; an oath of silence; a romantic love; and a complete surrender and permanent transmutation.

A common perception of people who don't submerge themselves (the audience) in what is in front of them, and the hilarious interpretation of the work of other people (the artist).

A critique on overkill, political promises, and an almost blind obsession towards self-belonging and religion.

The Black Nazarene of Quiapo is one of the most iconic religious images in the Filipino Catholic tradition. Its dark color breaks the notion that all saints are white. The Black Nazarene is also a saint associated with the masses because of its phenomenal number of devotees.

Amidst natural disasters, Filipinos are strong-spirited people who continue to brave each storm hand in hand. Whatever situation we are in, we rise as one nation. Filipino Pride, as they say, is "May angas. May yabang."

"Querencia" is Spanish for "beloved place". This painting is a tribute to San Pablo City, Laguna, famous for its seven lakes. A place shapes a person's identity and the stories we experience in a place play a major role in completing our journey.

Mebuyan is the goddess of the underworld. She is often described as a soul taker. She has the ability to take lives from humanity using rice grains which symbolize that from then on, people would die and descend to her in Gimokudan, rather than ascend to heaven. She is covered with breast and nipples which she uses to nurse the dead babies until their soul is strong and can survive on her land. --Adapted from Bagobo & Manobo Mythology

Troli, the wooden scooter from Ifugao. Riding a bike is solitary freedom. It lets our individual self go wherever we want.

Liwayway (Tagalog word meaning "dawn") is a leading Tagalog weekly magazine published in the Philippines since 1922. It contains Tagalog serialized novels, short stories, poetry, serialized comics, essays, news features, entertainment news and articles, and many others. In fact, it is the oldest Tagalog magazine in the Philippines. It often featured women on its covers.

“Horror vacui", a Latin term for “fear of empty space”, is probably one of the most evident Filipino trait in our modern culture. From our tightly spaced structures to our ever overcrowded public transportation vehicles; we Filipinos can always come up with a way to leave not one inch of space left unused.

Folklore has always been a part of the culture and pysche of Filipinos.

The Ati-atihan Festival is about rejoicing at the arrival of the Sto. Nino, an icon given by Magellan to the Native Queen of Cebu in 1521, characterized by hyperactive merriment in the streets, showing how strong Filipinos embrace the Catholic religion, even though it was one of the tools used by the aggressors to take control over our country. Red is passion for our beloved Catholic religion; black symbolizes being deceived through religion, and white is unity through Catholicism.

Resilience -- one of the distinct, positive traits possessed by Filipinos. Represented on the canvas are the many challenges that Filipinos face -- poverty, calamities and natural disasters, and social unrest. Yet in the midst of it all, the Filipino remains calm and composed. The flower in bloom is growth and the Filipinos' ability to thrive even in the face of adversity.

People, town, culture, and economy can be saved with a good leader navigating the country toward a better direction.

This artwork is inspired by Padre Damaso, a character from one of Dr. Rizal's novels. He was a man of the church, and the church is supposed to uphold morality, and yet he had shady morals. The painting is also filled with images that are unique to our nation's history and culture, such as "Barok", anting-antings, the "Manunggul," and others.

"Swerte" or the Filipino concept of luck manifests not only in the popularity of games of chance in the Philippines, but is also evident in Filipino religiosity. Filipinos, in general, believe that there is a higher power that governs their lives, but just to hedge their bets, they also believe in things like Feng Sui and fortune telling. As the believers would say, "Walang masama kung maniniwala."

In the Filipino community, stigma can have a big impact on an individual. People can become judgemental about identifying marks or bodily deformities, associating these with certain negative and unfair beliefs.

The "sampayan" is a staple of the Filipino residential landscape, a devout and constant presence like a home altar/shrine. The fluttering of "flaglets" welcomes home the owners; the "sampayan" serves as a signifier to mark one’s territory in the neighborhood—a horizontal totem.

A bit of this, a bit of that feels like you almost have everything. This is probably the concept behind the sari-sari store that stands proudly, probably on every street corner in the Philippines.

A great thing about being a Filipino child in the 80's is to have experienced making bubbles using crushed gumamela flowers, water, and some detergent. Bb. Gumamela is a personification of a beautiful childhood and the bliss and magic that accompany those years of discovery.

The Philippines is the biggest exporter of manpower in the world. Due to the traditional close family ties, it is improper for a returning OFW to return home empty handed without any "pasalubong" (greeting gift).

Amidst the rapid onset of modernization, is a place in the heart of Manila still steeped in rural folk beliefs, occult, and catholicism. The work pays homage to such diversity of faith, specifically in Quiapo, a place where these various manifestations of gods and deities, is seen side by side. These imagery, reflects the Filipinos' penchant for juxtaposition and iconography, which in turn reveals a very distinct and personal understanding of local history.

Our country endures various problems usually rooted in the ineptness of our government – the aftermath of natural disasters, socio-political turmoil, everyday mishaps of urban living, tragedies. They are sensationalized in news and there are uproars in social media. However, after a while, historical amnesia starts to emerge. We never really learn from the past. We can only truly celebrate greatness once the change we need is achieved.

Filipinos have an idiom of "kayod kalabaw", which means working hard to the extent of completely tiring themselves out as they believe that their actions will be paid with comfort for them and their families. The carabao can be a metaphor for the burden of Filipinos, especially the breadwinners, they carry throughout their life.

Whale sharks (seen in Donsol, Sorsogon) are symbols of strength and grace. These magnificent creatures should be protected and allowed the freedom to swim to great lengths -- even the universe, through and across dimensions.

Basketball is so popular here in the Philippines. We randomly see makeshift basketball hoops made out of recycled pieces of wood nailed together and a ring. It shows the Filipinos' ability to mold their influences in their own capacity.

Filipinos are naturally born warriors with roots from our past that help us shape our nation. We can face whatever changes or challenges in our lives, no matter how big they may be. We stand as pillars of our nation.

This work explores the merging of whimsical imagination and memory, inspired by familiar plants from the artist's childhood summer vacations spent in Zambales. A fun approach was used to emphasize the colorful memories of the laid back life in the province. This led her to combine different techniques such as painting, printing, and embroidery.

This artwork defines character and individualism, consisting of 7 types of the common Filipino -- the Farmer, the Social Worker, the Mother, the Teacher, the Student, the Child, and a Female holding on to her chest. These are different aspirations in life but these share the same passion, ways, and culture.

Like twin children, the jeepney and the “boundary system” were born of Filipino ingenuity and artistry. Now, the jeepney has grown into an ugly mass of junk roaring for survival on the road. And the “boundary system” has corrupted all other partakers in the street economy, which is the microcosm of the Philippine economy.

Looking for Juan is a program of CANVAS that centers on creative activities and events designed to explore the use of art to drive debate and discussion on selected social issues, particularly national identity, free expression, technology & culture, and sustainable development. To see the complete images of the artworks, visit http://www.canvas.ph/looking-for-juan/only-in-the-philippines.

TAKE A LINE FOR A WALK

Center for art, new ventures & sustainable development (canvas), karapatan: artists stand for human rights, inang kalikasan's bad hair day, the triangle man and the flightless diwata, panyaan: three tales of the tagbanua, if trees could talk, myths and legends, the rocking horse, elias and his trees.

Home / Essay Samples / World / Philippines / The Beauty of Philippine Popular Culture

The Beauty of Philippine Popular Culture

Category: Sociology , World
Topic: Cultural Identity , Philippines

Pages: 1 (559 words)

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