Sculpture

Guillermo Estrella Tolentino carved his name in the history of Philippine art and culture when he won first prize, using the pseudonym Batang Elias, in a nationwide competition in 1930. The theme: Andres Bonifacio who first uttered the Cry of Balintawak.

Tolentino’s Bonifacio Monument had since remained unsurpassed for its historical impact and magnetic classicism. The following key points explain it: Octagonal mound of earth on which it rises 45 feet high, topped by a winged figure symbolizing victory; Bonifacio in barong, his head turned leftward, a bolo in his right hand, a pistol in his left; men, women, and children Katipuneros; Katipunan flag. The Katipuneros are surging southward.

The octagonal base represents the eight original provinces that historians claim rose up in arms against the Spanish government in the Philippines. (Other provinces did so before 1896, but that is another story). The 45-foot high pylon represents the almost four centuries of Hispanic dominance in the country, with the excess feet representation meant to offset environmental impact. Victory and liberty were the ideals that the Katipuneros fought for. Bonifacio’s head turned leftward recalls David’s head: The Spaniards, like Goliath, personified evil at the time. The Katipuneros cut across ages because liberty, racial equality, and human dignity must be won by and for everybody. The flag symbolized their struggle and the country, reason enough for the Katipuneros to surge southward, toward the Filipinos’ enemies laired in Malacañang located south of Caloocan.

Significance: The Bonifacio Monument is the Filipinos’ monument to liberty.

Ramon Orlina’s abstract sculpture Turkey has the following key points: Emerald color, smooth and rough textures, depths, multiviews.

The emerald color produces variations in color values, e.g., from dark to light green, depending on how it is displayed on a table, including light source and intensity trained on it. The tactile rough textures are reflected into smooth surfaces. These visual tricks are actually prism effects of the original cullet cut into a masterful abstract sculpture. This work can be viewed from eight vantage points, at least.

Significance: Filipino artists now enjoy creative freedom.

Architecture

In architecture, a rule of thumb is “form follows function.”

Leandro V. Locsin applied this, and added some more for theological and aesthetic purposes when he designed the Church of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the UP Chapel in Diliman, Quezon City, in 1958.

Key points: Circular design, doors double as windows, columns double as walls, altar at the center, 14 Stations of the Cross by Manansala, double crucifix by Abueva, and abstract designs on the floor by Luz. Providentially, Locsin, Manansala, Abueva, and Luz were to become National Artists.

The circular design is Locsin’s actualization of the concept of perfection, because a circle is perfect, and God, whose temple is the church, is perfect (Mt. 5:48). The doors and columns with dual functions were dictated by originality and economy without sacrificing strength and durability. The altar at the center concretizes the Lord’s word in Mt. 18:20.

The 14 Stations are done in Manansala’s transparent cubism. The double crucifix shows Christ crucified on one side, and Christ ascending to heaven on the other. The abstract designs are interpretations of portions of a river, possibly Jordan River, where Christ was baptized. These designs “flow” toward the altar.

Significance: We Christian Filipinos believe that Christianity is Christocentric.

Another house of worship is the Iglesia ni Cristo Chapel in Quezon City designed by Santos-Viola.

Key points: Tall, slender towers that taper into spires, neogothic arches, compact design.

The pointed arches and towers are take-off points from Gothic designs of Catholic churches in Europe and elsewhere. The pointed arches are likewise take-offs from the palms clasped in prayer, lifted up and partly opened as manifestations of piety.

Significance: Unity binds the members of INC.

Literature

In the classic short story The Mats by Franz Arcellana, the key points are: mats, Mr. Angeles, Marcleina, Jose, Antonio, Juan, Jesus, and three more: Josefina, Victoria, Concepcion.

Mr. Angeles goes home “from a trip to the south” loaded with mats for his wife and their children. After the first five children had received their respective mats with their names woven on them, Emilia noticed that there were three more mats left. And so Mr. Angeles started to call the names of Josefina, Victoria, and Concepcion, who had been dead.

Significance: Filipinos always remember and love their kin.

F. Sionil Jose’s novel Mass, has the following key points: Samson sporting long hair, barrio, city, street demonstrations.

Samson, the village boy who eventually finds himself in the jungle city, particularly Tondo, is a quasi-clone of his Biblical namesake, but only in terms of strength of character and stomach. He is embroiled in street demonstrations that bring the Philippines close to anarchy.

Significance: Today’s youth have a sense of nation.

Music

Few perhaps are those lucky enough to have heard, or bother to hear, Ben Zubiri’s Matud Nila composed in 1941.

Key points (English translation): Love, happy, treasures, gold, never fade, faith.

The singer is told he shouldn’t wish for his love object’s love, that she can’t be happy with him because he has no treasures to offer. But pure love is all that he can offer, a treasure more precious than gold; that his love will never fade. The lover asks the lady of his life not to deny his yearning for and faith in the lady’s love.

Let’s give the Visayan folk classic a new personality. The singer is not a man, but the Philippines. Given the fact that the Philippines was under US vassalage despite pretensions to the contrary in 1941, the challenge is hurled: Pay no heed to what invaders tell us. Our country, the Philippines, entreats us to love her. Why? Our country loves us.

Significance: Patriotism.