Story & photos by Stanley Baldwin O. See
In the age of social media, smartphones, selfies and the Internet, it’s fair to ask if 130-year-old paintings like Juan Luna’s Spoliarium and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo’s The Assassination of Governor Bustamante and His Son matter to the nation’s youth?
Based on the long queues at the gates of the National Museum when I visited during one Saturday, then yes, Filipino history, heritage, culture and the arts can still stimulate the interest and play a major role in the development of our nation’s millennial generation.
Never mind if some students were required to visit for a class report, course credits or just want to take selfies to serve as new profile pictures; the fact that the youth of today spent one to hours of wandering and learning inside the National Museum complex already gives them a leg up compared to my primary education days. Despite being a few blocks away from my home in A. Mabini Street, this is actually only my second time to visit the National Museum along P. Burgos Drive in Ermita, Manila. Housed in what used to be the old Legislative Building is the National Museum of Fine Arts, where Luna and Hidalgo’s masterpieces, as well as other famous works of art can be found.
Keep in mind the house rules
To enter, guests must first register in the museum’s logbook and surrender their bags with the security personnel; only wallets, cell phones and cameras are allowed inside. Whether going on a do-it-yourself or guided tour, the Hall of Masters (former House of Representatives Session Hall), should be your first stop inside the museum.
Both the Spoliarium and The Assassination of Governor Bustamante paintings are massive floor-to-ceiling installations and are celebrated not only for its aesthetics but also for the honor (gold and silver medals at the 1884 Madrid Art Exposition, respectively), meaning and significance they represent. From here, it’s best to go to the adjacent galleries one-by-one, starting with Gallery I (Luis I. Ablaza Hall) featuring religious art from the 17th to 19th centuries. Other noteworthy and interesting galleries include Galley IV (Fundacion Santiago Hall) that contains academic and neoclassical sculptures; Gallery V, a homage to Dr. Jose Rizal; and Gallery X (MFP Hall) which displays mural-like paintings with the theme: The Progress of Medicine in the Philippines by Carlos ‘Botong’ V. Francisco, National Artist for Visual Arts (1973).
Level 3 (Senate floor)
Due to time constraints, I guessed that most of the students who were at the venue skipped the floor above since the crowd was thinner in the upper galleries. One particular gallery, Gallery XX, should bring flashbacks to those who were able to watch the recent Heneral Luna film as Juan Luna’s Parisian Cafe (Interior d’un Cafe) is hanged prominently on one side of the room.
Aside from featuring temporary and on-loan pieces, the third level is also dedicated to modern and contemporary works from the 20th to 21st centuries. Famous artworks by Fernando C. Amorsolo, the first National Artist of the Philippines, Federico Aguilar-Alcuaz, Vicente S. Manansala, Arturo Luz, Benedicto ”Bencab” Cabrera, and a host of other Filipino artists are all displayed on the walls and galleries of the third level.
Museum of the Filipino people
Across the street is the National Museum of Anthropology (NMoA), the former site of the Department of Finance, that showcases anthropological and archaeological treasures like artifacts, clothing and photographs of the Filipino people.
Compared to the abstract, impressionistic, and portrayed nature of the Fine Arts building, items, installations and displays inside NMoA are actual evidence and proof of who and what we are as a Filipino nation. Exhibits such as the Five Centuries of Maritime Trade Before the Arrival of the West, The Origin (Pinagmulan), Archeological Treasures (Kaban ng Lahi), and The Filipinos and Their Rich Cultural Heritage (Kinahinatnan) are tangible proof that the Philippines’s history, culture and heritage is a rich and unique one that all Filipinos should be proud of.
The newest ‘kid’ on the block
Aside from seeing the Spoliarium a second time, what really made me come back to the National Museum was the newest installation found at the second level of the museum of the Filipino People. Unveiled to the public on October 7 was the Section 22 (of 40) of the Berlin Wall that used to separate West and East Germany. Erected in 1961 by German Democratic Republic (East), “it became the iconic symbol of a divided Europe and the Cold War until its demolition commenced on November 9, 1989. The fall of the Berlin Wall was the first step in the reunification of Germany, which occurred on October 3, 1990.”
Donated by the city of Berlin to Manila, Section 22 measures 3.65 meters tall and 1.2 meters wide and weighs 2.5 tons; NMoA actually serves as its temporary storage before being permanently installed in a dedicated area for public viewing inside Rizal Park. As with all artworks in the museum, touching the wall is a big no-no. The colorful, graffiti-like “front” was the side visible from West Germany, while the plain white wall (with some writings) was the side visible on the East side of Germany.
Manunggul Jar and ‘butanding‘ skeletons
There were two artifacts/displays that I saw previously but I missed on my second trip for one reason or another. The image of the Manunggul Jar, a “secondary burial jar excavated from a neolithic burial site in Manunggul cave of the Tabon Caves in Palawan,” can be found on the backside of the old (New Design/Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas series) Philippine P1,000 bill with the lid topped by two figures measuring no more than three inches in height.
With the Saturday crowd, I must have passed by the jar without noticing it. The butanding or whale shark skeleton, meanwhile, was probably taken down from the old Legislation Building and transferred to the zoology division inside NMoA. An installation of that size (the largest confirmed size is 12.65 meters/41.5 feet) is definitely not hard to miss but might not have been available for public display.
Aside from traveling through the Philippine history without having to visit all 7,107 islands, the best part of the National Museum experience is its free admission for the whole October (Museums and Galleries Month). Those who are unable to go this month may opt to go on Sundays or in May next year (National Heritage Month) when admission is also free.
1 comment
Somehow the truth of a consequence is yet for people who where shabby and needs improvement to study in order for them not to compensate others difficulties and hardships for senses of bountiful negotiation. The essence of studying for people must have for our own in the paradigm of our status giving eclectic and virile cases of onlooking what’s neutrality against pride and illogical senses promoting a better demeanor. Somehow I had that GMRC reign to promote for what’s an eclair towards a good role of hierarchy to contradict what’s malice in the verge of beauty in the surmounting instances of aesthetic vision.