ART IN THE PHILIPPINES

 Philippine Art: Sculptures, Architectural Designs, Paintings, Martial Arts

Sculptures

                Rizal Park is situated in the heart of the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, overlooking Manila Bay. Luneta has been the site of some of the most significant moments in Philippine history. Among them is the execution of Dr. Jose Rizal on December 30, 1896, whose martyred death made him a hero of the Philippine Revolution. It was officially renamed Rizal Park in tribute to him; the Declaration of Philippine Independence from American rule on June 4, 1946; and the political rallies of Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino in 1986. The monument also serves as the point of origin or Kilometer Zero to all other cities in the Philippines.

          This bronze statue of Lapu-Lapu is located in Mactan Shrine. Lapu-Lapu was the native chieftain of Mactan Island who resisted the efforts of Magellan to subdue his people and be converted to Christianity and to be subjected to the throne of Spain. The subsequent battle on April 27, 1521 between the Spaniards and Lapu-Lapu and his men resulted to the death of Magellan. The shrine was erected on the supposed spot where the battle took place. 

            The famous Blood Compact Site is located in Bohol’s capital city, Tagbilaran. The historic site is the place where one of the most important events in the Philippines’ history, the Blood Compact between Sikatuna, a native chieftain and Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the Spanish explorer and colonizer took place on March 16, 1565. The Sikatuna-Legaspi blood compact is considered as the First Treaty of Friendship between peoples of different races, religious, culture and civilization. It was a treaty of friendship based on mutual respect and equality.

 

            This statue is a reminder that the Spaniards never succeeded in conquering the whole of Mindanao after sending 11 expeditions to conquer the island. This is the monument of Sultan Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat (1580, in Lanao del Sur-?) the seventh Sultan of Maguindanao. He prevented the Spaniards from conquering his sultanate in Mindanao. He was a direct descendant of Sharif Kabungsuan, a Muslim missionary in the 14th century.

             In 1915, he graduated in Painting and Sculpture in the School of Fine Arts, with prizes in all subjects taken. However, he decided to stay for another year. During this time, he rendered the monument of San Miguel de Mayumo representing the Pact of Biak na Bato. Juan Arellano designed it.

              On 9 August 1930, a jury, created to select the best design honoring the Supremo of the Katipunan, met. The designs were entered under pseudonyms. The winning entry was under the pseudonym of Batang Elias – Tolentino was Batang Elias. He won the design for the Bonifacio Monument and was granted a commission for its installation. He completed the figures for the monument in 1932. Then, he sent the figures to Italy for bronze casting. In 1933, he completed the Bonifacio Monument.

            Tolentino worked on the Oblation at about the same time he did the Bonifacio Monument. He made the Oblation an amalgam of the solid physique of Anastacio Caedo, his sculptor/assistant, and the height and proportion of Virgilio Raymundo, Caedo’s brother-in-law. UP President Rafael Palma commissioned the monument. In 1935, the Oblation was unveiled on its original site in the Padre Faura Quadrangle at U.P. Manila. It was later transferred to U.P. Diliman in 1949. Today, the Oblation becomes the symbol of academic freedom in U.P.

             Filipino sculptors came to be known in the middle of the 19th century. Classical Philippine sculpture reached its peak in the works of Guillermo Tolentino (1890-1976). His best known masterpiece is the Bonifacio Monument, which is a group sculpture composed of numerous figures massed around a central obelisk. The principal figure is Andres Bonifacio, leader of the revolution against Spain in 1896. Behind him stands Emilio Jacinto, the brains of the Katipunan. The Bonifacio Monumen t - completed in 1933 -- marked the apex of Tolentino'’s career.

       Abueva'’s more famous work is Fredesvinda , which was included in the First ASEAN Sculpture Symposium held in Fort Canning Hill, Singapore, from March 27 to April 26, 1981.

          Napoleon Abueva (born 1930), one of Tolentino'’s pupils, is one of the pioneering modernists in sculpture. He used various media. And his stylization bordered on the abstract as in Allegorical Harpoon, in which the dominant horizantal thrust of the figure evokes the vitality of primitive forms.

Architectural Designs

           In the rugged landscape of the Cordillera, Apayao is the only region that has a navigable river, the Apayao, after which the region is named. Thus, among the Cordillera people, only the Isneg are boatmen and boat builders. The Isneg boat, barana’y or bank’l, consists mainly of three planks; a bottom plank, which tapers at both ends, and two side planks, which are curved to receive the bottom plank. House design appears to have been influenced by boat design. The roof of the Isneg house suggests an inverted hull, and the floor joists, which are visible outside, suggest the profile of a boat. The Isneg house is about 8.00 m. long, 4.00 m. wide, and 5.50 m. high from ground lefel to the roof ridge. The binuron house rests on a total of 15 posts, which are visible, the floor being about 1.20 m. above the ground. The slanting wooden walls on the sides are about 1.50 m. high from floor to eaves. The main section of the house has a gable roof and is about 6.50 m. long.

        Contemporary dream houses are an abundance of exotic building material houses, surprisingly with so many colors in the architecture of those local houses. We still have typical Spanish house style like this in Intramuros Manila and in Vigan Ilocos Sur that’s been shown here in my picture today. In the Provinces, there are still bamboo houses, but then, some are modern built. In Manila, most of the houses are condominiums. The Philippines has long been known for its creative designs; in houses, in furniture, and for their skill.

             The Balay Negrense was the ancestral house of Victor F. Gaston, one of the pioneers of sugarcane cultivation in Negros Occidental. This Frenchman from Normandy married a Filipina from Batangas. This old house was built in 1897. The house was abandoned in the 1970s but purchased by concern citizens and refurbished the house.

           Majority of the declared Heritage Houses by NHI are located in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. The Dayrit-Cuyugan House which was built in 1920 by the couple Joaquin Dayrit y Singian and Maria Paz Cuyugan y de Leon is also in San Fernando City. The stone house was inherited by their eldest daughter Luz Dayrit y Cuyugan who was married to Ulderico Rodriguez from Bacolor. This ancestral house, which exemplifies the architecture prevalent during the American colonial period, was declared a Heritage House by the NHI in 2003.

           The Mariano Ramos Ancestral House is the residence of the late Don Mariano Ramos, first appointed Presidente Municipal of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. The house was built in the 1930s and its architecture is a combination of Castilian and Tuscan. It was seized by the Japanese forces during the Second World War and used it as a watchtower and as a headquarters.

         The Malacañang Palace is the official residence of the President of the Philippines. The palace is situated along the north bank of the Pasig River in Manila. It is commonly referred to as Malacañang and this shorter name is also used when referring to its role as the office of the president. Malacañan Palace is depicted on the verso side of the present-day 20-peso bill.

          The Malacañan in Cebu is the official residence of the President of the Philippines in the Visayas region. The palace is located in Cebu City. The building was originally built in 1910 and housed the Philippines’ Bureau of Customs office in Cebu. It was restored in by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004. It is colloquially called Malacañang sa Sugbu or Malakanyang sa Cebu. It is also known as the Malacañan Palace of the South.

        The Mansion House is the official summer residence of the President of the Philippines. It is located in the summer capital of the Philippines – Baguio City. This magnificent building was built by the Americans in 1908 as the official summer residence for the U.S Governor General. Severely damaged during World War II, it was reconstructed in 1947 and since then has served as the holiday home and working office for each President of the Philippines during his or her visits to Baguio.

         The Coconut Palace is located in Manila, the Philippine capital. The palace was built in 1978 and was made of different hardwoods, coconut lumber and coconut shells. Its architect is Francisco Mañosa. The palace is located on Eduardo A. Makabenta, Sr. Street at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex between the Folk Arts Theatre and the Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

Paintings

            In the last half of the 19th century, Filipino painters showed enough maturity of concept and technique to merit critical acclaim. Damian Domingo got recognition as the “father of Filipino painting.” Towards the end of the Spanish regime, two Filipino painters won recognition in Europe – Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo and Juan Luna. Hidalgo’s Antigone and Luna’s Spolarium were both acclaimed in Europe as masterpieces of Filipino painting. In 1884, Luna won the first Gold Medal at the Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes for his Spolarium. This monumental painting shows fallen gladiators being dragged to an unseen pile of corpses in a chamber beneath the Roman arena.

"Tampuhan" by Juan Luna. Juan Luna's paintings are described as being vigorous and dramatic and with romatic elements. His style shows the influence of Delacroix, Rembrandt, and Daumier.The great painters in the European art history.Luna is remembered for a handful of paintings. Some of his historical works are “Spoliarium”and “Pacto de Sangre” [“Blood Compact”]. There are allegorical paintings of Luna such as  “España y Filipinas”,the “La Bulaqueña” or “Una Bulaqueña and the "Parisian Life".


Martial Arts

           Filipino Martial Arts refers to ancient and newer fighting methods devised in the Philippines, the most popular of which are known as Arnis/Eskrima/Kali. The intrinsic need for self-preservation was the genesis of these systems. Throughout the ages, invaders and evolving local conflict imposed new dynamics for combat in the islands now making up the Philippines. The Filipino people developed battle skills as a direct result of an appreciation of their ever-changing circumstances. They learned often out of necessity how to prioritize, allocate and utilize common resources in combative situations. Filipinos have been heavily influenced by a phenomenon of cultural and linguistic mixture. Some of the specific mechanisms responsible for cultural and martial change extended from phenomena such as war, political and social systems, technology, trade and of course, simple practicality.

The three umbrella terms for the most commonly seen forms are Eskrima, Arnis and Kali.

The word Eskrima derives from the Spanish term esgrima which means skirmish or fencing.

         Arnis comes from arnes, old Spanish for harness or armor (harness is also an archaic English term for armor with the same roots), which is what the costumes worn during Moro-moro (MorosSIS y Cristianos) stage plays were called when practitioners disguised their art as merely stage fight choreography for public entertainment under the Spaniards' noses. The origins of the word kali are uncertain. One theory is that it may come from the Indonesian word tjakalele., another is that it's a contraction of Kamot Lihok (Cebuano for hand-body movement) The multitude of languages spoken in the 7,107 islands have not only diverged into over 170 dialects, but they have been constantly mixing with one another and as a result, Filipino martial arts comprise a vocabulary of heterogeneous terms. Eskrima, Arnis and Kali are used interchangeably for weapon-based martial arts, particularly those that focus on bladed weapons or stick-fighting. Panantukan, pangamut and pamuok all refer to empty-handed striking methods, while pantadyakan and pananjakman are kick-based. Dumog or wrestling is considered one of the oldest unarmed Filipino fighting styles.


Sources for the Images and Information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_martial_arts

http://park.org/Philippines/education/sculp.htm

http://factoidz.com/wellpreserved-heritage-old-houses-in-the-philippines/
 
http://www.artesdelasfilipinas.com/archives/104/index.php

http://www.phhome.net/tag/spanish-architechture-houses

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/94123_famous-historic-shrines-and-monuments-in-the-philippines

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Controversial-Painting

http://filipinoheritage.zxq.net/arts/architecture/isneg.htm