CLARK FREE PORT—It is a museum like no other.
The Nayong Pilipino sa Clark Expo (NPCE) Museum is fast-becoming a standout among other museums in country and, probably, in the Southeast Asia for its unique integration of displays and actual demonstration of artifacts for an interactive experience.
Lawyer Apolonio B. Anota Jr., NPCE Museum executive director, said the museum houses some 1,300 Philippine weaves (knitted cloths) made by early Filipinos from hundreds of years.
Anota said the museum opened in August and is ready for the launch of the “2015 Visit the Philippines Year”, the grandest tourism celebration in the country, and the up-and-coming Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.
He said that, in other museums, you can only view the artifacts but cannot touch them. But, at the NPCE Museum, you can touch the artifacts and you can even be taught how to wear them, he added.
The NPCE Museum took four years and only P18 million to build on a 1,000 square-meter (sq m) property, Anota said.
It was learned that a similar museum is being built on a 1,000 sq m lot on Pioneer Street near Edsa in Mandaluyong City, which has a budget of P1 billion. The museum, drawn by a Japanese architect, will also display Philippine weaves.
The National Museum in Manila has only eight pieces of Philippine weaves in its weave section, Anota said, as compared to the numerous pieces of artifacts at the NPCE Museum. “But, here in Clark, we are alive because of the interactive experience,” he said.
Huge pictures adorn the museum with the weaves worn by Filipino models. “By showing the pictures we want to teach the visitors that these are garments that may be worn,” Anota said.