Traditional Arts
vs
Contemporary Arts
Presented by:
Prince Marylits N. Rapista
Objectives
1. Define traditional and contemporary art.
2. Distinguish traditional and
contemporary art.
3. Give value to the traditional and the
contemporary arts in the Philippines.
TRADITIONAL ARTS
~arts that started in the pre-colonial
times and have been handed down from
generation to generation
Theme:
The intention of Animism is
to depict something of the
people’s gods and goddesses,
resulting in the creation of
symbols of animistic figures
like the sun, the moon, and
other human figures.
Carved Figure of Bulul of the Ifugaos
(Bulul is the god of rice of Ifugaos)
Woven Basketry
of Mangyans
T’nalak tapestry (T’bolis in South Cotabato)
Pissiyabit (head cloth) of Mindanao
Embroidered jusi and piña cloth
(Lumban, Laguna)
Papier-Mache made in Pakil (Paete, Laguna)
Woodcarvings (Paete, Laguna)
Like any traditional art,
songs and dances are
handed over by master
craftsmen to their
younger generations.
Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere & El Filibusterismo
Features of Traditional Arts
1. With the absence of
photography, artists in the
past have loved imitating
nature and other still life
to capture its beauty.
2. Traditional Art is Culture-bound.
3. Traditional sculpture
usually focuses on
realistic figures, while
contemporary sculpture
centers on feelings and
thoughts of the artist.
Let’s Compare:
4. Traditional Art is bounded by rules and
standards while contemporary art is not.
People Power Monument (Eduardo Castrillo)
Contemporary Arts can also incorporate
traditional arts in a manner that is exciting.
The incorporation
of both traditional
and contemporary
style is also evident
in Philippine
architecture.
Traditional Filipino House
Traditional Filipino House
Contemporary Filipino House
Contemporary Filipino House
Buildings from other Countries
Petronas Towers
(Petronas Twin)
in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
National Museum of
the American Indian,
Washington
Traditional Arts and Contemporary Arts
exist in mutual acceptance and respect for each
other’s freedom of expression, practices and
principles.
Contemporary Arts
Philippines is a
gold mine of
art.
Aside from our indigenous arts, because of
the four colonial periods in our history,
the art of the Philippines had been
influenced by almost all spheres of the
globe. It had a taste of Renaissance,
Baroque, and Modern Periods through the
colonizers who arrived in the country.
American Period
Writers broke the laws by writing screams of
protest against the government. Filmmakers
used their expertise in joining the bandwagon of
nationalistic artists.
Modernism in all art forms evolved
into a variety of expressions and media
that turned the entire world into a
“creative upheaval.”
Even architecture developed a
modernist style. Many Filipino artists
and architects became adherents of the
style. The architecture by
National Artist Leandro Locsin
is an example.
The Paintings by
National Artist Jose Joya are also
examples of the art styles of the
modernist period in the 1950s known
as abstract expressionism.
In the late 1980s, postmodernism
appeared in the Philippines. The
postmodernists sought to contradict
several aspects and ideas of
modernism that had emerged earlier.
Postmodernists believed that artists should
no longer try to create something “new”. All
they needed to do was to “borrow, combine,
explore” what was already existing to produce
something new. This gave birth to
investigative art.
Features of Postmodernism
1. Pastiche – refers to the
blurring of divisions between
fine art and commercial art, high
culture and low culture, and
highbrow and lowbrow.
Pastiche
~ also means artistic, musical, and
literary works that come from
diverse sources – a mixture, a
medley of different ideas.
~ there is a sense of fragmentation
there is interweaving web of stories
which creates paradoxes
Pastiche of
Leonardo da Vinci’s
Vitruvian Man
Vitruvian Man
2. Bricolage (Assemblage)
• Popularly used in Visual Arts
• Refers to a creation or construction
that uses a diverse range of materials
– from mass-produced to recovered objects
Educated (Rocky Cajigan)
3.) Appropriation or borrowing
• Finds inspiration in artworks
from the previous periods
• In Music – “Appropriation
Performance”
Use of style and content of
another culture for a
performance
Ex: the music by Bach being
played by a Filipino rock band
4. Installation
• Installation Art
– An art made indoors or outdoors where a particular
space is transformed into a three-dimensional
artwork
– Made of diverse materials using realistic or abstract
style
– A conceptual art that presents diverse themes but is
usually temporary
Shoal ( Jose Tence Ruiz)
Exercise No. 1
Directions: On a sheet of paper, draw a Venn Diagram
and distinguish between Traditional Arts and
Contemporary Arts. (20 points)
Traditional Contemporary
Arts Arts
Agreement:
• Read about the National Art Centers
in the Philippines.
• Prepare for a short quiz next
meeting.
Images Source: Google
Book: Philippine Contemporary
Arts Expressions and
Experimentations by Angeline
Benavides-Perez, M.A.
