Activity 3
Direction: Follow the steps to determine or express the changes that arts
undergone during the course of Philippine History.
Step 1: Choose a specific art work during pre-colonial or Islamic Era. Present a
sketch or picture of it.
Step 2: Select a similar art work from the present.
Step 3: Discuss the changes of Filipino Art with maximum of seven (7) sentences.
Music and Dance
The two paintings are portraying the life of the Filipino people living in the
pre-colonial period and the modern era. Filipinos are naturally fond of both music and dance,
and usually, whenever music is played, it is accompanied by dance. The pre-colonial painting
on the left, demonstrates more about our country’s indigenous cultures through the existence
of ethnic musical instruments such as pipes, flutes, zithers, drums, various string instruments
like kudyapi, a three stringed guitar, the kulintang – an array bossed gongs, the gansa or flat
gong, bamboo percussion instruments, and the gong – large bossed gong. On the other hand
the modern painting on the right, portrays more of a literal and realistic form of art in
interpreting music and dance in the 20th century, a very tender rendering that reveals the
radiant faces of the characters, recurring but always coming up vibrant and colorful. The two
paintings showed how the Filipino art transitioned from pre-colonial period to the present day
art form. It started from simple and conservative clothes then transitioned to elegant and
flashy clothes, also from using ethnic musical instruments it changed to a well crafted and
designed modern instrument like violin present on the right painting.