SA DUYAN NG SINING

Reflection Paper

GEARTS

Ms. Kate Punzalan

By: Sheinna Mae Von B. Calupig

 The documentary video uploaded by Jesuit Communication Production, or JesComTV,
through YouTube entitled “Sa Duyan ng Sining” features Filipino artists such as Levi Celerio,
Lucio San Pedro, Leonor Orosa, Julie Lluch, and Kidlat Tahimik. The first artist is Levi Celerio,
famously known as Mang Levi, and was introduced as a man from Tondo, Manila, who started
playing violin when he was only eleven years old, and at the same age, he was given a
scholarship in the Academy of Music in Manila. Mang Levi was awarded by the Guinness Book
of Records for being the only person in the world who can create music through the leaves of a
tree. He quoted in the interview that “in the province, when the wind flows through the leaves,
there is a beautiful sound. So I discovered that these leaves are also musical instruments created
by God for poor musicians who cannot afford expensive musical instruments.” There are actually
instances during his time when the Philippines was under Japanese rule when, in the course of
wandering, Japanese soldiers accused him of being a Filipino soldier. To prove his innocence, he
took a leaf and began playing a Japanese melody. In 1930, Mang Levi started to compose a song
for television films, and the first movie he made a song for was Dalagang Bukid, starring
Rogelio Dela Rosa and Rosa Del Rosario. This creates so much opportunity for him as he begins
to gain popularity in terms of musical scoring. In 1993, he was awarded by Gawad Urian from
Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, and from the day of the documentary video, which is three
years ago now, he already had composed 4,000 songs. Despite all of this, Mang Levi does not
gain any royalties through most of his songs. This, however, never bothers him because of his
saying that you lose nothing when you lose money.

The second Filipino artist introduced was Maestro Lucio San Pedro from Angono, Rizal, who
started playing bandurria, octavina, and banjo musical instruments when he was only six years
old. He comes from a poor family wherein he was forced to work part time through singing in
nightclubs just to earn a few pesos while he was studying. Maestro is a full scholar at the
University of the Philippines, which is also the place where his interest in Filipino folk songs
blossomed. In 1935, the president of the Philippines appointed a committee to travel around the
country for the purpose of gathering folk songs, folk tones, and customers of a different native to
preserve it, which drove the start of the folk songs by the students in composition of UP.
However, they were using the folk songs as they were, entirely without developing them or using
creative techniques, just singing them the way they were. In 1943, Maestra became the chairman
of the composition department of the center scholar of the university, and in 1947, he was sent as
a scholar of the Filipino Youth Symphony Orchestra to Julliard School of Music in America
under a professor. Bernard Wagenaar. In his stay, he played the original way of singing folk
songs as it is, which did not appeal to the profession, as he said the folk songs were not his
composition, but rather a composition of his forefather. With this, Maestra was taught that he did
not need to use folk song as it is but to use creativity in his work, which made him whole. He
wanted to recreate the Filipino atmosphere wherein folk songs would be more developed. He
was a solid believer in the philosophy of creative nationalism, which gives significance to the
Filipino because his work would reflect not another country but every composition of his would
project our nationalism. In 1991, he was granted a National Artist Award for music, and a year
before that, he was an Asian Awardee in Singapore. Moreover, he quoted that there are 10
members of the league of Filipino composers, and if they were to be asked the definition of
Filipino music, there would be 10 definitions, and it will never be the same.

The third artist is Julie Lluch, an elementary school teacher in a private school of all girls before
she became a sculpture feminist artist. She thought that she had always been an artist. Julie feels
that she was not living her life as she was very unhappy, sick, and desperate, which resulted in
her breakdowns. With this, she thought that this is the time that art will change her life, and that
was the turning point that led her to decide to be an artist. She was very thankful that she gets to
use clay as a medium of her art because she felt personal attachment to it, saying that it is a
wonderful medium as it is very feminine, soft, obedient, and pleasurable to work with, even
therapeutic. Julie was very conscious of the relationship or the conflict between nature and grace,
life and death, and death and resurrection to the kind of art she was doing. "If Joaquin then, Villa
or Bust!" is the title of her first exhibit in 1978. Moreover, in 1983, Julie was part of
KALAYAAN, a group of feminist intellectuals, and she believes that feminism provided the
context and the angle of refraction for which she viewed life and society, and it grew her out of
the confines of home and into the larger context of life. She quoted that a feminine artist wants to
change the world because art should serve not for selfish purposes but for a higher purpose, like
the call of a nation. In 1980, she became a renewed Christian, a thing that helps her as an artist,
for which she said that art is spiritual and the closest thing you can get to speak to the divine.
Even her daughter, Sari Dalena, is an artist in the filmmaking industry. Julie wants her work to be
a legacy because, at the end of the day, it is what stays, and the artist is just an instrument for
which the art is greater than the artist.

The second-to-last artist is Leonor Orosa, who started her education in Jolo, Sulu, but she and
her father had an agreement that if she finishes high school as a valedictorian, she will be sent to
Manila to study ballet, which she did. Leonor created FILIPINESCAS in 1957, which had 35 to
40 members, mostly youths. They got to do 7-10 international tours, had terrific range, multiple
offers, and they could have gone on forever performing, which she thinks in Europe because they
have won the grand. Despite this, they have absolutely no help from the government. Leoner and
her husband had to raise funds themselves. The honor goes to the country, but the losses and
deficits were theirs to acquire. She was considered the Mother of the Philippine Theater Dance
because she pioneered the use of the theme of “Katutubong Kultura." She started experimenting
with her art because she wants to do something that has never been done before. Her first big
success was Maria Clara and the Leper, and her best work was Filipinescas: Philippine Life,
Legend, and Lore in Dance, which has a duration of 2 hours and is performed in 4 corners of the
world. In 1970, Leonor was awarded as the national artist for dance. She quoted that Filipinos
are very talented; the only thing lacking is the support of both government and private entities.
She continues to teach ballet for 50 years, as she believes that when you do a thing, you don't do
it for future recognition; you do it because you're empowered to do it and you feel you have to do
it. God gave you talent, and you want to use that talent for a service.

The last artist to be introduced but not the least is Kidlat Tahimik. When he was a child, his peers
kept telling him to get an MBA because that is what the country needs, not artists. He graduated
with an MBA in 1967 from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. He
then traveled to Paris to pursue being an economist, but he was active and regular in every art
and film festival. After 5 years, he realized that he was really cut out to be an economist, and
1972 in Munich, Germany, is when and where he started being serious as a filmmaker. With his
confidence, he started to do his first film entitled “Mababangong Bangungot,” whose main
purpose was to exercise the colonial vibration of Eric Quia, a.k.a. Kidlat Tahimik. Due to the
primitive ingredients and juices, it was a successful film critically acclaimed. This gave him a
confidence he called “indio genius,” as his film reflects and enriches our culture. He believes that
cultures are not supposed to be stagnant. Kidlat Tahimik is a father and a filmmaker, in that
order. Father does not also mean to his direct offspring, but it is a commitment to the next
generation, in the sense that he is part of a greater community in which he is socially obliged.

The documentary video I watched featured different types of artists in the Philippines with
different artforms, philosophies, purposes, and even functions in society. Even their artwork has
different functions. The first artist is Mang Levi, who has artworks of music and literature. He
reflects that art is supposed to be unique and creative. I am so surprised at how he can create
music out of a leaf. He is truly an exceptional artist. The second is Maestro Lucio, who talks
about how he learned to be creative in using folk songs, which also taught me that art is
supposed to be substance over form. It is liberating, out of the box, and it should be unique. The
third artist is Julie Lluch, who was once an elementary teacher before art saved her from
unhappiness. This physically and emotionally moved me because it made me realize how
powerful art is. It is not a mere expression or application of our creativity, but it can be the whole
life of a person or a hope for a person to be freely happy in life. Moreover, Julie makes art to be
closer to God; therefore, it definitely reflects how comprehensive and expandable the function of
art is. The fourth artist is Leonor Orosa, who taught me how art is supposed to be passed on to
the next generation, which she is not doing for future recognition but because she is capable of
doing so. If all artists are like Leonor Orosa, who is willing to serve the next generation even if
she is incurring expenses, then future artists will have a great opportunity in this industry, and
our culture will flourish as art is cultural. Lastly, Kidlat Tahimik is a filmmaker who taught me
that it is always too late to decide that you can be an artist if you truly desire it. He also has a
great philosophy, as he said that he is a father socially obliged to the greater community. He
means that he will not create a film that will negatively impact or taint the mind of his audience.
And I think art should have that limitation. Even if art is a form of expressing oneself, it should
not have a negative influence on its audience. Just like Maestro Lucio said, a serious artist thinks
first before he composes.

Overall, the documentary video is extraordinary literature that features amazing artists. This
gives them opportunities to express themselves not just through their artwork but through their
inspiring words. It is significant once in a while that artists can express through their words
because this gives aspiring artists and even citizens, in general, a more substantial knowledge
through them. This can serve as our enlightenment to different artworks and the artist who made
the art possible.