•¡•Perlas Ng•¡•
•¡•Silanganan•¡•

•.•¡•.Pearl of.•¡•.•
.•¡•.the Orient .•¡•.

A  Post/Colonial And De/Colonial Filipino Graphic Design Maximal Manifesto 

~PURPOSE OF THIS TEXT~

This text exists as a Maximal Manifesto. Its intention is to create a space for myself and my Design Practice as I engage in creating work through a distinctly Post/De/Colonial Filipino lens. As I will outline below, this text is a proposition—to interrogate various Frameworks that other Post/De/Colonial Filipino/American artists have utilized in their work and to create a roadmap for my own Graphic Design Practice. This Manifesto is Maximal in its sense of proposing several (related) De/Colonial Frameworks, and is distinctly Filipino in its grounding that More is More. In true Filipino fashion, this Manifesto can be considered as a Perlas, as the proposed Frameworks are to act as a build up of ideas upon ideas. This is an accumulation—not an evolution—of thought, and is an Overwhelming Overlapping process. This Manifesto will allow me to challenge myself to engage in Post/De/Colonial Filipino graphic design in similar ways that others before me have. Most importantly, I aim to showcase how Filipino graphic design is distinctly De/Ccolonial in its roots and its contemporary expression.

~PERLAS NG SILANGANAN~

1 Ambesange Praveen V., “Postcolonialism: Edward Said & Gayatri Spivak,” Research Journal of Recent Sciences, Vol. 5(8) (August 2016): 47-50, http://www.isca.in/rjrs/archive/v5/i8/9.ISCA-RJRS-2016-051.pdf
* From this point forward, the term “Majority World” will be used in lieu of the term “Third World” or “Global South.” The notion of “First” or “Third” class countries is a dated, colonial construct. The use of the term “Majority World” is the continual reminder that Western colonial and imperial countries do not actually encompass a majority of the world’s population or land, despite how they are currently framed in 21st century geo- and social-politics.
2 Laura E. Peréz, Eros Ideologies (Durham: Duke University Press, 2019), 3.
3 Lily Rose R. Tope, Detch P. Nonan-Mercado, Philippines (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2002), 7.
4 “Mi Ultimo Adiós, by Dr. José Rizal,” Fabulous Philippines, accessed February 6, 2021. https://www.fabulousphilippines.com/mi-ultimo-adios-jose-rizal.html
5 “Republic Act No. 8491,” The Lawphil Project, accessed February 11, 2021. https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1998/ra_8491_1998.html

6 Private interview with a Filipino over Whatsapp. Conducted on January 31, 2021.

7 Reply from a Filipino to my Instagram Story questioning what this term means to Filipinos.

8 Extracted from a group chat including myself and other Filipinos I have met in the Providence area.

9 “Cultured Pearl,” Britannica, accessed February 11, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/topic/cultured-pearl

 The Philippines was long considered the Perlas Ng Silanganan (Pearl Of The Orient) while it was colonized by Spain & the United States. I distinctly remember being told that it was “such a shame” that the Philippines lost its path to economic wealth (due to its loss of Colonial status) and thus lost its title as the Pearl Of The Orient. The term, however, is problematic in its roots. After all, the “Orient” is a fetishisitic construct created by the West, used as a tool for the continued Othering and oppression of individuals from the East and Majority World/Global South^1*. The continued Colonization of Filipino Culture post-1946 independence is apparent in the lack of criticism towards the phrase from local Filipinos.

The U.S. certainly considered & continues to consider the Philippines as the Pearl Of The Orient. During their Colonial rule, the U.S. legitimized their power over the Philippines as a way to prevent “the spread of communism” in the Majority World (The Philippines is located right next to China, and is not too far from Japan and North Korea). The heavy U.S. Military presence in the Philippines continues to the present day as a result of the US-PH Visiting Forces Act (V.F.A.). The heavy U.S. Military presence in the Philippines provided the U.S. with the necessary lands and presence to establish its World-Wide Colonial Empire. The Philippines’ land also equipped the U.S. with increased opportunities for trade and commerce centered around Asia. To put it simply, the term “Pearl Of The Orient” is Fetishistic at best, and Colonial at worst. It perpetuates the purposeful Dehumanization of the Colonized subject in the eyes of the Colonizer,² which validates the Colonial and Western notion that the Philippines was (and continues to be) a Pearl that had to be cleaned from the grime of its own savagery — savagery that would have otherwise led them to their own demise, or even worse: communism… In other words, the Dehumanization of the Filipino by the U.S. was necessary to legitimize Imperial Rule and reject the idea of an Independent Philippines.

Yet this term becomes even more complicated in its use in National Philippine texts. The phrase is believed to originate from a Spanish Jesuit missionary (A.K.A., Colonizer) Juan J. Delgado in 1751.³ Jose Rizal, a National Filipino Writer & Hero, then picked up and utilized the term in his final poem, Mi Ultimo Adios.⁴ This led to the term being integrated to the 1960 Tagalog revision of Lupang Hinirang.⁵ Colonization is so integral to Filipino history that the fetishistic phrase, Perlas Ng Silanganan, has literally been embedded into our National Anthem, even in our Post/Colonial Independence. The origins and use of the phrase is hardly critiqued or even thought about by most Filipinos, likely showcasing the lasting effects of (internalized) Colonization on Filipino thought.

After talking to my peers about the meaning of the phrase, it became clear to me that there was more nuance to it than I had originally thought. Though most of the criticism towards the phrase comes from Filipinos in the Diaspora, many local Filipinos do not see any harm in using the term. One Filipino claims that “in English, hearing ‘Pearl Of The Orient’ does not mean much. However, if you say ‘Perlas Ng Silanganan’ - it changes everything for me. It conjures the National Anthem, memories of childhood uttering those words with your hand on your chest, it’s very loaded with memory and significance.”⁶ I have thus come to understand the term to have a Dual meaning. In English, it either lacks meaning or is seen as offensive and problematic. Yet when referenced in Filipino, it is transformed into a term that directly links to National Filipino Pride and Identity. Many Filipinos claim that the phrase refers to our country’s “prosperity and beauty,”⁷ as well as “how our identity and way of life relies on the geography of the country and its archipelagic nature.”⁸ In all, the term comes down to: Perlas Ng Silanganan in whose perspective — our own, or our Colonizer’s?

Beyond the beauty that a Pearl may symbolise, the actual process of cultivating Pearls could not be more representative of the Filipino’s Colonial history. A “cultured” Pearl is produced by the “intentional insertion of a Foreign object inside [a mussel’s] shell.”⁹ In the act of introducing a Parasitic object, the mussel releases layers upon layers of ‘nacre’ as a defense mechanism. Over years, this layer thickens and solidifies to create a lustrous Pearl. Viewed from a Western perspective, Foreign interference and governance is what allowed the Philippines to develop into the “Pearl” it is today. From a Filipino perspective, however, it can be argued that the Foreign insertion and interference of Western rule has forced the Filipino to adapt & thus develop its Modern Cultural Identity. Over 381 years of Colonization, the Philippines has built on layers upon layers of taking from our Colonizers, and transforming it into a Perlas that is uniquely Filipino.

Ultimately, I find that Perlas Ng Silanganan is an excellent way to understand and represent Post/ and De/Colonial Filipino Identity and Culture. Our country’s history is so riddled with Colonization that it is impossible to not address this history when discussing our Nationalist Pride. I view the Perlas/Pearl Duality as representative of the De/Colonial Duality. That is, the Decolonial reclamation of the Philippines as a Perlas only exists because of the Colonial framing of the Philippines as the Pearl Of The Orient that had to be “Cultured” and Colonized by the West. I see the Perlas as a symbol for the De/Colonized Philippines in the view of the Filipino, while the Pearl speaks to the continued Colonization of Philippine Culture and Lands in the eyes of the West.

As I unpack the history and trajectory of Filipino graphic design in this text, it is apparent that the field can, too, be understood as a Perlas Ng Silanganan in how its Vernaculars are a result of Colonization while still being distinctly Filipino. The phrase Perlas Ng Silanganan encompasses the multifaceted history of Philippine Colonization while simultaneously acknowledging how Post/Colonial Philippines continues to evolve and take from its Colonial past, making it the perfect title for this Post/De/Folonial Filipino Graphic Design Maximal Manifesto.

~MY RELATIONSHIP WITH FILIPINO GRAPHIC DESIGN~

10 Lobregat Balaguer, Tropico Vernacular (New York: Triple Canopy), https://www.canopycanopycanopy.com/contents/tropico-vernacular/#title-page
^†From this point on, “Graphic Design'' with a capital G and D refers to the formal study of the Western canon of Graphic Design, with the acknowledgement that its study and fixation of formal design rules originates and is perpetuated by Graphic Designers from the West. On the other hand, “graphic design” refers to the broader field of graphic design that does not necessarily strictly conform to these rules.

^‡ From this point on, “Graphic Design'' with a capital G and D refers to the formal study of the Western canon of Graphic Design, with the acknowledgement that its study and fixation of formal design rules originates and is perpetuated by Graphic Designers from the West. On the other hand, “graphic design” refers to the broader field of graphic design that does not necessarily strictly conform to these rules.
^§ Yet I still ask myself — what does it even mean for a design to be “Filipino?”
11 Kelsey Blackwell, “Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People,” The Arrow, Blogs & Essays (August 9, 2018). https://arrow-journal.org/why-people-of-color-need-spaces-without-white-people/

The Idea Of Design As A Means Of Agency Isn’t Fully Recognized By A Majority Of Filipino Graphic Designers.
—Clara Balaguer, Tropico Vernacular

Graphic Design is a field lacking critical artistic study and dialogue in the Philippines. In Tropico Vernacular, Lobregat Balaguer notes that this may be attributed to how graphic designers in the Philippines are usually considered as “blue-collar executors rather than Creative-Class Visual Strategists.”¹⁰ This has led Filipino graphic designers to operate at the Vernacular level — that is, to mainly consider the Function (in a Capitalist, not Modernist, sense) of the Design. This can also be understood as graphic designers learning how to Design on the job or to simply go with their Gut, as though they were speaking their Mother Tongue. Their skills and Design Sensibilities are not learned in an Educational Setting as they tend to be in the West. Without a “Formalize” Design Education, the Design Practice of the Filipino “blue-collar executor” is often informed by Vernaculars that are observed in Metro Manila’s littered Advertising scene and from Design Trends on the internet. Combine this with the lack of appreciation for graphic design, and broader field of Art, it is unsurprising that most Designs—even the truly Bad ones—are green-lit and mass-produced by large corporations. Although this may lead to interesting and heavily Ornamented Designs, discussions about graphic design are still limited to its role in Material Culture and Consumerism.

Before coming to RISD to study Graphic Design, I had long understood the practice to be strictly tied to Advertising (and thus the broader scheme of Capitalism). After all, the projects I had enjoyed were directly related to the sale of something, and my parents were excited by the notion that I could engage in a form of Art that in their eyes would be fiscally sound. In my very first work experience as a graphic designer in an advertising agency in Manila, the direct link between Capitalism and Graphic Design was clearer than ever. My understanding of graphic design to be used as a tool for Marketing (and fiscal gain) came to an odds when beginning my studies in Graphic Design at RISD.^† I was suddenly introduced to concepts of a Grid, Typographic Rules, Hierarchy, and Swiss Minimalism. My History of Graphic Design course was predominantly filled with the study of white male designers, with little acknowledgement of the role of Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC), Women, and the broader Non-Western World on shaping the trajectory of the field.^‡ Without giving it much thought, I was suddenly fully consumed by (and almost exclusively producing) Graphic Design through a Western eye. I tossed away my appreciation for Filipino graphic design, and even recount telling my peers about how humorous my experience in a Filipino advertising agency was — how dare they commit the barbaric act of typesetting a newspaper advertisement in Adobe Photoshop and not in the oh-so-holy InDesign! Yet, to give myself some credit as I look over my work from RISD in the last 3 years, I would admit that I did not fully commit to the Western Design Trend of Minimalism. My work often utilized too much Color, a lack of reliance on a Grid, and excessive Ornamentation with a lack of Meaning. I now see my work as on the balance of Filipino^§ and American—though definitely more heavily influenced by American Graphic Design.

I recently engaged in creating work specifically through the lens of Filipino graphic design in an attempt to broaden the scope of my Practice. Although I was personally engaged and excited by the potential of the work (to both address the complex history of the U.S. Colonization of the Philippines, as well as producing work from a distinctly Pilipino perspective), I found that my work was not fully understood or well received in critique. The critique inevitably led to the questioning of whether the designs I made were actually “Good.” That is, “Good” within the Western Canon of Graphic Design, typically hearkening back to Design Rules established by the Bauhaus and Swiss Modernism. Unwanted references and correlations were made about how my work “kinda looked like Motorcycle Designs” or even an “animal cracker box.” I now see this critique as a prime example of why BIPOC Artists and Designers need a space to Create and Critique without White people in the room. With reference to Kelsey Blackwell’s “Why People Of Color Need Spaces Without White People,” I have come to understand how my work will always be compared to a White Standard. Even in a room with the most well intentioned White folk, “patterns of White Dominance are inevitable.”¹¹ Even in a space where White professors are able to discuss the intricacies, references, importance, and complexities behind the most Minimal piece of Graphic Design, my work that is just as formally and theoretically complex was disregarded as “Bad Design” for its lack of Formal Western Graphic Design Principles.


Sharing Our Experiences In Integrated Spaces Often Means Preparing To Defend Our Anger And Frustration, Or Taking Care Of White Individuals Who Find What Is Being Said Hurtful. This Means That When POC Do Take The leap To Share Painful Experiences, White Listeners Often Shift The Focus Back Onto Themselves And Their Own Grievances; Thus Attention And Power Implicitly Shift Back To White Individuals, Reinforcing The Status Quo.
—Kelsey Blackwell, Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People

As Blackwell puts it, even in Integrated spaces where White folk claim to have an open mind, their lack of understanding for a given topic, in this case Filipino graphic design, ultimately leads to a Power Shift back to White individuals. It is paramount that BIPOC students are given spaces to create without constantly having to explain themselves (whether the work they make is perceived to be not or too political) & be forced to work and exist in Integrated spaces where Whiteness is always valued over the Nonwhiite Frame.

Due to this specific experience in critique, I have now been compelled to do a deep-dive research into Filipino graphic design and how one can engage in Post/ and De/Colonial Filipino Art and Design. I aim for this work to question our current understanding of Graphic Design. The design work produced does not ultimately aim to be “Good.” The unfortunate irony of engaging in this work, however, is how my attempt to explain and legitimize Filipino graphic design in a Western context (to capitalize the “g” and “d,” to elevate it from “Vernacular” to “Graphic”), inevitably repeats the harms of Colonialism. Yet if it is not for this research and analysis, Filipino graphic design may continually be discounted as “Bad Design” without the acknowledgement of how its Vernaculars exist as a result of Colonialism.

~DE/COLONIZATION~

12 Sarita Echavez See, The Decolonized Eye: Filipino American Art and Performance (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press).

^¶ This is unsurprising considering that the Philippines was colonized for about 381 years (Spanish colonial rule: 1565–1898, British occupation: 1762–1764, American colonial rule: 1902–1946, Japanese occupation: 1941–1946) and has only been a modern independent nation for 75 years (1946–Present).
13 Samantha Moyo, “Deepen Your Understanding of Decolonisation,” Filmed October 2019 at TEDxBrighton, Brighton, U.K., video. https://www.ted.com/talks/samantha_moyo_deepen_your_understanding_of_decolonisation

Decolonization can come in many forms, and I believe that there are multiple ways in which one can engage with Decolonization (Covertly and Overtly). Below are two notable definitions of Decolonization that will guide this work.

Decolonization Is A Concept And A Practice That Refers To Analyzing The Histories Of Dominance Of One Nation Or State Over Another And The Myths That Were Necessary To Rationalizing Political, Economic, And Social Subjugations By Claiming That The Cultures And Humanity Of The Colonized Were Inferior.
—Luara E. Perez, Eros Ideologies

If The Process Of Colonization Was About Dividing, Conquering, And Dominating, Then The Process Of Decolonization Is About Dearmoring, Humbling Ourselves, And Losing Our Sense Of control And Perceived Power.
—Samantha Moyo, Deepen Your Understanding of Decolonization

With Perez’s definition of Decolonization, I argue that Post-Colonial Philippines is still, in fact, Colonized. The Philippines and Filipino Culture in general are constantly compared to that of the United States & Spain, our previous Colonizers. Our Culture continues to be Colonized in its desire to be accepted and comparable to our “superior” Colonizer. Thus, similar to Sarita Echavez See in The Decolonized Eye, I will reference the current Independent Philippines as “Post/Colonial”¹² — that is, in its Post/Colonial era, the Philippines is still in many ways Colonized.^¶ Moyo’s definition¹³ is similarly powerful in its proposal to undo the harms of Colonization. Later in the Maximal Manifesto, I will evaluate how the undoing of the destruction of Native Filipino languages is vital for Decolonization. Though this may not necessarily be possible in the literal sense, I argue that the Articulation of Filipino graphic design Vernaculars is Decolonial, as these Vernaculars are often misunderstood by the West and seen as Bad Graphic Design. Providing the necessary language for these Vernaculars to be understood will allow for the Colonized to be Heard & Recognized.

Because of the Philippine’s complex history of Colonization, Filipino Decolonization is just as, if not more, complex. Therefore, to better understand what it means to participate in Post/Colonial and De/Colonial Filipino graphic design, I will investigate and propose different Frameworks of thought and/or engagement that are in line with Post/De/Colonial thought. Similar to the term “Post/Colonial,” the term “De/Colonial” is a nod to how Decolonization will always be tied to Colonization, for one cannot engage in Decolonization if they do not similarly engage in unpacking the histories and harms of Colonization. “Post/De/Colonial” encompasses the intricate relatedness of these three terms, for they all only exist because of the root word: Colonial. These Frameworks are all linked to one another, and are split into categories for the sake of organization. Moving forward, these Frameworks can be read in any order that the reader sees fit.

•.•¡•.¡.•. FRAMEWORKS .•.¡.•¡•.•
•. COGNITIVE JUSTICE .•
•. EROS IDEOLOGIES .•
•. ABSTRACTION ASSIMILATION, & CODE SWITCHING .•
•. FOREIGN IN A DOMESTIC SENSE .•
•. DIS/RE/ARTICULATON & COLONIAL AMNESIA .•
•. GOOD BAD DESIGN, CREATIVE MISPRONUNCIATION, & MAXIMALISM .•