How Do We Locate Philippine Art?
How Do We Locate Philippine Arts?
The development of human civilization would have not been as remarkable as it is now without the advent of arts in ancient societies. Perhaps it would then suffice to say that throughout the history of mankind, it is us who created and polished arts from its most primitive form to its prominent status in today’s society. Even until now, humanity strives to challenge what has been done in this particular aspect of our society. For instance elaborate art making is now widely done, various artistic techniques were also developed, and different mediums were invented. Contrast these with the arts of pre-historic times made apparent through discovered relics such as cave paintings, stone carvings, clay sculptures, body accessories and the like, there is no doubt that arts indeed has gone a long way. Though primitive, these artistic relics are considered timeless as it allows modern day humans to have a glimpse of what it was like to be in the ancient world. Therefore arts could bring us to different realities and allow us to experience different eras as it helps preserve human milestone through time.
If arts have existed thousands of years ago in the earliest human society, how then can we locate Philippine arts? Jocano (1981) once said that our race is still viewed as a mere historical mosaic without any cultural identity to be regarded and no cultural foundation to depend on. With this viewpoint, we can infer that art as an element of culture is something that we have also acquired and borrowed from the various waves of colonization we went through. Indeed, one cannot deny the influence that Spanish, Japanese and American conquerors had on our distinctiveness as a people because the colonial demoralization they did to us was so powerful that it penetrated deep into the very core of our society. However, an open-minded analysis on the accounts of our society’s origin would awaken the Filipino consciousness that has long been buried
The development of human civilization would have not been as remarkable as it is now without the advent of arts in ancient societies. Perhaps it would then suffice to say that throughout the history of mankind, it is us who created and polished arts from its most primitive form to its prominent status in today’s society. Even until now, humanity strives to challenge what has been done in this particular aspect of our society. For instance elaborate art making is now widely done, various artistic techniques were also developed, and different mediums were invented. Contrast these with the arts of pre-historic times made apparent through discovered relics such as cave paintings, stone carvings, clay sculptures, body accessories and the like, there is no doubt that arts indeed has gone a long way. Though primitive, these artistic relics are considered timeless as it allows modern day humans to have a glimpse of what it was like to be in the ancient world. Therefore arts could bring us to different realities and allow us to experience different eras as it helps preserve human milestone through time.
If arts have existed thousands of years ago in the earliest human society, how then can we locate Philippine arts? Jocano (1981) once said that our race is still viewed as a mere historical mosaic without any cultural identity to be regarded and no cultural foundation to depend on. With this viewpoint, we can infer that art as an element of culture is something that we have also acquired and borrowed from the various waves of colonization we went through. Indeed, one cannot deny the influence that Spanish, Japanese and American conquerors had on our distinctiveness as a people because the colonial demoralization they did to us was so powerful that it penetrated deep into the very core of our society. However, an open-minded analysis on the accounts of our society’s origin would awaken the Filipino consciousness that has long been buried
References: Appadurai, A. (1990). Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy. Theory, Culture & Society, 295-308. Jocano, F. l. (1981). The Vision of tbe Future must be Rooted in our Image of the Past. In F. M. Leon, On Art, Man & Nature (pp. 79-82). O 'connor, D. E. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Global Economy A guide for Students and Researchers. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=hXciENBqTUUC&pg=PA391&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false