The #NationalMuseumPH celebrates the 110th birth anniversary of National Artist for Painting Carlos Villaluz Francisco (1912-1969), also known as ‘Botong.’ Born #OnThisDay in Angono, Rizal, Botong is famous for his large-scale historical paintings. 

Today we feature an oil painting of Carlos ‘Botong’ Francisco entitled “The First Mass in Limasawa.” In 1965, the Philippine Government commissioned Francisco to create this work of art to commemorate the 400th year of the introduction of Christianity in the country. It is currently on exhibit at the Pillars of Philippine Modernism Hall at the National Museum of Fine Arts.

This painting depicts the first mass celebrated in Limasawa Island in present day-Southern Leyte, officiated by Fr. Pedro Valderrama, the official chaplain of the Magellan expedition. He led the first mass as requested by Ferdinand Magellan in an improvised altar and a platform made of bamboo. Fr. Valderrama is depicted in this painting raising his hands in prayer. Magellan, in the foreground with a sword or a saber, piously bows his head. With Magellan is Antonio Pigafetta, his official chronicler, kneeling in prayer and adoration. The chieftain of the Island, Rajah Kolambo, and his brother, Rajah Siagu also joined in the mass. 

National Artist for Painting Carlos ‘Botong’ Francisco made some of the most significant large-scale paintings in the Philippines for nearly three decades. As a scenographer for a major film studio in the Philippines, he was well-acquainted with rendering Philippine festivals, customs and traditions, and important historical events. In 1973, the government conferred him the National Artist for Painting.

Some of Carlos Francisco’s works may be viewed at Gallery XIX, Pillars of Modernism, and at the Old Senate Session Hall of the National Museum of Fine Arts.  The #NationalMuseumPH is open to the public for free.  You may also visit the link for the 360-degrees virtual tour of the select nine galleries at the National Museum of Fine Arts: http://pamana.ph/ncr/manila/NMFA360.html

#BotongFrancisco
#CarlosFrancisco
#PH500
#FirstMassInLimasawa
#MuseumFromHome
#VictoryAndHumanity

Article by NMP Fine Arts Division. Photo by Bengy Toda

© National Museum of the Philippines (2022)

As we come to the close of our celebration of Museum and Galleries Month, we also commemorate the 60th anniversary of archaeological research at the Tabon Cave Complex in Quezon, Palawan. 

The Tabon Cave Complex (or simply Tabon Caves) was discovered by Robert Fox and the National Museum team during their exploration of the limestone formations in the municipality of Quezon. Interviews with the Pala’wan informants led them to explore Lipuun Point, where they discovered several caves rich with archaeological materials scattered on the floor. 

Among these caves is the magnificent Tabon Cave, where the earliest direct evidence of modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) in the Philippines was recovered. The fossilized skull cap and the tibia (leg bone) fragment were among the remains found in Tabon Cave, which were declared as National Cultural Treasures (or NCTs). Other outstanding artifacts recovered from the Tabon Caves were the Manunggul Secondary Burial Jar, jade lingling-o ornaments, and the Duyong shell adze – all of which were also declared as NCTs.

To mark the commemoration of this landmark exploration, our Archaeology Division, will open an exhibition titled Stories of Origins: The Beginnings of Archaeology at the Tabon Caves at the NMP-Tabon Caves Site Museum in Quezon, Palawan. The Stories of Origins exhibit will take you back to the early stages of the Tabon cave excavations through a series of photographs from the archives of the Archaeology Division, taken from 1962 to 1970. It will also showcase selected archaeological objects recovered from early archaeological investigations conducted. 

The Stories of Origins opens on October 28, 2022.

#MGM2022
#TabonCavesArchaeology60thAnniversary
#StoriesOfOriginsExhibit

Article, photo, and posters by Timothy James Vitales | NMP Archaeology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

The Arroceros Forest Park Site, given its proximity to the Pasig River, is believed to have served as a loading and unloading area for various commodities transported along the river with minimal trading activities taking place. It could have been used intermittently as a talipapa (makeshift market) until a permanent parian (marketplace) would have been moved elsewhere in the vicinity.

The term “arroceros” (literally “rice farmers”) originates from the early Spanish Period. Its root word “arroz” means rice suggesting that it was a place where rice was delivered via riverine routes, and eventually sold to consumers and retailers. The Arroceros Forest Park Site is the former location of Parian de Arroceros (1595–1639; 1645–1792), Fabrica de Cigarillos (2nd half of the 19th century to early 20th century), and compound of the then Department of Education, Culture and Sports or DECS (postwar to 1993), to name a few.

Thousands of archaeological materials systematically recovered at the site include ceramics (Chinese and European porcelain sherds, earthenware and stoneware sherds, Manila ware sherds, tiles), adobe and clay bricks, glass beads, bottle shards, metal fragments, various buttons, iron nails, metal crucifix, Spanish and Chinese coins, bone needle, and animal bones and teeth. Judging from the quantity and nature of archaeological materials recovered during the investigation, the heaviest occupation period appears to be the 19th century. All these items add up to the richness of our museums and serve as our tangible links not only to our ancestors but also to nature as it once was.

Article by Giovanni G. Bautista and poster by Randy M. Episcope | NMP Archaeology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

165th Birth Anniversary of Juan Luna

As we continue to celebrate Museums and Galleries Month, the #NationalMuseumPH through its Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Division (MUCHD) gives you a glimpse of the most recent fieldwork activities in Butuan City. 

Amongst the most notable example of wooden craft remains recovered in the Philippines are the Butuan Boats, dated between the 8th and 10th centuries CE (Common Era). These ancient boats were found beneath the mudflats of an old river system in Butuan City in the 1970s. They served as the oldest material evidence of the early watercraft in the Philippines featuring the ingenuity of early Filipinos. Lately, the importance and the widespread occurrence of this watercraft in the country were investigated.

Mr. Nero M. Austero, Senior Museum Researcher of MUCHD, in collaboration with Dr. Ligaya SP. Lacsina of the Archaeological Studies Program in UP-Diliman (UP-ASP), and Dr. Abhirada Komoot of the Thammasat University in Thailand, conducted a preliminary ocular assessment from October 07–10, 2022. They documented and assessed the current condition of the old excavation sites as well as the Butuan boat collections at the NMP-Eastern Northern Mindanao Regional Museum in Butuan in preparation for a possible regional collaborative project.  During the 4-day activity, the riverine and nearby coastal communities in Butuan were also visited to collect data on the current as well as the traditional boat-building practices. The team also conducted an ocular survey on the availability of the sugar palm, Arenga pennata. Sugar palm or Hijok plant, locally termed as kaong, is archaeologically referred to as the source of Cabo negro or the black fiber used as ropes in building the Butuan boats and other similar Southeast Asian lashed-lug boats. 

The preliminary assessment was successful in confirming the presence of kaong in the area, and gathering information on boat-building technology in Butuan. This information will deepen our historical, archaeological, and ethnographical knowledge of the variety, innovations, and lost practices of ancient boat-building technology. With further research, we can conserve and protect our heritage towards a better future for our museums. 

#MGM2022

#MaritimeMonday

#FutureOfMuseums

#MaritimeHeritage

#ButuanBoats

Article and poster by the NMP Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

References 

Lacsina LSP. (2020). The Butuan Boats: Southeast Asian Boat Construction in the Philippines at the End of the First Millennium. The Journal of History. LXVI: 1-35.

(2019).  The same-same boatbuilding tradition? Looking at the different examples of lashed-lug boats from the Southeast Asia. In Past, Present and Future of ASEAN Maritime Heritage. 38-53. 

(2016a). Examining pre-colonial Southeast Asian boatbuilding: An archaeological study of the Butuan Boats and the use of edge-joined planking in local and regional construction techniques. Dissertation, Flinders University, South Australia. Pp.272. 

(2016b). Boats of the Precolonial Philippines: Butuan Boats. In Selin H. (Eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. 948-954. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7747-7_10279. 

(2015). The Butuan Boats of the Philippines: Southeast Asian edge-joined and lashed-lug watercraft. Bulletin of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology. 39: 126-132. 

The #NationalMuseumPH celebrates Museum and Galleries Month (MGM) by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 798, s. 1991. For this week, we are featuring one of the most visited exhibitions in the National Museum of Anthropology (NMA)—the Baybayin: Ancient and Traditional Scripts of the Philippines Gallery.

The Baybayin Gallery, completed in 2014, aims to feature and promote awareness of the writing systems used by ancient Filipinos manifested through archaeological evidence and archival materials, such as written documents and published books during the Spanish period. The gallery also highlights the continuing tradition of writing syllabic scripts among the extant indigenous communities in Mindoro and Palawan. 

Notable artifacts displayed in the Baybayin Gallery include the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, Calatagan Ritual Pot, and Butuan Metal Paleograph – all declared National Cultural Treasures or NCTs. Other archaeological evidence featured is the Butuan Ivory Seal, as well as the Intramuros Pot Sherd, and the Monreal Stones. The gallery also features facsimiles of archival materials, such as the Doctrina Christiana, Mi último adiós, and Estudio de los Antiguos Alfabetos Filipinos, to name a few. 

The continuing tradition of script writing among the Hanunoo and Buhid of Mindoro and Tagbanua and Pala’wan of Palawan can be found in the gallery’s ethnographic section. A section features the revival of Baybayin script interest among the present generations of Filipinos, particularly the youth, in the Philippines and abroad. A dedicated activity area where visitors can learn and practice writing in Baybayin was also part of the gallery before the pandemic.

CLICK on the links to learn more about the previously featured artifacts exhibited at the Baybayin Gallery!

#MGM2022
#BaybayinGallery
#MuseumFromHome

Article and posters by Gerard John Palaya | NMP Archaeology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines