Isandaan at tatlumpu’t anim na taon na ang Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas!
Maaalalang noong nakaraang taon ay inilipat ang araw ng pagkakatatag mula Oktubre 29, 1901 patungong Agosto 12, 1887, kung kailan itinatag ang Museo-Biblioteca de Filipinas sa bisa ng real decreto ni Reina Regente Maria Cristina ng Espanya. Ang nasabing paglilipat ay naunang pinagtibay ng Board Resolution No. 10 (2022) ng Pambansang Komisyon Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas na inilabas noong nakaraang Hulyo 2022.
Asahan ninyong patuloy kaming magsisilbing tagapangalaga ng kultura at pamanang Pilipino. Patuloy ninyo kaming samahan na tunghayan, unawain, at pahalagahan ang ating pagkakakilanlang bayan! Bukas ang museo mula Martes hanggang Linggo, ika-9 ng umaga hanggang ika-6 ng gabi. LIBRE ang pagpasok!
On July 28, 2023, the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) inaugurated its 16th component museum—the NMP-Cebu in Cebu City.
Located in the heart of Cebu City in the historic Plaza Independencia, near Fort San Pedro, the “Aduana” building was designed by William Parsons and was constructed in 1910. It served as the customs house of the Port of Cebu for 94 years and even survived the bombings during World War II relatively intact. In 2004, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo decided to convert the structure into the Malacañang sa Sugbo, which aimed to bring the national government closer to the Visayas. However, in 2013, the building was damaged by a 7.1-magnitude quake, prompting its closure.
Former NMP Chairperson Evangelina Lourdes-Arroyo Bernas stated that she saw it as her priority to “rectify the absence of a National Museum in the International Gateway and Educational, Cultural and Tourism Hub in the Central Philippines.” So in 2019, the Cebu Port Authority and the National Museum of the Philippines signed a usufruct agreement, giving the NMP the right to use the structure to house the NMP-Cebu for 25 years.
The inauguration ceremony formally began with the arrival of the President of the Philippines Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. Shortly after the ribbon-cutting was the unveiling of the inauguration plaque, and a presidential tour of the exhibitions.
A short program followed, starting with welcoming remarks from National Museum Board of Trustees Chairman Andoni Aboitiz.
“The historical building we see in front of us is meant to serve as a temple for not just Cebuanos but Filipinos from all over the country and visitors from all over the world to come and learn about a significant slice of our nation,” Aboitiz said.
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco then introduced President Marcos who in his speech highlighted the importance of this institution and called the museum a “milestone for the entire country”.
“[The opening of this museum] is in line with our national agenda to promote tourism [and] nurture our national identity… It is a milestone, not only for the Queen City of the South and the whole Province of Cebu, but for the entire country, as the opening of this museum brings to the fore our rich natural, cultural, and artistic treasures”, Marcos said.
NMP-Cebu features exhibitions that capture the Cebuano spirit and heritage, including the island’s rich and diverse biodiversity, geology, archaeological treasures, art, and ethnographic and maritime traditions. The new museum also hosts a special exhibition featuring artworks from the Philippine Center in New York and will soon feature artworks by Cebu master Martino Abellana. Aside from the five galleries, NM Cebu also boasts a lobby and reception hall featuring additional art by Cebuanos and featuring Cebuano culture and history, a terrace, a courtyard, and the NM’s first-ever museum shop.
The National Museum of the Philippines – Cebu will be partially opened to the public from Tuesdays to Sundays, 9AM to 5PM, beginning on August 1. Admission will be FREE!
The National Museum of the Philippines—for the second year in a row—has earned the highest audit rating from the Commission on Audit for FY 2022! The NMP has, yet again, received an “Unmodified Opinion” rating after doing so for the first time last year.
The NMP will work harder to uphold the quality of service that we have been providing to our partner agencies and organizations, our stakeholders, and the Filipino people for many years to come.
On May 31, 2023, the National Museum Bohol officially launched its newest exhibition, “PAGLAWIG: The Boholano Way of Life.” The exhibition presents artifacts and ecofacts recovered by the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) in the 1980s in the municipalities of Anda, Mabini, Candijay, and Guindulman. These sites provided evidence of the utilization of stones, shells, and bones as tools and ornaments by early Boholanos. PAGLAWIG also provides an overview of the traditional Boholano crafts such as boat-building, fishing, farming, metalsmithing and jewelry-making, basket and raffia weaving, and the production of asin tibuok (artisanal sea salt).
The inauguration program began with a welcoming speech from the Director for Visayas National Museums Atty. Ma. Cecilia Tirol, followed by a brief overview of the newly-installed exhibition by NMP Deputy Director-General for Museums Jorell Legaspi. Afterwards, messages were given by Tagbilaran City Mayor Jane Censoria Cajes-Yap, Provincial Administrator Asteria C. Caberte (on behalf of Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle C. Aumentado), and Atty. Abel Damalerio (on behalf of Bohol 1st. District Representative Edgar M. Chatto). The program ended after National Museum Director-General Jeremy Barns gave his closing remarks. Other attendees to the program include NMP Deputy Director-General for Administration Atty. Ma. Rosenne Flores-Avila, NMP Research, Collections, and Conservation Management Division Chief Anne Rosette G. Crelencia, personnel of the NM Bohol Area Museum, guests from the Bohol Provincial Library, and staff from the Bohol Provincial and Local Governments, among others.
The PAGLAWIG: The Boholano Way of Life exhibition is now OPEN TO THE PUBLIC at the NM Bohol Area Museum in Tagbilaran City! Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9AM to 5PM. Admission is FREE!
The National Museum of the Philippines renewed its partnership with the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines by extending the loan agreement of the 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒓 𝑾𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒉 𝑭𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏, currently on display at the Spoliarium Hall of the National Museum of Fine Arts, for another three years.
Prior to the signing ceremony held yesterday, the National Museum of the Philippines’ Deputy Director-General for Museums Jorell Legaspi gave a brief overview of the provenance of the monument and its creator. It was followed by a message from the US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson who talked about the monument’s symbolism of the long-standing relationship between the United States and the Philippines.
The loan extension was then signed by NMP Director-General Jeremy Barns, Supervisory General Services Officer of the United States Department of State Daniel McCullough, Mr. Legaspi, and Amb. Carlson. After the signing of the documents, Director-General Barns gave his final remarks, recalling the collaborations between the NMP, the US Embassy, and various American institutions.
Other attendees present in the event included German Ambassador to the Philippines Anke Reiffenstuel, First Secretary of the Spanish Embassy in the Philippines Luis Morales Fernández, Bruneian Ambassador to the Philippines Megawati Dato Paduka Haji Manan, and DOT Undersecretary Atty. Shereen Gail Yu-Pamintuan. Representatives from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the National Parks Development Committee, the Intramuros Administration, and the Museum Foundation of the Philippines were also present, among others.
The monument, first loaned to the National Museum of the Philippines in 2017, was created in 1912 by Spanish sculptor Mariano Benlliure y Gil (1862-1947) in honor of Arthur Walsh Fergusson, the first Executive Secretary of the Philippines who held office until his death in 1908. The monument was originally erected and inaugurated in Plaza Fergusson (now the Plaza Nuestra Señora de Guia), adjacent to the US Embassy in Ermita, Manila on November 15, 1913. However, it sustained heavy damage during the Battle of Manila in 1945. Eventually, the City of Manila transferred ownership of the monument to the United States Embassy in the Philippines, who, in turn, later loaned it to the National Museum. The Fergusson Monument is the only monument of its kind to be made for an American in the Philippines and illustrates the shared history of the United States and the Philippines.
The National Museum of the Philippines expresses its deep gratitude to the United States Government for their generous support of the NMP and its mission.
In this week’s #BuiltTraditionThursday, we feature the Church of the Immaculate Conception of San Agustin, Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation and Cincture—more commonly known as the San Agustin Church—in Intramuros, Manila City.
The outstanding universal value of the church as a cultural and artistic monument makes it not just a nationally recognized Cultural Treasure and Historical Landmark, but since 1993 the San Agustin Church has been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the four Baroque Churches of the Philippines. This all-stone church complex, completed in 1607, is the oldest stone church in the country, being relatively unchanged since its construction. San Agustin is built out of locally quarried adobe stone and lime mortar, and is designed in the Neoclassical-Baroque style. The floor plan of the church is that of a Latin cross within a rectangular boundary, with three aisles. Its Neoclassical-Baroque aesthetic is emphasized by the Ionic and Corinthian columns adorning its façade, its rose window, triangular pediment, and symmetricity. Furthermore, the intricately carved bas-relief on the main wooden doorways is distinctly proto-Baroque.
The interior of the church contains several distinct architectural features. For one, the central nave of the church is topped by a barrel vault (also called boveda or media caña), broken by wall separations that divide the nave into six sections. The church is recognized as one of the few structures in the Philippines constructed with true barrel vaulting. A unique feature of the structural interior are the series of chapels lining both sides of the nave, these are originally fourteen cryptocollateral chapels, seven on either side of the nave; the walls separating these chapels act as buttresses (or structural supports), in the same manner as wandpfeiler (wall pillars) of German Baroque churches.
Directly above the narthex (or entry) of the church is the resplendent choir loft, another distinct feature. It is supported by two elliptical stone arches, accessible through an antechoir via the east corridor of the adjoining convent-monastery. The choir loft is notable for its sixty-eight carved molave stalls with fine inlay—made in 1606 under Fr. Miguel Serrano—and its extant narra wood construction, including its wooden railing. The choir loft also features a large, sculptural lectern imported from Macao in 1731. Extensive restoration works have been conducted on the choir loft by Escuella Taller de Filipinas Foundation, Inc., from 2015 to 2018.
A vast majority of the interior space of the church is painted in artistic trompe l’oeil, including all the interior wall surfaces, ceiling, and dome soffit. Cesare Alberoni and Giovanni Dibella—Italian scenographers—were contracted in 1875 to execute the realistic imagery. Motifs of their Neoclassical revival style include wreaths, cornucopias, festoons, fleurettes, and Christian symbols and personages.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception of San Agustin–Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation and Cincture, assessed in its current condition, remains in a generally fair state of conservation. Critical areas regarding its maintenance due to its advanced age and modernized environment are known to the national cultural agencies, UNESCO, and key relevant authorities. The preservation and conservation of this World Heritage Site is of rightfully paramount concern, to allow the future generations of Filipinos—and all the peoples of the world—to appreciate its enduring outstanding universal value.
