The musicians 

Vicente Manansala painted "The Musicians" sometime in the mid-20th century, a period of great social change in the Philippines. The artwork captures a group of musicians rendered in Manansala's signature style of Cubism, which he called "transparent cubism." It blends the geometric abstraction of European modernism with local Filipino subject matter. What are the politics of imagery at play here? The choice of depicting everyday Filipino musicians elevates them to a subject worthy of artistic representation. It is a conscious decision to portray local culture and the working class. The post-war period saw the rise of Filipino artists engaging with modern art movements while grappling with their national identity. It is important to consult art journals and historical records from this period in order to understand the social and institutional context in which this painting was made and shown.