“Art in the Philippines: Evolving through the years”
Art has been a part of our lives for as long as humanity has been. People have been making
and enjoying art for many years, and it communicates feelings or life expressions. It is one of those
creations that can be interpreted in any way. It’s a skill that may be used to a variety of mediums,
including music, art, poetry, and dance. Furthermore, nature is a form of art in its own right. For
example, when nature makes something one-of-a-kind, it qualifies as art. Artists utilize their work
to communicate their emotions. As a result, and throughout history, art and artists have added value
to society. But how did art evolve in the Philippines?
“Every artist was first an amateur” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Everyone of us has its own style
and skills in expressing themselves but not all of us can do it in a way that we wanted to. Art is
something you need to give a thought and something you need to practice. It takes a lot of time to
make “art’ and all of us need to start from the bottom, we don’t start something and be really good
at it in the first try. The professionals were once an amateur. To get into something that we want,
we should strive hard to achieve. There is a first and everything. Art has been constantly evolving
through the years and it is kept on evolving. You cannot depict on how a human mind works
because just like humans, arts have been developing since then. The different types of art that have
grown and accumulated in the Philippines from the beginning of civilization to the present age are
referred to as arts in the Philippines. They illustrate the variety of artistic influences on the country's
culture, including indigenous arts, and how these influences have sharpened the country's arts. In
our country, through Spaniards, formal artworks, sculptures, and architecture have been developed
in the style of Byzantine, Gothic, and Baroque art. Antique furniture and carvings of the Filipinos
bear witness to Spanish colonialism. Then, it was during American Colonial Art Period where they
brought Art Nouveau style which is an architecture art design famous in Western Europe and the
theme of the painting in this period are landscapes, still life and portraits which is reserve for
official with high ranks. In Japanese Colonial Art Period they influence the Filipinos with poem
style such as haiku and tanaga and despite of the sufferings they are experiencing some artist still
expressed themselves. While in the PostColonial Art Period which is also known as Philippine
Modern Art Era, the arts are now modern, conservative and experimental public art, it has the
influence of Western styles like pop art, maximalism, minimalism, abstraction, expressionism, etc.
And in the Contemporary Art Period, different styles of art appeared like digital art, photography,
junk art and a mini sculpture. Art has been also used in protest or in expressing their feelings with
a specific situation in the society or government with the use of editorial illustrations. There are a
lot of famous artists here in the Philippines and one of them is the famous painter Juan Luna, he is
the one who painted the “Spoliarium” and it was been famous ever since. Now a lot of people
recreate this painting in different variety of mediums, either through sculpting, or using
technologies, and some of us even tried to recreate it in different forms. As for the all the Filipino
artist, they all made a great impact into representing our country and culture in terms of arts and
other things too. They also represent the creativity of the Filipinos and their skills in every variety.
Art has been a great help in our lives because it shapes who we are as individuals and helps us
grow as humans. It allows us to add a uniqueness component to our lives and defines us as
individuals in society. It enables a better comprehension of life's emotions and thoughts.
Art provides us with a fresh perspective on the world and society around us. The most
significant aspect is that it allows us to interpret it in our own unique way. Others get their
inspiration from the great artist whether it’s from the past or present. And the history that we have
is a beautiful evidence on how did art in the Philippines evolve through the years.
Reference:
https://www.preceden.com/timelines/617837-philippine-arts-timeline