Contemporary Arts in the Philippines

Contemporary art is the art of today, produced by artists who are living in the twenty-first century. Contemporary art provides an opportunity to reflect on contemporary society and the issues relevant to ourselves, and the world around us. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that challenge traditional boundaries and defy easy definition. Diverse and eclectic, contemporary art as a whole is distinguished by the very lack of a uniform, organizing principle, ideology, or ‘ism.’ Contemporary art is part of a cultural dialogue that concerns larger contextual frameworks such as personal and cultural identity, family, community, and nationality.

Contemporary art forms in the Philippines:

1. Choreography 

In the early years of the American colonization, ballet and modern dance were introduced to the Filipinos through a steady stream of foreign teachers, notable among whom were Luva Adameit, Kaethe Hauser, Trudl Dubsky andAnita Kane.  They promoted dance in the 1930s not only by opening their own schools but by staging performances and presenting their own choreographies.  In particular, for their works, Adameit and Kane drew inspiration from folk dances and themes; Adameit did Planting Rice and Cariñosa and Kane producedMariang Makiling, Mutya ng Dagat, Aswang, among others.  Dubsky created works to classical music like Petite Suite-Au Bord de la Seine, Peer Gynt Suite, Polovetsky Dances, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.   Then followed the arrival of Paul Szilard who choreographed The Four Seasons, La Gioconda, The Mad Thinker and Ricardo and Roberta Cassell with Fifth Symphony, Adagietto, Graduation Ball, Peter and the Wolf, Lady Be Good.

2. Musical Instruments

Everyone loves music, regardless of what culture we are from. We all have at least one song that evokes emotions when we listen to it; it either boosts our mood at that particular moment or transports us back to a challenging period in our life. Filipinos are very fond of music and hardly ever say no to singing, which makes everyone seem born with a song in their hearts. Long before the Spaniards arrived in the country, indigenous peoples have already possessed their own native music. It functioned as a form of entertainment during occasions such as weddings, festivals, inaugurations, as well as funerals. Musical styles vary among regions, as each of the more than a hundred ethnic groups scattered in the islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao produces its own lyrics and music.

3. Literary and music composition

Philippine Music comes in a variety of forms, covering a wide spectrum of sources, geographically and historically; and representing more than 100 ethnolinguistic groups as well as different social and cultural environments in the Philippines. The totality of these forms may be categorized into three distinct repertoires: 1) Asiatic oral traditions; 2) westernized oral traditions; and 3) western-influenced art and popular music, and semi classical music.

4. Visual Design

Visual Design(watch video)

5. Theatrical performance

History of Theatre in the Philippines