High and low art the same CCP’s Encyclopedia

THE Cultural Center of the Philippines’ 12-volume Encyclopedia of Philippine Art is encompassing, with the inclusion of discourses on popular culture, digital media, and LGBTQ-themed essays in broadcast art, among others.
The 12 sections are: Peoples of the Philippines (vol. 1-3); Architecture (vol. 4); Visual Arts (vol. 5); Film (vol.6); Music (vol.7); Dance (vol. 8); Theater (vol. 9); Broadcast Arts (vol. 10); and Literature (vols. 11-12).
Dr. Nicanor Tiongson, the encyclopedias’ editor-in-chief, said during the formal launch on Nov. 27 that the encyclopedia rejects the ideas of high and low art and fine and popular art; it is people-oriented, tackles LGBTQ issues, and shuns patriarchal values.
“It is imagining an ideal nation,” he told BusinessWorld at the sidelines of the event.
Mr. Tiongson received the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Centennial Honors for the Arts as one of the 100 important artists and cultural workers in the 20th century. A critic, writer, scholar, cultural administrator, and Professor Emeritus of the College of Mass Communications at UP Diliman, he has a pro-Filipino view of Philippine culture.
He said the encyclopedia “was very conscious of our art forms and their different aesthetics.” The country, he explained, has art from these groups: “ethnic, lowland, overlay of very Americanized population in the urban area, and the so-called academic elite.”
He noted that “The encyclopedia documents all of these forms. There’s no prejudice, in, for example, comics or telenovela. The point is that is has to be defined from the artists of all sectors and regions of the Philippines. It’s trying to imagine a national community with a culture that has people-oriented values,” he said.
For example, included in the encyclopedia are essays about the GMA-7 TV show My Husband’s Lover, which Mr. Tiongson called as an “important breakthrough and has a correct perspective on LGBTQ.” The show aired in 2013 and received positive reviews.
The comprehensive encyclopedia has more than 5,000 feature essays on art history, major works, types of art, artist biographies, organization profiles, and aspects of production. It includes more than 3,500 photographs and illustrations.
The 12-volume encyclopedia features the work of more than 500 scholars, experts, researchers, and writers, and was edited by 12 expert area-editors.
This second edition of the encyclopedia — which comes over two decades after the first edition was published in 1994 — was made with a budget of P45 million.
Mr. Tiongson said the country doesn’t have to wait for another 24 years for an edited, revised, and updated version as an online version will be released next year which will be constantly updated and revised and will have audio clips.
And while Mr. Tiongson mentioned that the encyclopedia is people-oriented, he said it’s his biggest regret that it was written in English.
“I’m hoping the third edition will be written in Filipino. But the problem is that we’ve all been raised in English, even my writers, included,” he said, adding that waiting for them to become well-versed in Filipino would take a very long time and the project wouldn’t be finished.
The set is now available for P50,000.
For reservations and inquiries, contact Leila Vibal of the CCP Cultural Research and Development Division or Gemma Marco of the CCP Marketing department at 832-1125. — Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman