Halina’t maki-Sining!

The #NationalMuseumPh joins the nation in celebrating National Arts Month this February. This year’s theme, “Sining ng Pag-asa,” aims to recognize the arts “as a source and expression of hope as shown in the creative ways we respond to the effects of the pandemic, natural calamities, and other social realities, as well as the arts’ role in improving our community life as Filipinos”. 

The #NationalMuseumPH, a trust of the Government, is an educational, scientific, and cultural institution that acquires, documents, preserves, and exhibits.  It fosters the scholarly study, and public appreciation of works of art, specimens, and cultural and historical artifacts representative of the unique cultural heritage of the Filipino people and the natural history of the Philippines.

One of the latest fine arts exhibitions that we upgraded and improved at the National Museum of Fine Arts is the “Lilok, Hulma, at Tipon: Modern Sculptures in the Philippines.” This exhibition located in Gallery XXIX, highlights the sculptures ranging from carvings (lilok) to assemblages (tipon) from the National Fine Arts Collection, and those of other partner government institutions. The gallery features works in various media by notable Filipino sculptors who have had significant contributions and influences in the development of modern arts in the Philippines. These include works by National Artists Arturo Luz, Abdulmari Asia Imao, and Jerry Elizalde Navarro, and works by modern masters including Eduardo Castrillo, Solomon Saprid, Renato Rocha, Lamberto Hechanova, and Ramon Orlina. Also featured are the works by female artists, namely Julie Lluch, Agnes Arellano, Rosario Bitanga-Peralta, and Virginia Ty-Navarro, who showcase their mastery and expertise in their chosen medium. 

This exhibition is a testimony to the ingenuity and excellence of Filipino sculptors who chose to break free from the confines of the artistic tradition of sculpture and made innovations in media, form, and subject.

The National Museum of the Philippines commits to continually create exhibitions and corollary activities amid the pandemic. This is our way of fulfilling our mandate and honoring our Filipino artists and the masterpieces they created which inspires and is a “source and expression and hope” in these difficult times.

We invite you to this exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts! Book a slot through this website.

Happy National Arts Month!

#NAM2022
#SiningNgPagAsa
#ArtsMonth

Text and poster by NMP-FAD

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

The #NationalMuseumPH continues to celebrate and join the communities around the world in welcoming the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, known as a day of reunions, gift-giving, and feastings important to the East and Southeast Asians. For this week’s #MuseumfromHome feature, we are highlighting some of our ethnographic stoneware jars as evidence of the vibrant trade relations between the Filipinos and Chinese communities. 

Before the Spanish colonizers arrived in the Philippines in 1521, the Chinese were already actively engaged in trading with early Filipinos especially those who lived near waterways. This is evidenced by a number of artifacts, such as the earliest Chinese ceramic wares dating from around the 9th century, which early Filipinos exchanged for forest and sea products, for aromatics, and traditional medicine. 

Around 70% of ceramic finds in the country are of Chinese origins—mostly from south China kilns believed to produce items for the international market. The quantity of these wares that are widely dispersed in the different provinces, including glazed stoneware jars which have been either retrieved from shipwrecks and archaeological sites or kept as heirlooms, indicate extensive trade and cultural contacts between China and the Philippines possibly from the 10th to 14th century. These were commonly used as storage for both food and liquids, for cooking, as vessels for important ceremonial rituals, and as indicators of wealth. In particular, Chinese jars are considered as among the most valuable properties of the Ifugao, Tagbanua, and Pala’wan, among others.  The knowledge and technology of stoneware production were also transferred by Chinese migrants to local artisans, particularly in the production of burnay in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.

The National Museum of the Philippines is one of the institutions with the largest stoneware collection from different ethnolinguistic groups throughout the country. Through the support of the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, Inc., the Elizabeth Y. Gokongwei Ethnographic Resource Center and Visible Storage at the 5F of the National Museum of Anthropology will soon be open to the public. This additional facility aims to provide an accessible research venue in order to encourage more students, educators and researchers to engage in documenting our ceramic traditions and gain a better understanding of both our unique and shared cultures with our neighboring countries.  

We wish everyone peace, prosperity, and good health throughout this auspicious year! Stay safe and Happy Year of the Water Tiger!

#LunarNewYear2022
#SpringFestival2022
#MuseumFromHome

Text and poster by the NMP Ethnology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

The #NationalMuseumPH celebrates the Chinese New Year—Year of the Tiger by featuring “Fish Forms” by National Artist (NA) for Visual Arts Ang Kiukok (1931-2005) from the National Fine Arts Collection. 

The celebration of the Chinese New Year officially starts today until February 11. It is the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival in China. During this important festivity, Fish, which symbolizes an increase in surplus and wealth, is one of the dishes served at the Chinese New Year dinner. A whole fish served on the table is also believed to bring harmony and togetherness to the family. 

This oil painting by NA Ang Kiukok, completed in 1965, features four large red fishes and a small one at the center. Registered as government property in 2011, this oil painting by the National Artist can be viewed at the Pillars of Philippine Modernism Gallery, Gallery XIX of the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA). 

Ang Kiukok, born in Davao, was the only son among the six children of Chinese immigrants Vicente Ang and Chin Lim. From 1952 until 1954, Kiukok took art classes at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) School of Fine Arts. Galo Ocampo, Diosdado Lorenzo and National Artists Victorio Edades and Vicente Manansala became his mentors at UST. Among these esteemed artist-educators was Manansala, with whom Kiukok was closely associated. National Artist Ang Kiukok died on May 9, 2005, in Quezon City at the age of 74.

The #NationalMuseumPH joins the Filipino-Chinese community in this important festivity. We also acknowledge their significant contribution to Philippine Art. Last year, we featured “Early Spring” (ca. 1990) in plaster of Paris and “Supine” (1995) in bronze by Filipino-Chinese Artist Ting Ping Lay (1927-2021). These were donated by Mr. Alberto Juan Evangelista Avellana and Mr. Lionel Ting, the artist’s son. We aspire to acquire more works from Filipino-Chinese artists whose works significantly boosted the national collection.

You may view this artwork and other artworks of NA Ang Kiukok by reserving a slot or by accessing the 360-Virutal Tours of select NMFA exhibition galleries at the NMFA on this website.

#ChineseNewYear

#YearOfTheTiger

#OnThisDay

#MuseumFromHome

Text by NMP FAD

Photo by Bengy Toda

© National Museum of the Philippines (2022)

Have you ever seen a rock with shiny, gold-colored minerals on it? Can it be gold? Or is it something else? In today’s #DignayanBiyernes, let us talk about Pyrite.

Pyrite, with the chemical formula FeS2, is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Its name originates from the Greek word pyr, which means “fire”, because of the sparks it generates when struck. It has a brass-yellow color and a metallic luster. Crystals of pyrite are frequently cubic, pyritohedron, or octahedron with often striated crystal faces, although they can also form as massive, granular, or nodules. Pyrite can occur as an accessory mineral in many kinds of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, forming in a wide variety of environments.

Did you know that pyrite is commonly referred to as “fool’s gold”? Inexperienced people often mistake it for gold due to its color, metallic luster, and specific gravity.

So, how do you differentiate pyrite from gold? Well, you can easily distinguish one from the other using their physical properties, namely their hardness, streak, and density.

Pyrite is brittle with a hardness of 6-6.5, while gold is soft, malleable, and ductile with a hardness of 2.5-3. Scratching pyrite on a hard surface leaves a greenish-black to brownish-black streak, while gold leaves a gold-yellow streak. Lastly, pyrite is two to three times lighter than gold.

In the Philippines, pyrite is widely distributed. It is most commonly found occurring where copper and gold deposits are found. These include the provinces of Ilocos Region, Benguet, Bicol, Cebu, Samar, Negros Region, Surigao Del Norte, and Zamboanga Peninsula, among others.

If you want to see a pyrite mineral in person, you may book a tour at the National Museum of Natural History through this website.. Try and see if you can tell the difference between pyrite and gold.

#NationalMuseumPh

#MuseumFromHome

#StaySafe

Text and image by the NMP Geology and Paleontology Division

© National Museum of the Philippines (2022)