McDonaldization of Culture: Arts Industry in the Philippines
By: Art In Need
Tags: History, Philippines, Artist, Art

Globalization greatly affects how people perceive the Arts sector in the Philippines. In knowing how it is affected, we must first know the definition of Western Art. According to Garth (2015), “Western Art’ is the portrayal, in two or three dimensions, of the history, people, landscape and wildlife of the area confined to the western regions of North America, in a highly realistic or realistic impressionist style and is inextricably linked to the culture of the American West.” The Philippines being colonized by the Americans for a period, already gained a lot from its colonizer’s culture. As a country living in the east, it is in contrast that we are considered westernized. This gives a big influence on how our nation lives, but this paper will take on the perspective of the Arts sector gained from a mixture of stock knowledge and additional research.

In the colonialization of the United States from 1899 to 1946, a new art movement was introduced to the privileged Filipino Artists — the practice of art was considered a privilege in those times — Impressionism and Modernism. This paved way for our local artists to flourish and expand their skills with the access of Art Education. This is also the period where media started to thrive, an effect of globalization itself. This allowed Filipinos to work on a more modern style of art: Art illustration, advertising, commercial design, and films. As Guillermo (n.d.) stated in her paper, The History and Current Situation of Modern Art in the Philippines, “A striking trend in Philippine art today is the use of indigenous materials, as best exemplified by the Baguio artists. For its sheer innovativeness, this trend projects itself as the new Philippine avant-garde.”In cultural view, after the granting of independence to our country, a revival of indigenous art became the spotlight to what is considered avant-garde.

In accordance with the McDonaldization of our country’s culture, it can clearly be seen from the abovementioned that we are greatly influenced by this, with context to the Art sector. Continuously, we become accustomed to the western ways of consuming media. The film industry in our country follows the themes of how westerners does it. Modern art by Filipinos continues to be in market for the western audience. Globalization gives us interconnectednesswith our foreign colonizers: This could be either good or bad, it just depends on how we look at it.

You can also follow art in need for more similar stories: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin

Thanks for reading! Written by Jose Salvacion

References:

Salvacion. (2021). McDonaldization of Culture: Arts Industry in the Philippines. Retrieved from https://artinneed.medium.com/mcdonaldization-of-culture-arts-industry-in-the-philippines-a4eb1b35b022

Guillermo A. G. (n.d.). The History and Current Situation of Modern Art in the Philippines. Retrieved from https://www.jpf.go.jp/j/publish/asia_exhibition_history/pdf/15_Symposium-1994_Potential_ENG_Handout_2.pdf

Garth (2015). What is “Western Art?”.

Retrieved from https://talkingbeautifulstuff.com/2015/08/10/what-is-western-art/