Part 3 of “The Basi Revolt by Esteban Villanueva”, National Cultural Treasures, in Know Your North

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES, News and Events.

Another first for “The Basi Revolt”!

For the first time, we have a film on the early 19th century Ilocos uprising that has been popularly named as the Basi Revolt, and – its narrative is told utilizing images depicting the historic event that are found in the series of 14 oil paintings that have been attributed to Esteban Villanueva for two centuries now.

Award-winning documentary film-maker Gabriel Malvar masterfully weaves the story of the revolt by putting together images in a sequence that best portrays the circumstances around the uprising at its culmination on the 16th through the 29th of September in 1807, until the execution of rebel leaders thereafter. The meticulously composed imagery is shown, approximating that of a motion picture, with the voice-over effectively communicating the narrative that Director Malvar crafted from his reading of the few and little-known literature on the revolt and of the information conveyed by the scenes and text that come with the artworks.

Background sounds, including vocal reenactment, are moreover creatively employed to enhance the visual experience. Ilocana soprano Rosette Marie Aguinir of Vigan also renders the hauntingly toned Iloko love song “O, Naraniag a Bulan” (“Oh, Bright Moon”), taking the ballad to a level of meaning beyond that of romantic love, to rather capture a people’s fervor for freedom from colonial grip.

Overall, the film, which is titled “Ang Pag-aalsang Basi”, brings to light the potency of the artworks as media for historical interpretation, as well as advances the viewer’s appreciation of what Malvar describes as that “brief shining moment” when our ancestors in the north braved uncertainties and risked their lives to confront the superiorly armed colonial power. These ancestors’ “ultimate expression of sacrifice and selflessness” at that moment, along with many others across the archipelago in over three centuries, served as seeds for the movement that catalyzed into the Philippine Revolution at the end of the 19th century.

Done by Director Malvar with his outfit, The Extra Mile Productions, “Ang Pag-aalsang Basi” is a product of the collaboration between the National Museum of the Philippines and the bus company Victory Liner to make a documentary film on “The Basi Revolt” paintings. The project serves as part of the NMP’s commemoration of the bicentennial of the artworks in 2021, and on the other hand, as one of Victory Liner’s “Know Your North” series of documentary films. Instead of the originally planned one film, Malvar is creating a series of short videos, so inspired as he is about the wealth of potentials for approaching and presenting “The Basi Revolt”. This is well-tuned to the NMP’s goal of promoting understanding of the artworks and encouraging greater public participation in their interpretation.

“Ang Pag-aalsang Basi” is the third film so far completed and released in line with the project, and we can look forward to more features on the 200-year-old paintings and the life that they have taken as your #NationalMuseumPH and partners Victory Liner and Gabriel Malvar remain committed in bringing these art pieces and its history to the consciousness of the wider public.

Collectively declared by the NMP as National Cultural Treasure in 2009, “The Basi Revolt” panels are housed at the Old Carcel Museum of the NMP Ilocos Regional Museum Complex in the World Heritage City of Vigan.

***

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Ilocos Historical and Cultural Foundation;

Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur;

City Government of Vigan;

Soprano Rosette Marie Aguinir;

Corazon Taberna & Family;

Authors of “The Basi Revolt by Esteban Villanueva” (NMP 2020): Director-General Jeremy R. Barns;

Dr. Ana Maria Theresa P. Labrador; Dr. Jenny Ruth M. Cano, Maria Lourdes I. Ingel, Erika C. Robis, and Marites P. Tauro; Robert Balarbar, Ray Esguerra, and Dr. Nicole Tse; Phoebe Gallanosa and Dr. Maricor Soriano;

NMP Ilocos Regional Museum Team

#AngPagaalsangBasi     
#AklasangBasi
#TheBasiRevoltPaintingsAt200
#TheBasiRevoltPaintingsBicentennnial
#MuseumFromHome
#NMPIlocosRegionalMuseum
#KnowYourNorth
#TheExtraMileProductions

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines with the Victory Liner, Inc.

Feature Creature from the Philippine Ornithological Collection: Java sparrow

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Uncategorized.

It’s World Sparrow Day!

As we celebrate this year’s World Sparrow Day, your #NationalMuseumPH features a bird inhabitant of the seed-rich open woodlands and cultivated areas —  the Java sparrow!

Did you know that the Java sparrow is one of the very few globally threatened birds that have “greatly” expanded its range?  It has become naturalized in many parts of the world such as Asia and the Pacific, Africa, the Atlantic, North America, and the Philippines.

Also known as the Java finch, this bird is originally native to Indonesia, particularly in Bali, Java, and Madura. Its beautiful light gray plumage combined with a pinkish beak makes this bird popular in the pet trade. Although considered a pest of rice crops, its population in the wild becomes scarce because of pesticides, persecution, competition with tree sparrows, and loss of habitats. Considering these threats, the Java sparrow is now classified Endangered due to its rarity in its native range.  

In the #NationalMuseumPH, several specimens of this species were collected in Manila in February 1946. Other specimens were also documented from the nearby surrounding towns of Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal, and Batangas from 1947 to 1958.  

At present, Java sparrow has been sighted in most of the major islands in the country except for Palawan and Mindoro.  It is a relief to note that few individuals can still be observed in vegetated urban centers in NCR (UP Diliman, Hardin ng Rosas), Laguna (UPLB grounds), and in Leyte (VISCA). 

#Worldsparrowday2022
#Javasparrow

Text and video from NMP Zoology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

Cranial Modification

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Uncategorized.

This #NationalWomensMonth2022, the #NationalMuseumPH explores the concept of beauty and aesthetics among the different groups in the Philippines. For our #MuseumFromHome series this week, we look at the pre-colonial practice of intentional cranial modification. 

In one of the earliest documentations of skull molding in the Philippines, Jesuit priest Fr. Diego Bobadilla recorded in 1640 the practice among Visayan locals of binding and compressing the heads of newly born infants between two flat boards. The broad faces and receding and flattened foreheads, which resulted from the cranial modification, produced a head shape that the Visayans considered beautiful and ideal. Variations of the modification depended on the pressure applied and the placement of the rod on the frontal and occipital bones. Some had both flattened foreheads and backs while others only had flattened foreheads. In some cases, the resulting form was asymmetrical due to uneven pressure.

Historian and anthropologist William Henry Scott, on the other hand, recorded the Visayan’s use of a device called tangad, a comb-like thin rod which was bound to the forehead of the infant and secured by bandages wrapped around and fastened behind the head. The pressure from the rod hindered frontal skull development but instead, forced it backward, causing the head to grow higher at the rear. 

In the Vocabulario de la Lengua Visaya,the 1711 lexicon compiled by Jesuit priest Fr. Mateo Sanchez, the term tinangad was used by the Visayans to refer to those who had achieved the desired head shapeor puyak, referring to the flatness of the back. In contrast, the unmolded skulls were referred to as ondo, or “having the appearance of a hunchback’s hump.” 

Sites in central and southern Philippines, such as Romblon, Marinduque, Masbate, Albay, Samar, Cebu, Bohol, Surigao, Butuan, and Davao have provided evidence that supports the existence of the practice of cranial modification among the early Filipino communities. The number of grave goods found in these sites, such as gold ornaments, gold-pegged teeth, jewelry, and Asian trade wares, suggests that skull molding was a practice among the elites. Thus, it may have also served as a symbol of status, and not merely of beauty, particularly in areas from where the modified crania were recovered. 

#NationalWomensMonth
#CranialModification
#WhatIsBeauty

Text and poster by the NMP Ethnology Division and illustrations by J.C. Bruma.

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

Casaysay

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Uncategorized.

Built Tradition of the Balon at the Nuestra Señora de Caysasay Church-Convent Complex

  • 01 Balon de Santa Lucia (1)

  • 02 Balon Rectified

  • 03 Balon (1)

Only a few Spanish-colonial churches in the country have water wells. We feature one of the wells, a richly decorated arch known as Balon de Santa Lucia, for today’s #BuiltTraditionThursday. It is among the assemblage of structures in the Nuestra Señora de Caysasay Church-Convent complex in Taal, Batangas, collectively declared as a National Cultural Treasure. 

Built on sloping terrain and located about 120-meters eastward from Caysasay church, the arch frontage is facing northward, and its rectangular plan measures about 4 meters in width and 16 meters in length. Abutting the frontage is a rectangular basin surrounded by low walls of clay-brick finish. Reaching about six meters high, the structure consists of two piers and is crowned with a semi-circular pediment, that contains stone relief with the Our Lady of Caysasay as the central figure. 

The elaborately carved coral-stone arch stands on a rectangular base made of adobe stones. The base, about 1.5 meters high, has two arched openings, each leading to the left and right well-shaft. A meter-wide arch opens to each well, which is estimated to be 3.40-meter (11 ft) deep on the left and 1.80-meter (6 ft) deep on the right. Signs of a previously attached pulley on the walls of each well-shaft were observed. 

Piers support the arch structure’s pediment. The east pier connects to a large boulder that contributes to its stability. Each pier has a pair of engaged columns (a curved shaft that is built and partially projected from the surface of the wall). The frieze, embellished with fern carvings, skirts atop of the pier section. 

Dressed coral stones crown the arch structure and compose the semi-circular pediment. Nearly square in shape, cut coral stones comprise the heavily decorated tympanum (a recessed space forming the center of a pediment). The relief showcases the image of the Our Lady of Caysasay, flanked with small, winged angels on both sides and enclosed within a cartouche; below it is a large image of a cherub. On both sides of the blessed virgin’s cartouche, are vases, where carvings of leaves and flowers spring from. 

The structure has vegetal growth; some of the stone blocks are missing and need repointing. To date, a system of metal shoring supports the structure, and a significant volume of vegetation was removed from its pediment. The Balon exhibits intricate stonework and represents a sacred veneration celebrated for centuries, both of high significance worthy of preservation and conservation. 

Text and illustration by Ar. Marie Bernadette Balaguer, rectified image of the Balon by Ar. Axel Catapang, Architectural drawing by NMP-FMD

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

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85th Birth Anniversary of visual artist Renato A. Rocha

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Uncategorized.

The #NationalMuseumPh commemorates the 85th birth anniversary of contemporary visual artist Renato A. Rocha,  born #OnThisDay in 1937, by featuring his 1973 wood relief- “Air Flight”.

Born in Uson, Masbate on March 8, 1937, Renato Rocha, also known as Rene, was the second among four children of Ramon Rocha and Consuelo Autor. Growing up in Tabaco, Albay, Rene would mold animal and human figures out of clay soil from termite hills (nuno sa punso) in rice fields. After attending high school in Masbate, he moved to Manila to study at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts where he majored in Sculpture and graduated in 1963. As a young artist, he worked with Filipino master sculptors Anastacio Caedo from 1959-1960 and Napoleon Abueva from 1961-1965, later proclaimed a National Artist for Visual Arts in 1976 – both of which had tremendous influence on Rene’s artistry. 

Rocha preferred using kamagong, molave, and narra wood sourced through his friends from the province in making his abstract figures of animals, families, women, and other free forms. In 1978, he had his first solo exhibition at the Manila Peninsula to which Prof. Eric Torres commented “in his hands, Philippine wood never looked more luxurious, warmer and richer, enhancing the distinctive sensuous forms of his sculpture.” He was commissioned for several major works by the Far East Bank and Trust Company, UP Los Baños, Malacañang, Ford Foundation, and Development Academy of the Philippines, to name a few. He also received various awards from 1960 until 1980 including the Araw ng Manila Award in Sculpture. 

Rocha passed away on August 24, 2001, from chronic liver disease. He was survived by his wife and seven children who once assisted Rene in making his commissioned works.

The National Museum of Fine Arts is honored to be the home of several artworks by the renowned sculptor. One of the pieces displayed in our “Lilok, Hulma, at Tipon: Modern Sculptures in the Philippines” exhibition is “Air Flight”, a 1973 wood relief, which, based on archival materials acquired from the artist’s family, is believed to be the work commissioned for the Ford Foundation in 1973, and now an important part of the National Fine Arts Collection. 

Other works attributed to Rene Rocha from the Collection of the National Library of the Philippines, along with other modern sculptures by leading Filipino artists can be found in the “Lilok, Hulma, at Tipon” exhibition at the Philippine Modern Sculptures Hall (Gallery XXIX) of the National Museum of Fine Arts. 

#MuseumFromHome
#RenatoRocha
#ReneRocha
#LilokHulmaAtTipon
#PhilippineModernSculptures
#PhilippineArt
#AbstractArt

Text and photo by NMP FAD

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

MB Ambalang Ausalin Birth Anniversary 

Posted on:  |  National Museum of the Philippines Posted in Uncategorized.

As we commemorate her birth anniversary today, the #NationalMuseumPH looks back at the artistry of Yakan textiles and the legacy of Manlilikha ng Bayan Ambalang Ausalin, who recently passed away at the age of 78 last 18 February 2022.

A master magtetennun (weaver) of Yakan textiles, MB Ambalang Ausalin, or Apuh Ambalang, was renowned for her excellent skills in Yakan weaving techniques and designs, such as the sinalu’an and seputangan, the trademark of which were eye-catching colors and balanced combination of minute diamonds and other geometric designs. 

Yakan textile is said to be a reflection of the “pure beauty of nature.” Each design and shape weaved through the cloth carries meaning drawn from nature. Plant and animal motifs in the designs speak of their cultural significance to their community. For instance, the punoh punoh, which abound the sides of the seputangan, represents the mountains. The diamonds which are commonly used in the seputangan, as seen in the dinglu or mata mata (diamond/eye) and kabban buddi (diamond/triangle) designs, symbolize rice grains and wealth. The X-shaped designs, which form an illusion when grouped with the diamonds, represent rice mortars. The combination of diamonds and X-shaped designs thus alludes to a bountiful harvest and captures an aspect of the Yakan community as being agriculturists. 

Some of the animal motifs seen in the bunga sama, include the kaba kaba (fairy or butterfly wings) and the snake, which are considered as the vehicles of spirits and a symbol of power and authority. These designs of the bunga sama, also trademarked for their bold and floral designs, are used particularly for the trousers of high-status males. 

For Apuh Ambalang, the close association between Yakan textiles and nature required her to be in commune with the environment, spirit ancestors, and the Creator and to manifest this harmony through her tools—the thread and the loom. This artistry, which she passed down to her daughters, nieces, and other weavers, strengthens the identity of the Yakan community and helps preserve their heritage, amidst the threat of these traditions disappearing in a more globalized world. 

#AmbalangAusalin
#GAMABA
#ManlilikhaNgBayan
#YakanTextiles

Text and poster by the NMP Ethnology Division

Photo courtesy of the NCCA GAMABA Executive Council 

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines