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CONTEMPORARY ARTS

1. National Artists of Philippines


a. Music

National Artist for Music (1989)


(August 31, 1918 – August 16, 2008)

Lucrecia R. Kasilag, as educator, composer, performing artist, administrator


and cultural entrepreneur of national and international caliber, had involved
herself wholly in sharpening the Filipino audience’s appreciation of music.
Kasilag’s pioneering task to discover the Filipino roots through ethnic music
and fusing it with Western influences has led many Filipino composers to
experiment with such an approach. She dared to incorporate indigenous
Filipino instruments in orchestral productions, such as the prize-winning
“Toccata for Percussions and Winds,Divertissement and Concertante,”
and the scores of the Filiasiana, Misang Pilipino and De Profundis. “Tita
King”, as she was fondly called, worked closely as music director with
colleagues Lucresia Reyes-Urtula, Isabel Santos, Jose Lardizabal and Dr.
Leticia P. de Guzman and made Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company one of
the premier artistic and cultural groups in the country.

Her orchestral music include Love Songs, Legend of the Sarimanok, Ang
Pamana, Philippine Scenes, Her Son,Jose, Sisa and chamber music
like Awit ng mga Awit Psalms, Fantaisie on a 4-Note Theme, and East
Meets Jazz Ethnika.

National Artist for Music (1997)


(May 1, 1912 – December 5, 1992)

Felipe Padilla de Leon, composer, conductor, and scholar, Filipinized western


music forms, a feat aspired for by Filipino composers who preceded him.The
prodigious body of De Leon’s musical compositions, notably the sonatas,
marches and concertos have become the full expression of the sentiments and
aspirations of the Filipino in times of strife and of peace, making him the
epitome of a people’s musician. He is the recipient of various awards and
distinctions: Republic Cultural Heritage Award, Doctor of Humanities from UP,
Rizal Pro-Patria Award, Presidential Award of Merit, Patnubay ng Kalinangan
Award, among others.

De Leon’s orchestral music include Mariang Makiling Overture (1939), Roca


Encantada, symphonic legend (1950), Maynila
Overture (1976), Orchesterstuk(1981); choral music like Payapang
Daigdig, Ako’y Pilipino,Lupang Tinubuan, Ama Namin; and
songs Bulaklak, Alitaptap, and Mutya ng Lahi.

National Artist for Music (1997)


(January 31, 1917 – May 5, 2004)

Jose Maceda, composer, musicologist, teacher and performer, explored the


musicality of the Filipino deeply. Maceda embarked on a life-long dedication to
the understanding and popularization of Filipino traditional music. Maceda’s
researches and fieldwork have resulted in the collection of an immense number
of recorded music taken from the remotest mountain villages and farthest island
communities. He wrote papers that enlightened scholars, both Filipino and
foreign, about the nature of Philippine traditional and ethnic music. Maceda’s
experimentation also freed Filipino musical expression from a strictly
Eurocentric mold.

Usually performed as a communal ritual, his compositions like Ugma-


ugma(1963), Pagsamba (1968), and Udlot-udlot (1975), are monuments to his
unflagging commitment to Philippine music. Other major works includeAgungan,
Kubing, Pagsamba, Ugnayan, Ading, Aroding, Siasid, Suling-suling.
National Artist for Music (1973)
(December 26, 1894 – January 29, 1980)

Antonio J. Molina, versatile musician, composer, music educator was the last of the
musical triumvirate, two of whom were Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago, who
elevated music beyond the realm of folk music. At an early age, he took to playing the
violoncello and played it so well it did not take long before he was playing as orchestra
soloist for the Manila Grand Opera House. Molina is credited for introducing such
innovations as the whole tone scale, pentatonic scale, exuberance of dominant ninths
and eleventh cords, and linear counterpoints. As a member of the faculty of the UP
Conservatory, he had taught many of the country’s leading musical personalities and
educators like Lucresia Kasilag and Felipe de Leon.

Molina’s most familiar composition is Hatinggabi, a serenade for solo violin and piano
accompaniment. Other works are (orchestral music) Misa Antoniana Grand Festival
Mass, Ang Batingaw, Kundiman- Kundangan; (chamber music) Hating Gabi, String
Quartet, Kung sa Iyong Gunita, Pandangguhan; (vocal music) Amihan, Awit ni Maria
Clara, Larawan Nitong Pilipinas, among others.

National Artist for Music (1976)


(February 15, 1895 – August 7, 1978)

Long before Lea Salonga’s break into Broadway, there was already Jovita Fuentes‘
portrayal of Cio-cio san in Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at Italy’s Teatro
Municipale di Piacenza. Her performance was hailed as the “most sublime interpretation
of the part”. This is all the more significant because it happened at a time when the
Philippines and its people were scarcely heard of in Europe. Prior to that, she was
teaching at the University of the Philippines Conservatory of Music (1917) before
leaving for Milan in 1924 for further voice studies. After eight months of arduous
training, she made her stage debut at the Piacenza. She later embarked on a string of
music performances in Europe essaying the roles of Liu
Yu in Puccini’s Turnadot, Mimi in Puccini’s La Boheme, Iris inPietro
Mascagni’s Iris, the title role of Salome (which composer Richard Strauss personally
offered to her including the special role of Princess Yang Gui Fe in Li Tai Pe). In
recognition of these achievements, she was given the unprecedented award of
“Embahadora de Filipinas a su Madre Patria” by Spain.

Her dream to develop the love for opera among her countrymen led her to found the
Artists’ Guild of the Philippines, which was responsible for the periodic “Tour of
Operaland” productions. Her life story has been documented in the biography Jovita
Fuentes: A Lifetime of Music (1978) written by Lilia H. Chung, and later translated into
Filipino by Virgilio Almario.

b. Dance

National Artist for Dance (2014)


The name Alice Reyes has become a significant part of Philippine dance
parlance. As a dancer, choreographer, teacher and director, she has made a
lasting impact on the development and promotion of contemporary dance in
the Philippines. Her dance legacy is evident in the dance companies,
teachers, choreographers and the exciting Filipino modern dance repertoire of
our country today.
Reyes’ dance training started at an early age with classical ballet under the
tutelage of Rosalia Merino Santos. She subsequently trained in folk dance
under the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company and pursued
modern dance and jazz education and training in the United States. Since
then, during a professional dance career that spanned over two decades, her
innovative artistic vision, firm leadership and passion for dance have made a
lasting mark on Philippine dance.

Perhaps the biggest contribution of Alice Reyes to Philippine dance is the


development of a distinctly Filipino modern dance idiom. Utilizing inherently
Filipino materials and subject matters expressed through a combination of
movements and styles from Philippine indigenous dance, modern dance and
classical ballet she has successfully created a contemporary dance language
that is uniquely Filipino. From her early masterpiece Amada to the modern dance
classic Itim-Asu, to her last major work Bayanihan Remembered which she
staged for Ballet Philippines, she utilized this idiom to promote unique facets of
Philippine arts, culture and heritage.

By introducing the first modern dance concert at the CCP Main Theater in
February 1970 featuring an all contemporary dance repertoire and by promoting
it successfully to a wide audience, she initiated the popularization of modern
dance in the country. She followed this up by programs that developed modern
dancers, teachers, choreographers and audiences. By organizing outreach tours
to many provinces, lecture-demonstrations in schools, television promotions, a
subscription season and children’s matinee series, she slowly helped build an
audience base for Ballet Philippines and modern dance in the country.
Among her major works: Amada (1969), At a Maranaw Gathering (1970) Itim-
Asu (1971), Tales of the Manuvu(1977), Rama Hari (1980), Bayanihan
Remembered (1987).

National Artist for Dance


(July 24, 1917 – July 15, 2005)

Dubbed the “Trailblazer”, “Mother of Philippine Theater Dance” and “Dean of Filipino
Performing Arts Critics”,Leonor Orosa Goquingco, pioneer Filipino choreographer in
balletic folkloric and Asian styles, has produced for over 50 years highly original, first-of-
a-kind choreographies, mostly to her own storylines. These include “TREND: Return to
Native,” “In a Javanese Garden,” “Sports,” “VINTA!,” “In a Concentration Camp,”
“The Magic Garden,” “The Clowns,” “Firebird,” “Noli Dance Suite,” “The Flagellant,”
“The Creation…” Seen as her most ambitious work is the dance epic “Filipinescas:
Philippine Life, Legend and Lore.” With it, Orosa has brought native folk dance,
mirroring Philippine culture from pagan to modern times, to its highest stage of
development.

She was the Honorary Chair of the Association of Ballet Academies of the Philippines
(ABAP), and was a founding member of the Philippine Ballet Theater.
National Artist for Dance (1973)
(March 9, 1899 – November 21, 1983)

Francisca Reyes Aquino is acknowledged as the Folk Dance Pioneer. This Bulakeña
began her research on folk dances in the 1920’s making trips to remote barrios in
Central and Northern Luzon. Her research on the unrecorded forms of local celebration,
ritual and sport resulted into a 1926 thesis titled “Philippine Folk Dances and Games,”
and arranged specifically for use by teachers and playground instructors in public and
private schools. In the 1940’s, she served as supervisor of physical education at the
Bureau of Education that distributed her work and adapted the teaching of folk dancing
as a medium of making young Filipinos aware of their cultural heritage. In 1954, she
received the Republic Award of Merit given by the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay for
“outstanding contribution toward the advancement of Filipino culture”, one among the
many awards and recognition given to her.

Her books include the following: Philippine National Dances (1946); Gymnastics for
Girls (1947); Fundamental Dance Steps and Music (1948);Foreign Folk
Dances (1949); Dances for all Occasion (1950); Playground Demonstration (1951);
and Philippine Folk Dances, Volumes I to VI.

National Artist for Dance (2006)


(June 16, 1938 – December 21, 2006)
Ramon Obusan was a *dancer, choreographer, stage designer and artistic director.
He achieved phenomenal success in Philippine dance and cultural work. He was
also cknowledged as a researcher, archivist and documentary filmmaker who
broadened and deepened the Filipino understanding of his own cultural life and
expressions. Through the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Grop (ROFG), he had effected
cultural and diplomatic exchanges using the multifarious aspects and dimensions of
the art of dance.

National Artist for Dance (1988)


(June 29, 1929 – August 24, 1999)
Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula, choreographer, dance educator and researcher, spent almost
four decades in the discovery and study of Philippine folk and ethnic dances. She
applied her findings to project a new example of an ethnic dance culture that goes
beyond simple preservation and into creative growth. Over a period of thirty years, she
had choreographed suites of mountain dances, Spanish-influenced dances, Muslim
pageants and festivals, regional variations and dances of the countryside for the
Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company of which she is the dance director. These
dances have all earned critical acclaim and rave reviews from audiences in their world
tours in Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.

Among the widely acclaimed dances she had staged were the following: Singkil, a
Bayanihan signature number based on a Maranao epic poem; Vinta, a dance honoring
Filipino sailing prowess; Tagabili, a tale of tribal conflict;Pagdiwata, a four-day harvest
festival condensed into a six-minute breath-taking spectacle; Salidsid, a mountain
wedding dance ; Idaw, Banga and Aires de Verbena.

Theater

National Artist for Theater and Music (1987)


(January 11, 1902 – July 11, 1991)

Honorata “Atang” Dela Rama was formally honored as the Queen of Kundiman in
1979, then already 74 years old singing the same song (“Nabasag na Banga”) that she
sang as a 15-year old girl in the sarsuela Dalagang Bukid. Atang became the very first
actress in the very first Tagalog film when she essayed the same role in the sarsuela’s
film version. As early as age seven, Atang was already being cast in Spanish zarzuelas
such as Mascota, Sueño de un Vals, andMarina. She counts the role though of an
orphan in Pangarap ni Rosa as her most rewarding and satisfying role that she played
with realism, the stage sparkling with silver coins tossed by a teary-eyed audience.
Atang firmly believes that the sarswela and the kundiman expresses best the Filipino
soul, and has even performed kundiman and other Filipino songs for the Aetas or
Negritos of Zambales and the Sierra Madre, the Bagobos of Davao and other Lumad of
Mindanao.
National Artist for Theater and Literature (1997)
(March 5, 1937 – July 7, 1997)

Rolando S. Tinio, playwright, thespian, poet, teacher, critic and translator, marked his
career with prolific artistic productions. Tinio’s chief distinction is as a stage director
whose original insights into the scripts he handled brought forth productions notable for
their visual impact and intellectual cogency. Subsequently, after staging productions for
the Ateneo Experimental Theater (its organizer and administrator as well), he took on
Teatro Pilipino. It was to Teatro Pilipino which he left a considerable amount of work
reviving traditional Filipino drama by re-staging old theater forms like the sarswela and
opening a treasure-house of contemporary Western drama. It was the excellence and
beauty of his practice that claimed for theater a place among the arts in the Philippines
in the 1960s.

Aside from his collections of poetry (Sitsit sa Kuliglig, Dunung – Dunungan, Kristal
na Uniberso, A Trick of Mirrors) among his works were the following: film scripts
for Now and Forever, Gamitin Mo Ako, Bayad Puri andMilagros; sarswelas Ang
Mestisa, Ako, Ang Kiri, Ana Maria; the komedya Orosman at Zafira; and Larawan,
the musical.

National Artist for Theater and Film (1976)

Lamberto V. Avellana, director for theater and film, has the distinction of being called
“The Boy Wonder of Philippine Movies” as early as 1939. He was the first to use the
motion picture camera to establish a point-of-view, a move that revolutionized the
techniques of film narration. Avellana, who at 20 portrayed Joan of Arc in time for
Ateneo’s diamond jubilee, initially set out to establish a Filipino theater. Together with
Daisy Hontiveros, star of many UP plays and his future wife, he formed the Barangay
Theater Guild which had, among others, Leon Ma .Guerrero and Raul Manglapus as
members. It was after seeing such plays that Carlos P. Romulo, then president of
Philippine Films, encouraged him to try his hand at directing films. In his first film Sakay,
Avellana demonstrated a kind of visual rhythm that established a new filmic language.

Sakay was declared the best picture of 1939 by critics and journalists alike and set the
tone for Avellana’s career in film that would be capped by such distinctive achievements
as the Grand Prix at the Asian Film Festival in Hong Kong for Anak Dalita (1956); Best
Director of Asia award in Tokyo for Badjao, among others.

Avellana was also the first filmmaker to have his film Kandelerong Pilak shown at the
Cannes International Film Festival. Among the films he directed for worldwide release
were Sergeant Hasan (1967), Destination Vietnam(1969), and The Evil
Within (1970).

National Artist for Theater (2001)


(January 3, 1915 – December 12, 1980)

Playwright, director, actor, and theater organizer Severino Montano is the forerunner in
institutionalizing “legitimate theater” in the Philippines. Taking up courses and graduate
degrees abroad, he honed and shared his expertise with his countrymates.

As Dean of Instruction of the Philippine Normal College, Montano organized the Arena
Theater to bring drama to the masses. He trained and directed the new generations of
dramatists including Rolando S. Tinio, Emmanuel Borlaza, Joonee Gamboa, and Behn
Cervantes.

He established a graduate program at the Philippine Normal College for the training of
playwrights, directors, technicians, actors, and designers. He also established the Arena
Theater Playwriting Contest that led to the discovery of Wilfrido Nolledo, Jesus T.
Peralta, and Estrella Alfon.

Among his awards and recognitions are the Patnubay ng Kalinangan Award from the
City of Manila (1968), Presidential Award for Merit in Drama and Theater (1961), and
the Rockefeller Foundation Grant to travel to 98 cities abroad (1950, 1952, 1962, and
1963).
National Artist for Theater (1999)
(January 26, 1917 – May 12, 2013)

Daisy H. Avellana, is an actor, director and writer. Born in Roxas City, Capiz on
January 26, 1917, she elevated legitimate theater and dramatic arts to a new level of
excellence by staging and performing in breakthrough productions of classic Filipino
and foreign plays and by encouraging the establishment of performing groups and the
professionalization of Filipino theater. Together with her husband, National Artist
Lamberto Avellana and other artists, she co-founded the Barangay Theatre Guild in
1939 which paved the way for the popularization of theatre and dramatic arts in the
country, utilizing radio and television.

She starred in plays like Othello (1953), Macbeth in Black (1959), Casa de Bernarda
Alba (1967), Tatarin. She is best remembered for her portrayal of Candida
Marasigan in the stage and film versions of Nick Joaquin’s Portrait of the Artist as
Filipino. Her directorial credits include Diego Silang (1968), and Walang
Sugat (1971). Among her screenplays were Sakay (1939) and Portrait of the Artist as
Filipino (1955).
Visual

The country had its first National Artist in Fernando C. Amorsolo. The official title
“Grand Old Man of Philippine Art” was bestowed on Amorsolo when the Manila Hilton
inaugurated its art center on January 23, 1969 with an exhibit of a selection of his
works. Returning from his studies abroad in the 1920s, Amorsolo developed the
backlighting technique that became his trademark where figures, a cluster of leaves,
spill of hair, the swell of breast, are seen aglow on canvas. This light, Nick Joaquin
opines, is the rapture of a sensualist utterly in love with the earth, with the Philippine
sun, and is an accurate expression of Amorsolo’s own exuberance. His citation
underscores all his years of creative activity which have “defined and perpetuated a
distinct element of the nation’s artistic and cultural heritage”.

Among others, his major works include the following: Maiden in a Stream(1921)-GSIS
collection; El Ciego (1928)-Central Bank of the Philippines collection; Dalagang
Bukid (1936) – Club Filipino collection; The Mestiza (1943) – National Museum of the
Philippines collection; Planting Rice (1946)-UCPB collection; Sunday Morning Going
to Town (1958)-Ayala Museum Collection.
Painting distorted human figures in rough, bold impasto strokes, and standing tall and
singular in his advocacy and practice of what he believes is creative art, Victorio C.
Edades emerged as the “Father of Modern Philippine Painting”. Unlike, Amorsolo’s
bright, sunny, cheerful hues, Edades’ colors were dark and somber with subject matter
or themes depicting laborers, factory workers or the simple folk in all their dirt, sweat
and grime. In the 1930s, Edades taught at the University of Santos Tomas and became
dean of its Department of Architecture where he stayed for three full decades. It was
during this time that he introduced a liberal arts program that offers subjects as art
history and foreign languages that will lead to a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. This
development brought about a first in Philippine education since art schools then were
vocational schools.

It was also the time that Edades invited Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Galo B. Ocampo
to become professor artists for the university. The three, who would later be known as
the formidable “Triumvirate”, led the growth of mural painting in the country. Finally
retiring from teaching at age 70, the university conferred on Edades the degree of
Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, for being an outstanding “visionary, teacher and
artist.”
The Sketch, 1928

Among his works are The Sketch, The Artist and the Model, Portrait of the
Professor, Japanese Girl, Mother and Daughter, The Wrestlers, and Poinsettia Girl.
National Artist for Visual Arts (2003)
(June 3, 1931 – May 11, 1995)

Jose Joya is a painter and multimedia artist who distinguished himself by creating an
authentic Filipino abstract idiom that transcended foreign influences. Most of Joya’s
paintings of harmonious colors were inspired by Philippine landscapes, such as green
rice paddies and golden fields of harvest. His use of rice paper in collages placed value
on transparency, a common characteristic of folk art. The curvilinear forms of his paintings
often recall the colorful and multilayered ‘kiping’ of the Pahiyas festival. His important
mandala series was also drawn from Asian aesthetic forms and concepts.

He espoused the value of kinetic energy and spontaneity in painting which became
significant artistic values in Philippine art. His paintings clearly show his mastery of
‘gestural paintings’ where paint is applied intuitively and spontaneously, in broad brush
strokes, using brushes or spatula or is directly squeezed from the tube and splashed
across the canvas. His 1958 landmark painting Granadean Arabesque,a work on
canvas big enough to be called a mural, features swipes and gobs of impasto and sand.
The choice of Joya to represent the Philippines in the 1964 Venice Biennial itself
represents a high peak in the rise of the modern art in the country.

Granadean Arabesque, 1958 (Ateneo Art Gallery Collection)

Joya also led the way for younger artists in bringing out the potentials of multimedia. He
designed and painted on ceramic vessels, plates and tiles, and stimulated regional
workshops. He also did work in the graphic arts, particularly in printmaking.

His legacy is undeniably a large body of work of consistent excellence which has won
the admiration of artists both in the local and international scene. Among them are his
compositions Beethoven Listening to the Blues, andSpace Transfiguration, and
other works like Hills of Nikko, Abstraction, Dimension of
Fear, Naiad, Torogan,Cityscape.
National Artist for Sculpture (1976)

At 46 then, Napoleon V. Abueva, a native of Bohol, was the youngest National Artist
awardee. Considered as the Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture, Abueva has helped
shape the local sculpture scene to what it is now. Being adept in either academic
representational style or modern abstract, he has utilized almost all kinds of materials
from hard wood (molave, acacia, langka wood, ipil, kamagong, palm wood and bamboo)
to adobe, metal, stainless steel, cement, marble, bronze, iron, alabaster, coral and
brass. Among the early innovations Abueva introduced in 1951 was what he referred to
as “buoyant sculpture” — sculpture meant to be appreciated from the surface of a placid
pool. In the 80’s, Abueva put up a one-man show at the Philippine Center, New York.
His works have been installed in different museums here and abroad, such as The
Sculpture at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
Nine Muses of the Arts (Ramon Velasquez via Wikimedia Commons)

Some of his major works include Kaganapan (1953), Kiss of Judas (1955),Thirty Pieces of
Silver, The Transfiguration (1979), Eternal Garden Memorial Park, UP Gateway (1967), Nine
Muses (1994), UP Faculty Center, Sunburst (1994)-Peninsula Manila Hotel, the bronze figure
of Teodoro M. Kalaw in front of National Library, and murals in marble at the National Heroes
Shrine, Mt. Samat, Bataan.

National Artist for Visual Arts (1991)


(April 28, 1911 – December 28, 1978)

Hernando R. Ocampo, a self-taught painter, was a leading member of the pre-war


Thirteen Moderns, the group that charted the course of modern art in the Philippines.
His works provided an understanding and awareness of the harsh social realities in the
country immediately after the Second World War and contributed significantly to the rise
of the nationalist spirit in the post-war era. It was, however, his abstract works that left
an indelible mark on Philippine modern art. His canvases evoked the lush Philippine
landscape, its flora and fauna, under the sun and rain in fierce and bold colors. He also
played a pivotal role in sustaining the Philippine Art Gallery, the country’s first.

Genesis. 1969
Ocampo’s acknowledged masterpiece Genesis served as the basis of the curtain design of the
Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater. His other major works include Ina ng
Balon, Calvary, Slum Dwellers, Nude with Candle and Flower, Man and Carabao, Angel’s
Kiss, Palayok at Kalan, Ancestors,Isda at Mangga, The Resurrection, Fifty-three
“Q”, Backdrop, Fiesta.
Literature
National Artist for Literature (1973)
(September 13, 1903 – May 24, 1970)

Amado V. Hernandez, poet, playwright, and novelist, is among the Filipino writers who
practiced “committed art”. In his view, the function of the writer is to act as the
conscience of society and to affirm the greatness of the human spirit in the face of
inequity and oppression. Hernandez’s contribution to the development of Tagalog prose
is considerable — he stripped Tagalog of its ornate character and wrote in prose closer
to the colloquial than the “official” style permitted. His novel Mga Ibong Mandaragit,
first written by Hernandez while in prison, is the first Filipino socio-political novel that
exposes the ills of the society as evident in the agrarian problems of the 50s.

Hernandez’s other works include Bayang Malaya, Isang Dipang Langit, Luha ng
Buwaya, Amado V. Hernandez: Tudla at Tudling: Katipunan ng mga Nalathalang
Tula 1921-1970, Langaw sa Isang Basong Gatas at Iba Pang Kuwento ni Amado V.
Hernandez, Magkabilang Mukha ng Isang Bagol at Iba Pang Akda ni Amado V.
Hernandez.

National Artist for Literature (2003)


(July 13, 1924 – May 23, 2011)

“You cannot be a great writer; first, you have to be a good person”

Alejandro Roces, is a short story writer and essayist, and considered as the country’s
best writer of comic short stories. He is known for his widely anthologized “My Brother’s
Peculiar Chicken.” In his innumerable newspaper columns, he has always focused on
the neglected aspects of the Filipino cultural heritage. His works have been published in
various international magazines and has received national and international awards.

Ever the champion of Filipino cultures, Roces brought to public attention the aesthetics
of the country’s fiestas. He was instrumental in popularizing several local fiestas,
notably, Moriones and Ati-atihan. He personally led the campaign to change the
country’s Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, and caused the change of
language from English to Filipino in the country’s stamps, currency and passports, and
recovered Jose Rizal’s manuscripts when they were stolen from the National Archives.

His unflinching love of country led him to become a guerilla during the Second World
War, to defy martial law and to found the major opposition party under the dictatorship.
His works have been published in various international magazines and received
numerous national and international awards, including several decorations from various
governments.

National Artist for Literature (1976)


(May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004)

“Before 1521 we could have been anything and everything not Filipino; after 1565 we
can be nothing but Filipino.” ―Culture and History, 1988

Nick Joaquin, is regarded by many as the most distinguished Filipino writer in English
writing so variedly and so well about so many aspects of the Filipino. Nick Joaquin has
also enriched the English language with critics coining “Joaquinesque” to describe his
baroque Spanish-flavored English or his reinventions of English based on Filipinisms.
Aside from his handling of language, Bienvenido Lumbera writes that Nick Joaquin’s
significance in Philippine literature involves his exploration of the Philippine colonial past
under Spain and his probing into the psychology of social changes as seen by the
young, as exemplified in stories such as Doña Jeronima, Candido’s
Apocalypse and The Order of Melchizedek. Nick Joaquin has written plays, novels,
poems, short stories and essays including reportage and journalism. As a journalist,
Nick Joaquin uses the nome de guerre Quijano de Manila but whether he is writing
literature or journalism, fellow National Artist Francisco Arcellana opines that “it is
always of the highest skill and quality”.

Among his voluminous works are The Woman Who Had Two Navels, A Portrait of
the Artist as Filipino, Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young, The Ballad of
the Five Battles, Rizal in Saga, Almanac for Manileños, Cave and Shadows.

Nick Joaquin died April 29, 2004.

Bienvenido Lumbera
Literature (2006)

Bienvenido Lumbera, is a poet, librettist, and scholar.

*As a poet, he introduced to Tagalog literature what is now known as Bagay poetry, a
landmark aesthetic tendency that has helped to change the vernacular poetic tradition.
He is the author of the following works: Likhang Dila,Likhang Diwa (poems in Filipino
and English), 1993; Balaybay, Mga Tulang Lunot at Manibalang, 2002; Sa Sariling
Bayan, Apat na Dulang May Musika, 2004; “Agunyas sa Hacienda
Luisita,” Pakikiramay, 2004.

As a librettist for the Tales of the Manuvu and Rama Hari, he pioneered the creative
fusion of fine arts and popular imagination. As a scholar, his major books include the
following: Tagalog Poetry, 1570-1898: Tradition and Influences in its Development;
Philippine Literature: A History and Anthology, Revaluation: Essays on Philippine
Literature, Writing the Nation/Pag-akda ng Bansa.
National Artist for Literature (1982)
(January 14, 1899 – December 15, 1985)

Carlos P. Romulo‘s multifaceted career spanned 50 years of public service as educator,


soldier, university president, journalist and diplomat. It is common knowledge that he was
the first Asian president of the United Nations General Assembly, then Philippine
Ambassador to Washington, D.C., and later minister of foreign affairs. Essentially though,
Romulo was very much into writing: he was a reporter at 16, a newspaper editor by the
age of 20, and a publisher at 32. He was the only Asian to win America’s coveted Pulitzer
Prize in Journalism for a series of articles predicting the outbreak of World War II. Romulo,
in all, wrote and published 18 books, a range of literary works which included The
United (novel), I Walked with Heroes (autobiography), I Saw the Fall of the
Philippines, Mother America, I See the Philippines Rise (war-time memoirs).

His other books include his memoirs of his many years’ affiliations with United Nations
(UN), Forty Years: A Third World Soldier at the UN, and The Philippine Presidents,
his oral history of his experiences serving all the Philippine presidents.

Film and bradcast

National Artist for Cinema (1997)


(April 3, 1939 – May 22, 1991)

Catalino “Lino” Ortiz Brocka, director for film and broadcast arts, espoused the term
“freedom of expression” in the Philippine Constitution. Brocka took his social activist
spirit to the screen leaving behind 66 films which breathed life and hope for the
marginalized sectors of society — slumdwellers, prostitute, construction workers, etc.
He also directed for theater with equal zeal and served in organizations that offer
alternative visions, like the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) and the
Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP). At the same time, he garnered awards and
recognition from institutions like the CCP, FAMAS, TOYM, and Cannes Film Festival.
Lino Brocka has left behind his masterpieces, bequeathing to our country a heritage of
cinematic harvest; a bounty of stunning images, memorable conversations that speak
volumes on love,betrayal and redemption, pestilence and plenty all pointing towards the
recovery and rediscovery of our nation.

To name a few, Brocka’s films include the following: “Santiago” (1970), “Wanted:
Perfect Mother” (1970), “Tubog sa Ginto” (1971), “Stardoom” (1971), “Tinimbang Ka
Ngunit Kulang” (1974), “Maynila: Sa Kuko ng Liwanag” (1975), “Insiang” (1976),
“Jaguar” (1979), “Bona” (1980), “Macho Dancer” (1989), “Orapronobis” (1989),
“Makiusap Ka sa Diyos” (1991).

National Artist for Cinema (2009)


(October 9, 1915 – August 11, 1985)

Born on October 9, 1915 and christened Manuel Pabustan Urbano, Manuel


Conde grew up and studied in Daet, Camarines Norte.

In the decades before and after World War II when Philippine society was being
inundated by American popular culture, Conde invested local cinema with a distinct
cultural history of its own through movies that translated onto the silver screen the age-
old stories that Filipinos had told and retold from generation to generation for at least
the past one hundred years. Among the narratives that Conde directed and/or produced
for the screen were three of the most famous metrical romances in Philippine lowland
culture: Siete Infantes de Lara, Ibong Adarna, and Prinsipe Tenoso.

Through the more than forty films he created from 1940 to 1963, Manuel Conde
contributed in no small measure to the indigenization of the cinema, specifically: by
assigning it a history and culture of its own; by revitalizing folk culture with urgent
issues, fresh themes and new techniques; by depicting and critiquing Filipino customs,
values and traditions according to the needs of the present; by employing and at the
same time innovating on the traditional cinematic genres of his time; and by opening the
local cinema to the world.

With a curious mind and restless spirit that could not be contained by what is, Conde
went beyond the usual narratives of the traditional genres and ventured into subject
matter that would have been deemed too monumental or quixotic by the average
producer. Conde dared to recreate on screen the grand narratives of larger-than-life
figures from world history and literature, like Genghis Khan and Sigfredo. In doing
films on these world figures, Conde had in effect forced the Filipino moviegoer out of the
parochial and predictable concerns of the run-of-the-mill formulaic film and thrust him
into a larger world where visions and emotions were loftier and nobler and very very far
from the pedestrian whims and sentiments that constituted the Filipino moviegoer’s
usual fare.

Serendipitously, as these movies opened the vistas of the Filipino film to other cultures,
they also unlocked the doors of western cinema to the Filipino film, allowing it entry into
one of the most prestigious film festivals of the globe. Later, when these films were
bought by foreign distributors, they were exhibited in all parts of the cinematic world of
the time, establishing the presence of the Filipino cinema in the eyes of that world.

Major works: Ibong Adarna (1941), Si Juan Tamad (1947), Siete Infantes de
Lara (1950), Genghis Khan (1950),Ikaw Kasi! (1955) Juan Tamad Goes To
Congress (1959).

National Artist for Cinema (2006)


(August 20, 1939 – December 14, 2004)

Ronald Allan K. Poe, popularly known as Fernando Poe, Jr., was a cultural icon of
tremendous audience impact and cinema artist and craftsman–as actor, director, writer
and producer.*

The image of the underdog was projected in his films such as Apollo
Robles(1961), Batang Maynila (1962), Mga Alabok sa Lupa (1967), Batang Matador
and Batang Estibador (1969), Ako ang Katarungan (1974), Tatak ng
Alipin(1975), Totoy Bato (1977), Asedillo (1981), Partida (1985), and Ang
Probisyano (1996), among many others. The mythical hero, on the other hand, was
highlighted in Ang Alamat (1972), Ang Pagbabalik ng Lawin(1975) including
his Panday series (1980, 1981, 1982, 1984) and the action adventure films adapted
from komiks materials such as Ang Kampana sa Santa Quiteria(1971), Santo
Domingo (1972), and Alupihang Dagat (1975), among others.

Poe was born in Manila on August 20, 1939. After the death of his father, he dropped
out of the University of the East in his sophomore year to support his family. He was the
second of six siblings. He married actress Susan Roces in a civil ceremony in
December 1968.

He died on December 14, 2004


National Artist for Cinema (2003)
(July 7, 1924 – May 28, 2013)

Eddie Romero, is a screenwriter, film director and producer, is the quintessential


Filipino filmmaker whose life is devoted to the art and commerce of cinema spanning
three generations of filmmakers. His film “Ganito Kami Noon…Paano Kayo
Ngayon?,” set at the turn of the century during the revolution against the Spaniards
and, later, the American colonizers, follows a naïve peasant through his leap of faith to
become a member of an imagined community. “Aguila” situates a family’s story against
the backdrop of the country’s history. “Kamakalawa” explores the folkloric of prehistoric
Philippines. “Banta ng Kahapon,” his ‘small’ political film, is set against the turmoil of
the late 1960s, tracing the connection of the underworld to the corrupt halls of politics.
His 13-part series of “Noli Me Tangere” brings the national hero’s polemic novel to a
new generation of viewers.

Romero, the ambitious yet practical artist, was not satisfied with dreaming up grand ideas. He
found ways to produce these dreams into films. His concepts, ironically, as stated in the
National Artist citation “are delivered in an utterly simple style – minimalist, but never empty,
always calculated, precise and functional, but never predictable.”

National Artist for Cinema (1982)


(September 12, 1913 – July 25, 1981)

Gerardo “Gerry” De Leon, film director, belongs to the Ilagan clan and as such grew
up in an atmosphere rich in theater. Significantly, De Leon’s first job — while in still in
high school — was as a piano player at Cine Moderno in Quiapo playing the musical
accompaniment to the silent films that were being shown at that time. The silent movies
served as De Leon’s “very good” training ground because the pictures told the story.
Though he finished medicine, his practice did not last long because he found himself
“too compassionate” to be one, this aside from the lure of the movies. His first directorial
job was “Ama’t Anak” in which he directed himself and his brother Tito Arevalo. The
movie got good reviews. De Leon’s biggest pre-war hit was “Ang Maestra” which
starred Rogelio de la Rosa and Rosa del Rosario with the still unknown Eddie Romero
as writer.

In the 50s and 60s, he produced many films that are now considered classics including
“Daigdig ng Mga Api,” “Noli Me Tangere,” “El Filibusterismo,” and “Sisa.” Among a
long list of films are “Sawa sa Lumang Simboryo,” “Dyesebel,” “The Gold Bikini,”
“Banaue,” “The Brides of Blood Island.”.

Architecture, design and allied arts

National Artist for Architecture, 1990


(August 15, 1928 – November 15, 1994)

Leandro V. Locsin reshaped the urban landscape with a distinctive architecture


reflective of Philippine Art and Culture. He believes that the true Philippine Architecture
is “the product of two great streams of culture, the oriental and the occidental… to
produce a new object of profound harmony.” It is this synthesis that underlies all his
works, with his achievements in concrete reflecting his mastery of space and scale.
Every Locsin Building is an original, and identifiable as a Locsin with themes of floating
volume, the duality of light and heavy, buoyant and massive running in his major works.
From 1955 to 1994, Locsin has produced 75 residences and 88 buildings, including 11
churches and chapels, 23 public buildings, 48 commercial buildings, six major hotels,
and an airport terminal building.
By the SunKing (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Locsin’s largest single work is the Istana Nurul Iman, the palace of the Sultan of Brunei, which
has a floor area of 2.2 million square feet. The CCP Complex itself is a virtual Locsin Complex
with all five buildings designed by him — the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Folk Arts
Theater, Philippine International Convention Center, Philcite and The Westin Hotel (now
Sofitel Philippine Plaza).

Architecture (1976)

Born at the turn of the century, National Artist for Architecture Pablo Sebero
Antonio pioneered modern Philippine architecture. His basic design is grounded on
simplicity, no clutter. The lines are clean and smooth, and where there are curves, these
are made integral to the structure. Pablo Jr. points out, “For our father, every line must
have a meaning, a purpose. For him, function comes first before elegance or form“. The
other thing that characterizes an Antonio structure is the maximum use of natural light
and cross ventilation. Antonio believes that buildings “should be planned with austerity
in mind and its stability forever as the aim of true architecture, that buildings must be
progressive, simple in design but dignified, true to a purpose without resorting to an
applied set of aesthetics and should eternally recreate truth”.

Far Eastern University, Manila (Image credit: Anyo Niminus/Wikimedia Commons)

Antonio’s major works include the following: Far Eastern University Administration and
Science buildings;Manila Polo Club; Ideal Theater;Lyric Theater; Galaxy Theater; Capitan
Luis Gonzaga Building; Boulevard-Alhambra (now Bel-Air) apartments; Ramon Roces
Publications Building (now Guzman Institute of Electronics).

National Artist for Fashion Design (2006)


(August 31, 1912 – May 25, 1972)

The contribution of Ramon Valera, whose family hails from Abra, lies in the tradition of
excellence of his works, and his committment to his profession, performing his magical
seminal innovations on the Philippine terno.

Valera is said to have given the country its visual icon to the world via the terno. In the
early 40s, Valera produced a single piece of clothing from a four-piece ensemble
consisting of a blouse, skirt, overskirt, and long scarf. He unified the components of the
baro’t saya into a single dress with exaggerated bell sleeves, cinched at the waist, grazing
the ankle, and zipped up at the back. Using zipper in place of hooks was already a radical
change for the country’s elite then. Dropping the panuelo–the long folded scarf hanging
down the chest, thus serving as the Filipina’s gesture of modesty–from the entire
ensemble became a bigger shock for the women then. Valera constructed the terno’s
butterfly sleeves, giving them a solid, built-in but hidden support. To the world, the butterfly
sleeves became the terno’s defining feature.

Even today, Filipino fashion designers study Valera’s ternos: its construction, beadworks,
applique, etc. *Valera helped mold generations of artists, and helped fashion to become
no less than a nation’s sense of aesthetics. But more important than these, he helped
form a sense of the Filipino nation by his pursuit of excellence.

http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/

National Artist for Architecture, 2006


(September 5, 1929 – January 29, 2014)

Ildefonso Paez Santos, Jr., distinguished himself by pioneering the practice of


landscape architecture–an allied field of architecture–in the Philippines and then
producing four decades of exemplary and engaging work that has included hundreds of
parks, plazas, gardens, and a wide range of outdoor settings that have enhanced
contemporary Filipino life.

Santos, Jr., who grew up in Malabon, made his first mark with the Makati Commercial
Center where he introduced a new concept of outdoor shopping with landscaped walks,
fountains and sculptures as accents. Santos, Jr.’s contribution to modern Filipino
landscape architecture was the seminal public landscape in Paco Park.

Santos, Jr.’s most recent projects were the Tagaytay Highland Resort, the Mt.
Malarayat Golf and Country Clubin Lipa, Batangas, and the Orchard Golf and
Country Club in Imus, Cavite.
National Artist for Architecture, 1973
(May 26, 1899 – May 7, 1986)

Juan F. Nakpil, architect, teacher and civic leader, is a pioneer and innovator in
Philippine architecture. In essence, Nakpil’s greatest contribution is his belief that there
is such a thing as Philippine Architecture, espousing architecture reflective of Philippine
traditions and culture. It is also largely due to his zealous representation and efforts that
private Filipino architects and engineers, by law, are now able to participate in the
design and execution of government projects. He has integrated strength, function, and
beauty in the buildings that are the country’s heritage today. He designed the 1937
International Eucharistic Congress altar and rebuilt and enlarged the Quiapo Church in
1930 adding a dome and a second belfry to the original design.

University of the Philippines, Administration Building | Image credit: Ramon F. Velasquez via Wikimedia Commons

Among others, Nakpil’s major works are the Geronimo de los Reyes
Building,Magsaysay Building, Rizal Theater, Capitol Theater, Captain Pepe
Building, Manila Jockey Club, Rufino Building, Philippine Village Hotel, University
of the Philippines Administration and University Library, and the
reconstructed Rizal housein Calamba, Laguna.

2. LINGAYEN – “We feel very proud to be part of this historic moment in Pangasinan when the (Cultural Center
of the Philippines) brought back to his home province the works of national artist Salvador ‘Badong’ Bernal.

He likewise cited four Pangasinense national artists namely F. Sionil Jose (Literature), Victorio Edades (Visual Arts),
Salvador Bernal (Theater Design) and Fernando Poe Jr. – FPJ (Film) as four important

Salvador F. Bernal designed more than 300 productions distinguished for their
originality since 1969. Sensitive to the budget limitations of local productions, he
harnessed the design potential of inexpensive local materials, pioneering or maximizing
the use of bamboo, raw abaca, and abaca fiber, hemp twine, rattan chain links and
gauze cacha.

As the acknowledged guru of contemporary Filipino theater design, Bernal shared his
skills with younger designers through his classes at the University of the Philippines and
the Ateneo de Manila University, and through the programs he created for the CCP
Production Design Center which he himself conceptualized and organized.

To promote and professionalize theater design, he organized the PATDAT (Philippine


Association of Theatre Designers and Technicians) in 1995 and by way of Philippine
Center of OISTAT (Organization Internationale des Scenographes, Techniciens et
Architectes du Theatre), he introduced Philippine theater design to the world.

3. reasons why the exhibit of CCP’s lakbay sining program was first launched in Pangasinan.

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