Contemporary Arts in Visayas

(Cebuano)
Literature
VICENTE SOTTO
-Father of Cebuano literature
-Maming
-Elena
-Ang Paghigugma sa Yutang Nataohan
-Aurora
American period
Ang suga
Juan Villagonzalo
Felicitas by Uldarico Alviola (1912)
Manihuklugong paglubong kang alicia by
Vicente Garces (1924)
Apdo sa Kagul-anan by Angel Enemercio
(1928-29)
Ang Tinagoan by Vicente Rama (1933-1934)
Pre-war era
Bisaya magasin
Lourdes by Gardeopatra G.
Quijano
VISUAL ART
Lapu-lapu Shrine
Magellan Shrine
The Lapu-Lapu Shrine is a 20-meter bronze statue
located in the Mactan Shrine park in Punta Engaño,
Mactan Island, Cebu. The statue was erected to
honor Rajah Lapu-Lapu, the native chieftain of
Mactan Island who defeated Ferdinand Magellan
during the historic Battle of Mactan in 1521.
The Magellan shrine is a large memorial tower built
in 1866 to honor Portuguese explorer Ferdinand
Magellan and is built on the area where Magellan is
believed to have been killed in 1521.
Every year in April, during the anniversary of the
Battle of Mactan, the park hosts the “Kadaugan sa
Mactan,” a re-enactment of the epic battle.
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.
 Istana Nurul Iman

Locsin’s largest single work is the Istana Nurul Iman, the

palace of the Sultan of Brunei, which has a floor
National Artist for Sculpture (1976)

Nine Muses of the Arts (Ramon Velasquez via Wikimedia Commons)

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.
National Artist for Painting (1999)
(May 22, 1924 – June 10, 1999)

Morning Mist Over Ubud, Bali (1992)

J. (Jeremias) Elizalde Navarro, was born on May 22, 1924 in
Antique. He is a versatile artist, being both a proficient painter and
sculptor. His devotion to the visual arts spans 40 years of drawing,
printmaking, graphic designing, painting and sculpting. His masks
carved in hardwood merge the human and the animal; his
paintings consists of abstracts and figures in oil and watercolor;
and his assemblages fuse found objects and metal parts. He has
done a series of figurative works drawing inspiration from Balinese
art and culture, his power as a master of colors largely evident in his
large four-panel The Seasons (1992: Prudential Bank collection).
A Navarro sampler includes his ’50s and ’60s fiction illustrations for
This Week of the Manila Chronicle, and the rotund, India-ink
figurative drawings for Lydia Arguilla’s storybook, Juan Tamad.
Three of his major mixed media works are I’m Sorry Jesus, I Can’t
Attend Christmas This Year (1965), and his Homage to Dodjie
Laurel (1969: Ateneo Art Gallery collection), and A Flying
Contraption for Mr. Icarus (1984: Lopez Museum).
Dance

Haladaya Festival
 
The northernmost town of Cebu, Daanbantayan, celebrates a festival in
honor of the warrior Datu Daya of Kandaya. The datu was known to protect
the natives from pirate invasions. In fact, a watchtower sits atop the
beaches of Tapilon to warn natives. Haladaya comes from the Visayan words
halad (offer) and Daya.
Sinulog- Sinulog festival held in Cebu every January. Sinulog is a dance ritual
in honor of the miraculous image of the Sto. Niño. The dance moves two steps
forward and one step backward to the sound of the drums.. This event is
frequently used as basis for most Sinulog dances, which dramatize the coming
of the Spaniards and the presentation of the Santo Niño to the Queen. A
popular theme among Sinulog dances is Queen Juana holding the Santo Niño
in her arms and using it to bless her people who are often afflicted by sickness
caused by demons and other evil spirits.
Itik-Itik- Itik is a Cebuano term of a duck. This dance is
perform by a dancer who mimic that of a duck, of course. In
other words it is a mimetic dance that depicts the
movements of wading and flying itik (ducks). Dancer
mimic that short swaying gait of waddling feet and the
intense energy of close-cropped flapping wings.
Mananagat- Cebuano for fishermen, depicts fishermen at
sea. Dancers in long line formations mimic women scooping
water from the banca (canoe) with bamboo shells and men
wielding wooden paddles.
Drama
Cebu has a long tradition of the theater arts. The arrival
of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 and Miguel López de
Legazpi in 1565 both occasioned the performance of
religious rituals that had the basic elements of theater. In
1598, a Spanish comedy written by the Jesuit Francisco
Vicente Puche was performed in Cebu during the
inauguration of a grammar school. In 1609 another Jesuit
wrote a Cebuano play about the life of St. Barbara, which
was performed in Bohol.

The next two centuries are sketchy in historical records.

An earlier work of Sotto is a story entitled "Ang Gugma
sa Yutang Natawhan." It was first written in Spanish but
was later translated into Cebuano. In 1902, Sotto gave
birth to the "Modern Cebuano Theater" with his "Ang
Paghigugma sa Yutang Natawhan." At that time, the
medium of stage plays were in Spanish. Challenged by
what he felt as inequality and Cebuanos deprived by
being entertained by their own language and talent, he
decided to produce the play himself.
The first stage play in Cebuano happened on the evening
of January 1, 1902 at Teatro Junquera (now Oriente) on
Colon Street. It was played before a large audience. Don
Florentino Rallos, the municipal president of Cebu
attended the play.