Philippines Traditional Art

The early arts of the Philippines were influenced by the Malay, Indonesian, Chinese and Spanish.

By 1000 B.C. the people on the islands were making jars for household use and for burials. Techniques were developed to make fabrics, jewellery, glass, and iron.

Weaving dates back to about 200 B.C. Traditional weaving is done on the backstrap loom.

In Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago they used yarns made from abaca, cotton and certain tree barks which were pounded into a fibrous cloth called tapa.

The Muslims use mainly geometric designs. Vegetable dyes are used to colour the thread or the finished product.

The craft is an art form among the mountain tribes of Mindanao, Mindoro, and Palawan.

Fabrics include pina and jusi, woven from pineapple and banana fibres.

The T’boli people dye tree bark and weave the strands into geometric designs for baskets and mats.

Yakans weave bright colours into their mats and clothing.

When the Spaniards landed, they found important community leaders wearing gold jewellery.

Jade and glass jewellery also was found, and other handicrafts are the shell crafts of Cebu and the silver filigree of Baguio.

Indigenous people of the Philippines believed in one great God known by a different name in each tribe.

They made no images of their almighty God but did fashion images of lesser spirits.

These were called anitos. These images were carved from stone, wood, gold, or ivory.

Following the Christianising of the people, santos replaced the anitos, santos are carved images of saints.

Wood carvings of animals, birds, and other objects, and furniture-making are important native arts.

The Moros carve marvellous wooden grave markers and houses. In Paete, on Laguna, wood-carving is the community’s only industry.

Some of the Philippines’ finest furniture is carved in the town of Betis, on Pampanga. The buhol, the sacred figures carved by the Ifugao are used to guard food supplies

Painting was traditionally done on the body, masks, rocks and artefacts but did not develop further until the 16th century under the influence of the Spanish, this involved mostly Christian themes.

The earliest important painter was Damian Domingo and is called the father of Filipino painting

Vocal music in the pre-Hispanic period consisted of songs of love, courtship, work, sacred ceremony, and humour, as well as funeral dirges. Dancers often sing or play instruments while they perform.

Gongs, bells, and a variety of stringed instruments are also played. Instruments include Muslim gongs, the Apayao lishe bamboo guitar, the local Jew’s harp called the kubing, and the Rizal bamboo nose flute.

The Tinikling dance, originating in the Visayas, illustrates the movements of the Philippines rail, a small wading bird, as it runs between the grasses on riverbanks.

Two people hold a pair of bamboo poles close to the ground. As they strike the poles together in rhythm another couple dances between and beside the poles. The singkil, a folk dance of Muslim origin, uses four poles.

Muslim dances are performed in a stylised manner with almost no facial expression. Filipino dances, however, are expressive.

The first Filipino literature consisted of oral poems. Most of the oral literature was derived from Hindu, Malayan, Muslim, and Chinese folk stories.

Ancient narrative poems have been preserved by the Sulu Muslims and people on Palawan, Mindanao, and the Ilocos regions.

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