MODULE 1: INDIGENOUS CREATIVE CRAFTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Contents:
_____________________________________________________________
Principles of Indigenous creative crafts:
·
Definition of Indigenous materials
·
Importance of Indigenous Materials
·
Tools and Mateials used in making indigenous creative crafts
·
Safety practices in making indigenous creative crafts
Principles of Indigenous crafts design:
-Measuring and laying-out of indigenous design.
Designing Indigenous Crafts and its classifications of materials used:
-Wood
-Rattan
-Coconut shell
-Bamboo
-Leather
PRINCIPLES OF INDIGENOUS CREATIVE ARTS
Learning Objectives:
- Recognize the different purpose and types of Indigenous materials.
- Categorize safety practices in making indigenous crafts
- Appreciate the richness of Filipino indigenous materials used in the handicraft making.
Definition of Indigenous materials
INTRODUCTION:
The small islands that make up the island nation of the Philippines, which is part of the Malay
Archipelago, are home to numerous tribes. Undoubtedly, it is a beautiful country with lovely beaches, tall
mountains, volcanoes, coral reefs with vibrant colors, and the blessing of a lush green rainforest. The
locals are friendly and support each other through various jobs, but one stands out in particular. It is the
one that involves Philippine arts and crafts.
THE IGOROTS
THE LUMAD
THE MANGYAN
Location: Northern Luzon
Location: Southern Mindanao
Location: Central Islands
Every nation has distinctive arts and crafts. Philippines also has. Every work of art or craft made
represents the nation and serves as a fine illustration of the people's artistic and creative abilities. It
takes years of dedication and practice to cultivate an art or craft, and it is the product of the artisans'
labor of love for their craft.
DEFINITION OF TERMS:
INDIGENOUS MATERIALS
Timber, canes, grass, palms, and rattan are examples of indigenous materials that are naturally and
locally found in a particular location. Capiz, pearls, corals, and seashells are also indigenous raw
materials in the country that are widely known and used creatively in crafts and decoration because the
country is an archipelago with an abundance of beaches and marine resources.
INDIGENOUS CRAFTS
Indigenous art is produced by native, or "traditional," people who are descended from the land.
Arts and crafts refer to the practice of creating items by hand, sometimes with the aid of specialized
tools, and skillfully fusing that with the artist's sensibility and aesthetic sense. The Philippines has many
villages devoted to the art and craft industries, which not only attract tourists but also provide jobs for
many Filipinos. Traditional crafts like weaving, metalsmithing, pottery, woodcarving, and goldsmithing
are well-known throughout the nation and highly regarded by both locals and visitors. The southern
Philippine Islands are known for their priceless ornate carvings.
____________________________________________________________
Indigenous Peoples Rights Act 1997 (Republic Act No. 8371 of 1997)
An Act to Recognize, Protect, and Promote the Rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous
Peoples, Establishing the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Creating Implementation
Mechanisms, Appropriating Funds for the Commission, and Other Purposes.
Importance of Indigenous Materials and Crafts
●
Creativity - it is an art that reflects the artistic sense, feelings, and cultural characteristics of a
society.
●
Renewable and plentiful, derived from a variety of natural sources - Being naturally
non-polluting and not releasing any harmful chemicals, particles, or toxins into the atmosphere is
very helpful in reducing pollution to the environment.
●
Promotes the beauty and cultural aspect of a country - Through this, people from generation
to generation may experience and retain the artistic side of the Filipinos.
Tools and Mateials used in making indigenous creative crafts
●
Hand Tools - generally used for applications that require less power and greater finesse.
(examples: needles, glass cutters, looms, spinners, and presses.)
●
Power Tools - actuated by an additional power source and mechanism other than the solely
manual labor used with hand tools.
·Safety practices in making indigenous creative crafts
1. Learn the right techniques. Learn all you can about the materials and techniques you’re using.
2. Do arts and crafts in an area where the air circulates well.
3. Keep arts and crafts materials away from food and drink.
4. Keep your working place organized.
PRINCIPLES OF INDIGENOUS CRAFTS DESIGN
Learning Objectives:
- Apply the principles of the tools and materials used in a specific craft;
- Design artistically a modernized version of indigenous craft;
- Picture graphically the modified version of indigenous crafts in class presentation.
The principles of design describe the ways that artists use the elements of art in a work of art.
Movement is the principle of design used to give artists the ability to lead a viewer's eyes around an art
piece. For instance, artists will create pathways within their artwork so that a viewer will automatically
look at a piece in a certain direction.
Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture, and space. If the design was a
scale, these elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable.
____________________________________________________________
Types of balance
In symmetrical balance, the elements used on one side of the design are similar to those on the
other side;
In asymmetrical balance, the sides are different but still look balanced. In radial balance, the
elements are arranged around a central point and may be similar. Asymmetrical balance occurs
when you have different visual images on either side of a design, and yet the image still seems
balanced. To be considered asymmetrical, a design needs to have unequal visual weight on either
side, but those unequal visuals need to balance each other.
Unity is the principle of design that unifies all other principles within a piece of work, allowing each
individual element to coexist with one another to form an aesthetically pleasing design.
Variety is the use of several elements of design to hold the viewer's attention and to guide the viewer's
eye through and around the work of art. Unity is the feeling of harmony between all parts of the work of
art, which creates a sense of completeness.
Rhythm is a principle of design that suggests movement or action. Rhythm is usually achieved through
repetition of lines, shapes, colors, and more. It creates a visual tempo in artworks and provides a path for
the viewer's eye to follow.
Scale refers to the relative size of an element in a design when compared to another element. It is
responsible for creating a visual hierarchy among elements of your creation. It tells viewers what things
to look at, what order to look at them, and what's the most important element to focus on.
Emphasis is the principle of creating a centered interest in an artwork, often achieved by color contrast
and by lines which direct the eye to it.
Contrast refers to the use of visually different elements. In addition to capturing attention, contrast can
guide the viewer's eye to a focal point, highlight important information and add variety, or even drama,
to a design.
The amount of difference between elements :
●
Value contrast - the amount of difference between values
●
High contrast - there is a large difference between the lightest and the darkest areas
and edges look harder.
●
Low contrast - there is not much difference between the lightest and darkest areas and
Edges look softer.
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MEASURING AND LAYING-OUT OF INDIGENOUS DESIGN.
For designating measurements of length, pre-Columbian societies developed units that primarily related
to the human body. Smaller distances were defined using body parts such as fingers, palms and feet.
Incans most commonly used the ricra, the fingertip-to-fingertip distance of outstretched arms. Layout
design is the process of arranging visual and textual elements on-screen or on-paper in order to grab a
reader's attention and communicate information in a visually appealing way.
Example of measuring and laying out of indigenous design is Piña fiber.
Piña is from a leaf, the leaf has to be cut first from the plant. Then the fiber is pulled or split away from
the leaf. Each strand of the piña fiber is hand scraped and is knotted one by one to form a continuous
filament to be handwoven and then made into a piña cloth. The green epidermal layer is scraped off the
leaf with tools made from coconut shells, coconut husks or pottery shards. Extraction from the long, stiff
leaves is time consuming and labor intensive. These fibers are then spun into soft, shimmering fabrics by
hand. Because the fiber is fine and breaks easily, working with it is slow and tedious. Workers are
constantly knotting broken threads. The result is a lightweight, transparent fabric that is positively
beautiful. The second layer, bastos, is a coarse fiber used in making strings or twine. The finer fiber is
called pinukpok. All these fibers are combed to clean them further (usually by the river since it is
believed that its water makes the strands whiter) and render them easy for hand knotting into
continuous strands. Since the individual stripped fiber is no longer than 30 inches, the fibers have to be
knotted. This process is known in the dialect as pag-panug-ot, an utterly delicate and laborious task. A
piece of bamboo is fashioned into a blade to cut off the end of each knot. The next step is warping. This
is done on pegs struck in a board. Another laborious step, it usually takes 15 to 20 days to warp enough
yarns to complete a “sucod” of 18 to 20 “bucos” or 54 to 60 meters of cloth. Pag-talinyas or spinning is
likewise executed with a crude hand-operated bobbin winder which is turned by the right hand while the
left hand drills the strand into a tiny mold made of reed or tabun-ak. This process makes the material
ready for the loom. The loom has foot-operated treadle with an extended overhead warp beam with two
harnesses and two treadles. The warp is wound into the warp beam. Then it is treaded into the boddle
(benting) reed or sucod. The benting allows the warp to open when the treadle is stepped on the feet.
The sucod is used to press the weft to thicken the cloth. The thickness and width of the cloth is
determined by the sucod. There are the 65, 70 and 80 types of winder. For instance, the 65 sucod
produces a cloth of about 24 inches in width; 70 sucod, 29 inches, and the 80 sucod, 31 to 32 inches.
Dyeing the fiber to any desired color may be executed at this point. Normally piña is beige or dirty white
or ecru but dyed piña produces blue or black piña cloth. These hand woven fabrics are colored with
vegetable dyes originating from leaves, and bark of different trees. The result is equally dramatic and
charming.
Difference between crafts and arts
Art is described as an unstructured and open-ended form of work; that expresses emotions, feelings, and
vision. Craft denotes a form of work, involving the creation of physical objects, by the use of hands and
brain. Art relies on artistic merit whereas craft is based on learned skills and technique.
REFERENCES:
Philippines - IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
Philippines - Resources - Arts & Crafts | IndiaASEAN.org - Your gateway to ASEAN cooperation
Use arts and crafts materials safely - Canada.ca
https://philippinefolklifemuseum.org/portfolio-items/history-and-origin-of-pina/
https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-art-and-craft.html
DIFFERENT KINDS OF INDIGENOUS MATERIALS AND THEIR CRAFTS
(include pictures of indigenous materials nga kahoy, before siya nahimong crafts)
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the different tools and materials in indigenous crafts;
- Modify materials used in making indigenous crafts
- Classify the different materials and tools used in indigenous materials.
1. WOOD
- Narra, acacia, molave, mahogany, mango, santol, yakal, tanguile....., the Philippines has several
wood species to choose from.
- Filipinos had been engaging in the art of woodcarving long before the arrival of the Spaniards.
- The most popular Filipino woodcarvers are the Ifugaos, the Tagbanwas, the Maranaos and the
Paetenos.
Creative Crafts of WOODS:
* Statue Wood Carving
* Image Wood Carving
2. RATTAN
- The palm tree rattan is probably one of the most famously known plants in the Philippines.
- With its use spanning not just for baskets but also for furniture, hats, and bags.
- This climbing vine is strong, fibrous, lightweight, durable, flexible and easy.
Creative Crafts of RATTAN:
* Baskets
* Bags
3. BAMBOO
- Many designers and manufacturers have long favored bamboo’s versatility and functionality.
- The native plant species, which grows in many parts of the Philippines, has been used in the
production of furniture, and as décor pieces.
- Bamboo crafts permeate all aspects of Philippine life. Bamboo is used for house construction, for
fishing and farming implements, for musical instruments and much more. Bamboo items may still
be found in the handicraft section of most public markets.
Creative Crafts of BAMBOO:
* Musical Instruments
* Bamboo Furnitures
4. COCONUT SHELL
- Coconut shell has biological function as the protector of the main fruit, located in the inner side
of the coconut fiber
- It can be categorized as hard wood.
- Artworks from coconut shell hace excellent quality, imperishable, and relatively easy to form.
Creative Crafts of COCONUT SHELLS:
* Decorations
* Ladle
5. LEATHER
- A material created through the tanning of hides, skins and kips of animals.
- Hides are skins from large animals like horses and carabaos. Skins come from such animals like
alligators and goats. Kips are obtained from undersized animals like lizards.
- The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable, long-lasting, and versatile
natural material for various uses.
Creative Crafts of LEATHER:
* Pouch
* Footwear
REFERENCES
https://fameplus.com/touchpoint/raw-potential
https://medium.com/@mariarosanna/the-woodcarvers-of-the-philippines-3e4b10cd580f#:~:text=Tagbanwa%20
Woodcarvers&text=And%20this%20is%20probably%20why,exciting%20of%20indigenous%20Philippine%20wo
odcarvings.
https://encyclocraftsapr.com/bamboo-crafts/#:~:text=One%20significant%20bamboo%20craft%20is,for%20ca
rrying%20and%20storing%20tobacco.
https://wickerdarling.com/blogs/wicker-darling-blog/what-is-a-rattan-handbag-hand-woven-in-the-philippines
https://asiainch.org/article/coconut-shell-craft/
https://colosushandicraft.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/philippine-handicraft-industrytheir-benefits-and-importan
ce/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Philippines
https://www.vigattintourism.com/tourism/articles/Indigenous-Arts-and-Crafts
https://www.slideshare.net/babaylan1111/philippine-indigenous-art
FILIPINO ARTISTS CREATING INDIGENOUS CRAFTS/MATERIALS
●
METALSMITHING - Espina
●
WEAVING - Dayagro
●
POTTERY - Ag-ag
●
WOODCARVING - Francisco
●
BAMBOO - Contreras
●
COCONUT SHELL - Abella
●
RATTAN - Cassion
●
LEATHER - Alcantara
LAYOUT:
(PICTURE)
(sa drive ra diretso)
NAME OF ARTIST
BIODATA
● date of birth, birth place, date of death (if deceased)
● little details sa iya life nga related sa iyang craft skills chuchu
● achievements/awards (if naa)
(mubo rajud guys ayaw namog search maayo if unsa makit-an ninyo kana lang)
MASTERPIECE
SAMPLE:
link:
https://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2017/10/10/indigenous-artists-national-living-treasures.html
METALSMITHING
EDUARDO TUBIG MUTUC
-
-
-
A metalsmith and sculptor from the Philippines. Mutuc is a native of Apalit, Pampanga. He was
born to farmers on October 12, 1949, and grew up with nine siblings. He only finished elementary
school and then helped his parents on their farm.
He began his artistic career as a woodcarver at the age of 29, seeking an alternative source of
income to supplement his farming earnings. As a helper, he worked in an antique shop owned by
his relatives, the Lozano family. During his time there, he learned woodcarving from Carlos
Quiros. He learned silver plating, or pinukpuk as it is known locally, from a colleague in his sixth
year and left the furniture shop where he was working to become an independent craftsman with
another friend. He went on to create other religious works many of which are based on Spanish
colonial designs although Mutuc also incorporates his own ideas.
In 2004, He was given the National Living Treasures Award.
POTTERY
TESSY PETTYJOHN
Born: 1948
Hometown: Manila
Based In: Calamba, Laguna
-
Tessy Pettyjohn is a renowned pioneer of Philippine pottery, clay art, and sculpture. Starting her
craft in the late 1970s, she has had many shows both here and abroad in her long career.
Although she has retired from teaching, she now concentrates on doing her own work for exhibits
at her Laguna workshop studio. She continues to explore the use of indigenous Philippine clays,
pigments, and minerals for making high fire ceramics and glazes.
BAMBOO
RATTAN
KENNETH COBONPUE
Kenneth Cobonpue is a Filipino industrial designer known for his unique designs integrating natural
materials through innovative handmade production processes. He was born on december 16,1968.
Together with his wife they have 2 children. He began his design career after his studies in Industrial
Design in New York, which led him to apprenticeships and further studies in Italy and Germany.
After a series of further studies and apprentices abroad, Kenneth moved back to Cebu in 1996 to help
manage their family business founded by his mother in 1972. Upon managing the business, Kenneth
discovered that by the use of natural fibers and materials as a medium, modern design could have a new
face.Cobonpue pioneered the integration of design, manufacturing, and global distribution as well as
branding in Cebu, operating from his headquarters on the island.
Awards to his credit include Hong Kong's Design for Asia Award, the Japan Good Design Award, the
American Society of Interior Designers Selection, the French Coup de Coeur Award, and the first Asian
Designer of the Year title given by the Maison et Objet in Paris.In March 2017, Cobonpue was appointed
by President Rodrigo Duterte as chairperson of the National Economic and Development Authority
Regional Development Council for Central Visayas.
WEAVING
Lang Dulay
(August 3, 1928 - April 30, 2015)
She was a Filipino traditional weaver who was a recipient of the National Living Treasures Award.
She is credited with preserving her people's tradition of weaving T'nalak, a dyed fabric made from refined
abaca fibre.
Lang Dulay was a T'boli princess from the Lake Sebu region in South Cotabato. She first learnt weaving at the
age of 12 from her mother, Luan Senig.
She is known for maintaining the use of traditional motifs in T'nalak weaving amidst commercialization of the
craft which saw the introduction of more modern designs by non-T'bolis. She notably had a mental repertoire
of around 100 patterns and designs some of these were based on her dreams, hence her description as a
"dreamweaver".
Lang Dulay set up the Manlilikha ng Bayan Center workshop in her hometown to promote the traditional art of
T'nalak weaving and by 2014, five of her grandchildren had become weavers.
Lang Dulay fell into a coma in early 2015 and died on April 30 of the same year.
She was conferred the National Living Treasures Award in 1998. That same year, her works were featured in
an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in the United States as part of the Philippine
Independence Centennial celebrations.
Masterpiece: T’Nalak
WOODCARVING
Jose P. Alcantara
Born: 1911 - 2005
●
Jose P. Alcantara was a renowned Filipino sculptor, muralist, painter, inventor and businessman.
Alcantara is remembered for his contributions to the rich and diverse Filipino art scene, and is
known as one of the greatest sculptors that the country has ever produced.
●
A native of Manila, Alcantara began his career in art at the age of ten as an apprentice in a
sculptural shop in the Quiapo district. He would go on to hone his craft over the course of his
lifetime, and go on to win multiple prizes in competitions held by the Art Association of the
Philippines, as well as various awards in the United States where he emigrated later in life.
●
Medal awarded to Alcantara shortly before his passing by the president of the Philippines
AWARDS:
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Special Prize, 1951: INA NG LAHI (MOTHER OF FILIPINOS)
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Third Prize, 1951: THE KISS
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First Prize, 1953: MOTHER AND CHILD
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First Prize, 1954: INA NG ANI (MOTHER OF HARVEST)
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Second Prize, 1955: SUSMARIOSEP
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First Prize in the first Southeast Asian Art conference and Competition: BEHOLD THE MAN
COCONUT SHELL
Bernadette Solina Wolf
Date of Birth: February 27, 1959
Deceased: October 21, 2022
●
Bernadette Solina Wolf is a gifted painter and children’s book illustrator in the Philippines. She
has become a popular illustrator who always includes Philippine patterns and indigenous designs
in her artworks.
●
Bernadette has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Communications from the College of Fine
Arts, University of the Philippines. She had taught visual arts at the Philippine High School for
the Arts for five years.
●
Living on Puerto Galera, a small island approximately 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Manila,
Bernadette has dedicated herself to illustration for about four decades.
LEATHER
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
1. Movement
ARTIST: VINCENT VAN GOGH
ART: STARRY NIGHT
Van Gogh's The Starry Night (1889) is an example of how an artist can use a specialised painting technique to
suggest movement. Broken, swirling lines suggest the movement of the wind through the sky. Van Gogh also
used short, circular lines surrounding the stars and moon. This helps suggest that they are twinkling.
2. BALANCE
Symmetrical Balance
ARTIST: LEONARDO DA VINCI
ART: THE LAST SUPPER
Leonardo was well known for his love of symmetry. In his Last Supper, the layout is largely horizontal. The large
table is seen in the foreground of the image with all of the figures behind it. The painting is largely symmetrical
with the same number of figures on either side of Jesus.
Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper is another great example of symmetrical balance, drawing upon a one-point
perspective in which the vanishing point is somewhere behind and above Christ in the center of the painting. An
equal number of figures can be seen on either side of Christ, six on each side.
Asymmetrical Balance
ARTIST: Hokusai
ART: "Under the Wave off Kanagawa" / The Great Wave
The asymmetrical balance of the painting creates a feeling of heaviness and weight on the wide of the great
wave. Despite the weight of the painting falling on the right side of the painting, the negative space works to
balance this asymmetry.
3. UNITY
ARTIST: EDVARD MUNCH
ART: THE SCREAM
The cold and the warm colors meet near the top of the painting and appear like they are in harmony. The two
figures walking away from the middle figure creates a sense of loneliness. The dark colors in the water creates a
sad feeling and the red skies create the feeling of pain.
4. Variety
Artist: Tom Thomson
Art: Opulent October, Winter
When an artist places different visual elements next to one another, he/she is using variety: Straight lines next to
curvy lines. Organic shapes among geometric shapes. Bright colors next to dull colors.
5. Rhythm
Artist: Van Gogh
Art: Weiner Elementary
Like music or a dance, rhythm in art has a flow of objects or elements that repeat similarly to the beat of music.
The rhythm can be shown through brushstrokes as in many of Van Gogh's paintings.
6. Scale
Artist: Francesco Botticini
Art: The Assumption of the Virgin
Big to small human size
7. Emphasis
Artist: Claude Monet
Art: Impression, Sunrise
The focus of the Impression, Sunrise painting is almost entirely on color and light, emphasizing the breaking
sunlight and its undulating reflections. Monet sought to perfectly capture the morning in evanescent detail and
his medley of blues and oranges depict this fittingly.
8. Contrast
Artist: Pablo Picasso
Art: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
Among the broken elements of the painting, the contrast between the faces of the three women on the left and
those two on the right are the most glaring one. Those two faces on the right are painted chaotic exuberance and
distorted making them seem barely related to human.
Artist: Georges Braque
Art: Still life with Lemons
BOOKSTYLE
KRISHA -
Title page & Table of Contents
Principles of Indigenous creative crafts:
·
Definition of Indigenous materials
·
Definition of Terms
CASSION -
·
Importance of Indigenous Materials
·
Indigenous Peoples Rights Act 1997
Group members name, roles, and pictures layout
GRACE -
·
Tools and Mateials used in making indigenous creative crafts
·
Safety practices in making indigenous creative crafts
All REFERENCES
ELOISA -
Principles of Indigenous crafts design:
·
Movement - Contrast
·
Measuring and laying-out of indigenous design
·
·Difference between arts and crafts
SHIRLEY -
Designing Indigenous Crafts and its classifications of materials used:
-Wood
-Rattan
-Coconut shell
-Bamboo
-Leather
ELECCION - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Philippines
ABELLA & CASSION - https://www.vigattintourism.com/tourism/articles/Indigenous-Arts-and-Crafts
INSOY & ALMEDILLA - https://www.slideshare.net/babaylan1111/philippine-indigenous-art