VISUAL ELEMENTS IN THE PHILIPPINES

TRADITIONAL MOTIFS AND CRAFTS

Decorative designs in traditional Filipino handiworks which include woven fabrics,
potteries, wooden carvings, jewelries, and metalcrafts, feature visual elements
which may be analyzed. These lines, colors, shapes, patterns, and symbolisms can
give us understanding about the meaning and purpose of such creations. We will
begin to deeply appreciate our identity when we have learned to decipher their
beliefs, values, and ways of living as we look at their works closely. Motif, an
element of an image, may be repeated in a design, or may occur once in a work. In
this topic, we will examine various motifs present in traditional ethnic creations; a
brief review of the visual elements will function as a tool in effectively critiquing
works to be presented.
VISUAL ELEMENTS
LINE – the foundation of drawing; used to portray shape, pattern, form, structure, growth,
depth, distance, rhythm, movement and a range of emotions.
■ SHAPE – may be natural or man-made, regular or irregular, 2-dimensional or 3-
dimensional, representational or abstract, geometric or organic, transparent or opaque,
positive or negative, decorative or symbolic, colored, patterned or textured.
■ TONE - the lightness or darkness of a color; used to create a contrast of light and
darkness or create a pattern within a composition
■ COLOR – has the strongest impact on our emotions; used to create mood in our artwork.
■ PATTERN - made by repeating or echoing the elements of an artwork to show a sense of
balance, harmony, contrast, rhythm or movement. Natural patterns are observed from
nature while man-made patterns are planned compositional works done to develop a
more decorative design
■ TEXTURE- is the surface quality of an artwork the roughness or smoothness of the
materials from which it is made.
■ FORM- is the physical volume of a shape and the space that it occupies.
Soul and Space
Torogon
➢ It really means a “place for sleeping
➢ It is stately house for the elite members of Maranao tribe in
Mindanao
➢ It is symbol of status of leadership
➢ It also serve as a courthouse, hall for community meetings
and its courtyard as ritual areas for weddings
The Torogon is the traditional residence of the reigning
Sultan of the maranaw people and his family. Its is where
the community traditionally gathers for wedding thanks
giving rites enthronements and vigils for the dead. It is a
master piece of Filipino craftsmanship . Carved on the
Torogon wooden posts is the niyaga, a stylizes mythical
snake design that can be found in many Muslim artworks.
Bale of Ifugao House

➢ It is a one room house with an attic for storage

➢ The exterior of the house looks like a pyramid resting on
four posts
➢ The interior is enclosed by slanting walls and ceiling that
appears to be spherical that are formed by the loft.

About half of all Ifugaos have embraced Christianity but

their animist beliefs have been absorbed into their
Christian beliefs. The Ifugao have traditionally believed
their lives were ruled by spirits called anitos.
BAHAY KUBO

➢ It also known as kamalig

➢ It serve as an icon to Filipino lowland and rural culture
➢ It is made up of bamboo rods and bamboo mats or sawali, and a thatched roof made
up anahaw or nipa

The Bahay Kubo is one of the most illustrative and recognized icons of the
Philippines .The name of the primitive Nipa hut is actually based on the
Spanish phrase Cubo, meaning “cube” probably because of its rectangular
appearance. The Filipino term Bahay Kubo literally means "cube house",
describing the shape of the dwelling. The term "Nipa Hut", introduced during
the Philippines' American colonial era, it refers to the nipa or anahaw thatching
material often used for the roofs. The bahay kubo was the standard structure
used for homes in the Philippines before the Spaniards arrived. A bahay kubo,
also known as a NIPA hut, is a type of stilt house home to the cultures of the
Philippines. The “NIPA HUTS” it’s made by light materials, with post, wall and
floor istypically made of wood or bamboo and other light materials. Roof is
made of Nipa; Anahaw or dried grasses “NIPA HUTS” it’s made by light
materials, with post, wall and floor is typically made of wood or bamboo and
other light materials. Roof is made of Nipa; Anahaw.
Bahay na Bato

➢ typically house of noble Filipinos

➢ It is a mixture of native Filipino, Spanish and Chinese influence
➢ The apex in the development of indigenous Filipino architecture.
➢ Combined the elements of the indigenous and Hispanic building traditions.
The 19th century townhouse, called bahay na bato, was a product of economic and
social developments, as well as architectural evolution. With the opening of
Manila to international trade in 1834 and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869,
trade and agricultural production roseto exhilarating heights and increased
the fortunes of the native aristocracy, particularly in theprovinces. Wealth
became the passport to higher education not only in Manila but also in Europe.
The elite or principally
included landowners and traders, as well as professionals
physicians and accountants and the highly educated, cosmopolitan
illustrado The lifestyle and aspirations, and even pretensions of the upper class
demanded a new type of dwelling spacious, durable, comfortable, impressive,
noble, and elegant the bahay na bato.
Symmetry Art Okir/ Ukkil
➢ Is one of these tradition design that comes from an old Malayan word that
has the same derivative meaning as the Tagalog word ‘ Ukit’ which means
to carve
➢ Often rendered in hardwood and brass, depict animals, animals, plant
mythical figures in highly decorative, long curvilinear lines secondary
arabesques
➢ Okir is a Maranao pronunciation while OKKIL is Maguindanaon
➢ It refers to carving and consequently as to any type of design prominent
among the Moro ethno-linguistic communities
➢ Middle Eastern Art of the 8th Century by Teodoro Agoncillo
➢ Okkil design is Found in Maranao ancestral home
➢ Maguindanaoan artist Al-Nezzar Ali Traced the long history of Okkil Art
from Its Hindu Roots in India to Islamic Arabia to Muslim Philippines.
➢ This style is a Dialogue between ancient pattern and the modernist concept
of minimalism and abstraction.
 Okir or okil is the term for geometric and flowing plant-based designs
and folk motifs that can be usually found among the Moro and Lumad
peoples of the Southern Philippines, as well as parts of Sabah. It is
particularly associated with the artwork of the Maranao and Sama
(Badjao) people, although it can also be found to a lesser extent among
neighboring Maguindanao, Iranun, Tausug, Yakan, and Lumad groups.
The design elements vary among these ethnic groups, with the greatest
refinement being found among the Maranao

Geometry A European and an Arab practicing geometry in the

15th century.
Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century
manuscript. Woman teaching geometry. Illustration at the
beginning of a medieval translation of Euclid's Elements, (c.
1310) – Image: Woman teaching geometry
Composite capital whose design includes acanthus leaf, and
volute motifs – Image: Corinthian capital 1

Gebel el-Arak Knife with Master of Animals motif at the top

of the handle – Image: Gebel el Arak Knife ivory handle (front
top part)
History Of OKil/ UKKIL

A Maranao kubing jaw harp handle made from horn and brass
with an S-shaped naga design and a fish
The origins of okir are pre-Islamic. They are believed to have
originated from the much earlier okil or okil-okil decorative
carving traditions of the Sama (Badjao) people, which are often
highly individualistic and geometric. The Sama are master
carvers, and they made lavish decorations on ritual animistic
objects, grave markers (both in wood and stone), and their
houseboats. These precursor forms of the okir designs can still
be found in the art traditions of the Maranao in the basak
(lowland) regions of Lake Lanao, and they contrast markedly
from the later flowing okir designs
A Maranao kulintang ensemble

Detail of okil carvings on a Sama-Bajau vinta

The geometric designs of the Sama were adopted and refined by the Maranao
to decorate the torogan houses of the ruling dato class. The most prominent
parts of the torogan are the panolong, the carved floor beams modeled after
awang boat prows. These protrude in the front of the house and styled with
elaborate okir designs, usually that of a naga (a sea serpent or dragon). These
were meant to drive away evil spirits. Okir were also featured in the central
housebeam, the tinai a walai ("intestine of the house"), which had ritual
significance.
Elements And Motifs
■ A Sama lepa with okil carvings
■ The older Sama carving traditions (okil or okil-okil,
sometimes spelled ukkil among Malaysian Sama)
differ markedly from the okir of the Maranao, although
elements of the okir were incorporated into later Sama
carvings. Sama okil aren't bound to rules like the okir,
and thus tend to be highly variable. Each artist carves
according to his own tastes. Despite this, there are still
shared motifs that bind them all together as SamaSama
sunduk grave markers
Sama sunduk grave markers
Sama okil can be divided into two types. The most ancient okil which still survive among
the animist Sama, usually the sea-going Sama Dilaut branches, feature representational
artforms like human figures. These are absent in the okil versions of the Sama that
converted to Islam. Sama okil also feature designs which are realistic copies of natural
forms, rather than stylized designs like in okir. Marine themes are particularly common,
including depictions of dugongs (duyong), usually with a person riding on its back. The
three most common okil motifs used by the Muslim Sama are dauan-dauan (leaf motifs),
kaloon (curlicues and curved lines), and agta-agta or buaya (fish or crocodile motifs).
Okil are also highly important among Sama grave markers (sunduk) which are found in
the ancient traditional burial grounds of the Sama people in some (usually uninhabited)
islands of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. These include some of the oldest examples of okil, which
are usually carved from coral and limestone. Wooden carved grave markers are common
later on, usually made from or carved from the boat belonging to the deceased. These are
usually carved into human figures that represent the deceased. With graves of women
identifiable by the presence of combs and mirrors, and graves of men by the depiction of
head coverings. Graves of children usually have smaller figures. A common relatively
recent tradition is the carving of elaborate stylized bed frames as grave markers. These
graves are often decorated with buntings and food offerings, again reflecting the ancient
ancestor worship (anito) traditions of the Sama.
 A Maranao Spinning Wheel (note the panolong-shaped
projection)

A Sarimanok

Maranao malong with a langkit (decorative strip) featuring

female okir designs
■ Maranao okir motifs are so stylized that it is often easy to tell whether a carving is
Maranao or not. Other ethnic groups usually introduce other elements or motifs that are
non-traditional to the original Maranao okir designs. In the past, okir designs,
particularly for textiles, are distinctive enough that a Maranao can usually distinguish
which region someone is from based only on the patterns of their malong and their
woven decorative strips (langkit).[1]
■ Maranao okir can be divided into two traditions, the predominantly curvilinear "male"
okir-a-dato, and the predominantly geometric "female" okir-a-bai. Unlike Sama okil,
okir designs are deliberately stylized when depicting living things, due to Islamic beliefs
against idolatry. Traditional creatures featured in okir are the naga (sea serpent) and the
sarimanok (feminine papanok, a rooster-like bird with a fish in its beak and another fish
in its claws). The naga is common in the panolong designs, while sarimanok are usually
placed on top of poles during celebrations. Other creature motifs traditionally depicted in
okir include crocodiles, parrots, grasshopper heads, and swallowtails. After contact with
other cultures, okir has also depicted non-native animals, including lions, peacocks, and
elephants.
Reference:
https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Okir
https://www.slideshare.net