The country’s contemporary art scene is well and alive.

Every day, fresh and new talents

emerge. Filipino contemporary artists are making waves here and abroad and are responsive to
the changing times, as seen from the disaster- ready visions of Paulo Alcazaren, to the year’s
harvests of literary works in the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards. Although some describe
the Filipinos as people who spent around 400 years in a convent, five years in a prison camp ,
and 45 years in Hollywood, our history and the way we handle ourselves in the present is a
heritage that we can be very proud of.

Art is a national heritage that is essential in building the nation and ensuring democracy.
Paintings, sculptures, songs, dances, poetry, and other art forms remind people of the origins,
histories, struggles, and triumphs of the nation. When people, for example, look at the Rizal
monument in Luneta or sing national anthem, they are participating in the expression of the
country’s nationhood. When citizens are conscious and proud of their cultural heritage, they
became active agents in nation building. As part of the democratic thrust of the Corazon Aquino
administration, Executive Order No. 118 created the Presidential Commission on Culture and
the Arts 1987. Five years later, Republic Act 7356 established the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts (NCCA)

National Commission for Culture and the Arts

The NCCA is the country’s “overall policy making body, coordinating, and grants giving agency
for the preservation, development, and promotion of Philippines arts of culture”, the creation
of the NCCA serves as the states initiative to promote and develop art and culture awareness
in the country. The need for a government institution for culture and arts dissemination is
imperative because the Philippines is composed of many regions. The NCCA, through its
subcommittees, ensures that the interests of the various regions are presented. There are six
arts and cultural government agencies under NCCA.
Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)
For almost 50 years, CCP has been serving as the premier venue in the Philippines for culture
and the arts. It has hosted numerous shows and exhibitions on both performance and visual
arts. CCP is also responsible for bringing together the different arts from various regions to the
entire country and the whole world. It is home to nine artistic resident companies such as the
National Music Competition for Young Artists Foundation (NAMCYA), Ballet Philippines,
Philippines Madrigal Singers, Philippines Ballet Theater, UST Symphony Orchestra, Tanghalang
Pilipino, Bayanihan Philippines National Folk Dance Company, and Ramon Obusan Folkloric
Group. These companies regularly stage productions, conduct workshops, and provide outreach
to the community.
National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP)
The NHCP was created with a vision of “a Filipino society with citizens informed of their history,
who love their country and are proud of their cultural heritage.” the NHCP carries out its
mandate by promoting “Philippine history and cultural heritage through research,
dissemination, conservations, sites management, and heraldry works”. Much of the work done
by the NHCP is the identification, conservation, and restoration of historical sites around the
different regions of the country. Through the efforts of the NHCP, Filipinos may have
“awareness and appreciation of the noble deeds and ideals of our heroes and other illustrious
Filipinos, to instill pride in the Filipino race and to rekindle the Filipino spirit through the lessons
of history,” to have a nation whose people value the past looking into the future.
National Museum of the Philippines
Located in the heart of Manila, The National Museum of the Philippines is the country’s
repository of archaeological artifacts, national treasurers, and rare specimens found and
produced in the country. The main task of this institution is to solicit, document, preserve,
exhibit, and promote the natural and artificial wonders of the Philippines. The National
Museum is also responsible for putting up a network of museums around the country to serve
as a local destination of the diverse natural and cultural heritage of the county. The national
Museum has two main divisions – the Natural History Museum and the National Art Gallery.

SPOLIARIUM
19th Century
JUAN LUNA

The paintings features a glimpse of Roman history centered on the bloody carnage brought by
gladiatorial matches. Spoliarium is a latin word referring to the basement of the Roman
Colosseum where the fallen and dying gladiators are dumped and devoid of their worldly
possessions.
At the center of Luna’s painting are fallen gladiators being dragged by Roman soldiers. On the
left, spectators ardently await their chance to strip off the combatants of their metal helmets
and other armory. In contrast with the charged emotions featured on the left, the right side
meanwhile presents a somber mood. An old man carries a torch perhaps searching for his son
while a woman weeps the death of her loved one.
The spoiliarium is the most valuable oil-on-canvas painting by Juan Luna, a Filipino educated at
the Academia de Debujo y Pintura and at the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain.

National Library of the Philippines (NLP)

Established in 1901, the NLP was then called the American Circulating Library to serve as the
“Memorial to American servicemen who died in the Philippine soil.” Today, the NLP has
mandate of serving as a “Repository of the printed and recorded cultural heritage of the
country and other intellectual literary and information sources” and providing “access to these
resources for our people’s intellectual growth, citizenship building, lifelong learning and
enlightenment.” The NLP is home to rare books and documents such as Acta de la Proclamacion
de la Independencia del Pueblo Filipino and the manuscript of the trial of Andres Bonifacio.

The National Archives of the Philippines

The history of the National Archives goes back to the treaty of Paris in 1898 “Which stipulated
the relinquishment or cession of documents from Spanish to American authorities and provided
for preservations of documents.” Today, the National Archives of the Philippines is guardian to
over 400 documents from the Spanish era dating 1552-1900 and various records from the
American period to the republic.
To be seen in the National Archives of the Philippines is a map and plan dating 1883 for the
archbishop’s palace of Nueva Segovia as approved by the Governor General of the Philippines.

Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino

The KWF or the Commission on the Filipino Language was created via Republic Act No. 7140:
“Congress shall establish a national language commission composed of representatives of
various regions and disciplines which shall undertake, coordinate and promotes researches for
the development, propagation, and preservation of Filipino and other Philippine Languages”. To
promote and develop our national language, the KWF has annually given the Talaang Ginto:
Makata ng Taon for Filipino Poetry, Aklat ng ng Bayang, other grants or programs on fundings,
awards, and projects.