Philippine artistic tradition

By Mercidita Jose-Dela Cruz

Philippine Artistic Tradition


Started…

probably THOUSANDS of years after man arrived on Philippine soil



“ Interisland contact, facilitated by the

introduction of water crafts, resulted

in constant communication among

peoples and in the spread and

sharing of methods of producing

food, clothing and housing.”


POTTERY

Pottery

In the Philippines, pottery shards dated as early as 3200 + 160 B.C. and associated with human remains prove that early Filipinos have practiced tradition.

Pottery according to function

Household pottery functions as a container for water, rice and other foodstuffs. Simple in form Oftentimes undecorated

Funerary pottery used to bury human remains in or as accessories in the ritual paraphernalia. Interesting forms and motifs

The Techniques by which motifs are applied on the soft clay are incision and impression

Impressed and incised motifs are combined to form a compound pattern as in impressed punctuations applied in a bounded area to emphasize the incised patterns.

Philippine Artistic TraditionPottery

Prehistoric decorated pottery were mostly used as mortuary vessels.

Through the designs or markings on the mortuary vessels one can be able to see the prehistoric belief system that focuses on a life after death.

Carvings in the round of humanlike images such found on the “ship-of-the-dead” were done mostly on the covers of big burial jars.

But these carvings as pottery decorations are very rare.

Painting as pottery decoration is likewise rare.

Usually in red or red and black, painting is used only to emphasize incised patterns.

Traditional Pottery uses: • Red clay• Ashes• Sands

They are formed into jars, jugs, bowls and pots by hand w/ the aid of a wooden pestle and stone anvil or by a potter’s wheel.

The traditional pottery persisted among the highland as well as the lowland groups. Studies show some marked similarities in the sequence but there are also differences that necessitated the grouping of pottery manufacture by sequence categories.

Bontoc sequence- pottery is molded and shaped by hand using simple tools as paddle, anvil and, as supporting device, a broken pottery rim.

Ilocano sequence- produce turn-modelled pottery. Use of unpivoted turntable is the difference

Bagobo sequence- compromised by hand modelling, molding and coiling . Adding clay by strips in the formation of the body provides the difference in this method.

Ivatan sequence- Slab modelling is exclusive to the Ivatan of Batanes. The starting piece is flattened into a thick slab which is placed in a small, round, shallow bowl-like, wooden form and molded.

BASKETRY & MAT-MAKING

Basketry & Mat-Making

Older than pottery tradition There are as many styles as there are tribal

groups in the Philippines The only instrument used in basketry and mat-

making is a sharp instrument such as a knife.


Big sturdy & plain baskets, made into squares &rectangles, sometimes w/rounded bodies, with orwithout covers and handles, are invariably used forstoring rice or camote, for transporting clothes andother personal effects to the place of work and forpreserving all kinds of food.


Mats come in square, rectangles, triangles and circles. Rectangular mats are used to sleep on or to wrap the dead with. The other shapes in smaller versions are used in rituals or as wall decors.


Baskets used for fish traps and shrimp containers come in triangular, trapezoidal and cylindrical shapes, they are oftentimes provided w/ contraptions to prevent the escape of the prey.


Men’s headgear, lady’s bag and purses and decorative mats are applied with decorative beads, bone, feathers and tassels

Design may be embroidered or simply dyed

Regional preferences again are shown in the choice of color and ornaments used on the mats and baskets.

CARVING


Carving

Existed in the Neolithic times

The earliest pieces are the boat-shaped coffins

found in Palawan

Philippine Artistic TraditionPhilippine Artistic Tradition

During the Spanish campaign to Christianize the islands in the 16th century, carvings in the form of religious idols made of wood, stone, gold or ivory were found in the highlands and the lowlands of Luzon as well as of Mindanao.

Carving

Philippine Artistic TraditionCarving

Linguistically , the vocabulary of Philippine ethnic groups are-replete with words and terms associated with the carving tradition. Okir or Ukkil, a Muslim word meaning to carve or to sculpt has even extended itself to mean

Carving

The Ritualistic carvings are the direct result of

their absorption in

Gods and supernatural

beings.

Carving

Two Purposive types;

Decorative Ritualistic


WEAVING

Weaving

The antiquity of the weaving tradition in the Philippines is evidenced by textile imprints found to be associated with prehistoric metal materials.

Form, decoration and function of comparatively late ethnic textiles indicate at least some weaving methods which have been practiced w/ little alteration.

Weaving

Weaving A tapis or a malong, well woven of good strong

materials, generally lasts for more than one generation

Sometimes the original motif would be preserved although they have been copied over and over

Weaving

Using embellishments e.g. embroidery, patchwork, beadwork, appliques, and so on, the ethnic weavers transpose local legends and myths into pattern designs of man and animal figures, stars, moon and plants.

Weaving

Weaving

Not all groups weave their own cloth. There are some who have mastered the skills. Others, depend on imported textiles or bark cloth for their needs.

Internal trade permits the distribution of locally woven products.

Weaving

Weaving among the lowlanders, however, have lost some of their originality in both designs and materials. What has been lost or changed, however, is replaced w/ techniques otherwise unknown to their highland counterparts.


The development of the artistic tradition described above is determined by such processes as diffusion, invention, patterning or integration. Each is characterized by being made using simple and oftentimes crude tools, by artists who oftentimes limit possibilities for design.

Art & Photos

Philippine artistic tradition