Part 2 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, Uncategorized.

The beauty of art is that it can be interpreted in diverse ways.

Your #NationalMuseumPH continues to celebrate the National Arts Month with the rest of the country by now sharing with you the second short feature film on the 200-year-old “The Basi Revolt” paintings that were declared collectively as National Cultural Treasure in 2009.

A part of the video documentary project on the historic artworks, this short film focuses on the wealth of images found in all of the 14 oil on canvas comprising “The Basi Revolt” series that, as National Museum Director-General Jeremy Barns points out in this feature, have “elements that are really appealing, or arouse curiosity, or focus your attention”.

The film thus draws us into some of the panels, and up close, we get a sample of the images and how they are perceived, inviting us to also look deeper as well as challenging us to delve back into history and have our own take at the illustrations.

At the filming in September 2021, Deputy Director-General for Museums Dr. Ana Labrador talked about the NMP’s aim to open up the narratives on the paintings, for people to “develop their visual eye, and look at them from their own histories, their own ideas, their own kind of responses”. Without a very prescriptive approach into interpretation, the agency rather engages viewers of “The Basi Revolt” into deciphering the details and contributing to the making of narratives on the artworks.

The video documentary on the “The Basi Revolt” paintings that are attributed to Vigan landowner and mestizo Esteban Pichay Villanueva was part of the commemoration of the paintings’ 200th year in 2021. Conceptualized during the pandemic together with a new publication featuring contemporary Ilokanos’ views of them, the video was seen to contribute to the NMP’s campaign as well as continue its online presence while museums were closed last year or open on a restricted basis due to the continued threat of COVID-19.

The video documentary project is a product of the collaboration between the NMP and the transportation company Victory Liner, Inc. (VLI), with award-winning documentary filmmaker Gabriel Malvar at the helm. Under the parties’ Memorandum of Agreement signed in July 2021, the film on the “The Basi Revolt” is part of the VLI’s “Know Your North” series of documentary films that took off in 2017. Malvar, who produces the “Know Your North” with his outfit The Extra Miles Productions, envisions developing several short features on “The Basi Revolt” as a way to continue celebrating the paintings’ bicentennial.

We hope you again enjoy this one while we await the release of the main documentary! So, don’t forget to regularly check this page for more on “The Basi Revolt”!

#TheBasiRevoltPaintingsAt200  
#TheBasiRevoltPaintingsBicentennial
#KnowYourNorth
#TheExtraMileProductions           

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

Women in Science at the NMP

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

Women in Science at the NMP

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Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

This day recognizes the need to address gender inequality in various science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines across different levels worldwide. For decades, STEM education and career opportunities for women have been very restricted leading to a wide and uneven gender gap. The United Nations established this annual celebration in 2015 to promote the critical and monumental role of #WomenInScience.

At the #NationalMuseumPH, women continue to be at the forefront of STEM research and curatorial work. Their contributions and discoveries in different disciplines (Archaeology, Ethnology, Botany, Zoology, Geology, Architecture, Fine Arts) throughout the NMP’s history remain crucial in upholding the institute’s mandate. Today, the NMP’s STEM research is kept strong and alive by women in various roles ranging from laboratory aide to museum curators. The NMP has also taken pride in having women as the head of its research cluster for many years now, proving that #WomenInScience are #WomenLeaders as well. 

To know more about STEM research and career at the NMP, please visit our website (https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph)

Text and poster by the NMP Geology and Paleontology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

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Parish Church of San Agustin Bacong, Negros Oriental

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Parish Church of San Agustin Bacong, Negros Oriental

Photo 1_Illustration

For today’s #BuiltTraditionThursday of our #MuseumFromHome series, we feature an immovable cultural treasure on the Visayas’ island province of Negros Oriental. An architectural heritage built near the seaboard of Bohol Sea, the Parish Church of San Agustin, also known as Bacong Church is a Spanish colonial church architecture introduced by the Augustinian Recollects.

The parish was founded in 1849, under the patronage of Saint Augustine of Hippo. The cornerstone of the church structure was laid in 1866 by Fr. Leandro Arrue Agudo, OAR (later Bishop of Jaro in Iloilo from 1885 – 1897). He also celebrated the first mass on August 28, 1883, the feast day of the parish patron. The church-convent complex was built mainly of bricks, a deviation from the normal construction material in Negros Oriental which is coral stone. The church is in a Latin cross form with the nave oriented in east-west axis. Its main entrance and altar face the sea. A four-level bell tower rises on the southeast and was built with coral stone in L- shape masonry work. Situated at the northern yard of the complex is the two-storey convent which was completed in September 1859. The exterior walls were built with bricks and wooden walls on the lower and upper levels, respectively.

The architectural interior of the church features a vaulted ceiling, plastered walls, hardwood doors, and excellent acoustics that allows clear sound to resonate within the church’s massive nave. The church houses an original pulpito and the oldest altarpieces or retablos in the province. The main altarpiece or retablo mayor is made of molave and yakal wood decorated with wood embellishments, gold leafing and painted friezes. It has two levels standing on a base and topped with a crown element. Corinthian pilasters frame the three niches with Corinthian columns separating them in between. Its entablature is ornamented with dentils. Crowning the altarpiece is a semi-circular pediment that features a dove radiating sun rays. Located on the northern part of the sanctuary is the sacristy where extant baldosas or floor tiles, masonry wall mural, and ceiling made of sawali can be found. The church also maintains a 19th-century pipe organ, one of the few remaining century-old Spanish made pipe-organs in the country. It is an instrument completely made in Zaragoza, Spain.

Because of the exceptional location and architectural elements of the church, it became one of the important landmarks in the locality and is considered the best-preserved church-convent complex in the province. Bacong Church was declared as a National Cultural Treasure on July 31, 2001, by the National Museum of the Philippines.

Text by Ar. K. Sepidoza-Daysa

Illustrations and Photos by AABHD Museum Researchers (ABK)

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

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Chuhangin Sites of Ivuhos Island, Batanes

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

Chuhangin Sites of Ivuhos Island, Batanes

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It’s February already, and the cold breeze of hanging amihan continues to bring chilly weather across the country, especially in the highlands and coastal areas. 

But did you know that aside from the beautiful scenery, some coastal areas in the Philippines have rich archaeology as well? For this week’s #TrowelTuesday, we are featuring the sites of Chuhangin in Ivuhos Island, Batanes.

Coastal sites, or areas near the sea, have long been utilized for habitation, livelihood, or burial. These sites are typically identified through the excavated material remains and features left behind by former inhabitants. The Chuhangin coastal site in Ivuhos Island, Batanes, is one such area of archaeological importance in the northern Philippines with its discovered precolonial habitation and burial sites. In 1995, the #NationalMuseumPH Batanes Archaeological Project team, led by Dr. Eusebio Dizon, began excavations to study settlement patterns and other features discovered on the island.

Archaeological excavations in Chuhangin revealed burial sites that feature boat-shaped stone markers, burial jars, and a combination of these two. At least 10 boat-shaped burial stone markers (read more: https://tinyurl.com/BatanesBoatShapedBurials), made of limestone and andesite, were also found inland, concealing human skeletal remains. Radiocarbon-14 test of one of these remains placed the estimated age of the burials at around the late 16th century. Isotope analysis on the human remains revealed a diet composed of both marine and land resources, similar to findings in other Batanes sites. At the Chuhangin ijang, a fortress settlement on hilltops (read more: https://tinyurl.com/IjangsOfBatanes), the finds discovered include stone tools and earthenware sherds, supporting the hypothesis that the ijang is a strategic location in defending the inhabitants against aggressors and enemies.

Archaeological discoveries such as these, however, are at risk of being lost or destroyed, thus requiring additional efforts in their preservation. Due to their open location, coastal sites like Chuhangin are vulnerable to climate change, natural calamities such as typhoons, and man-made interventions like looting and treasure hunting. We need to protect these archaeological sites, features, and artifacts to further understand our past and for the benefit of succeeding generations.

The #NationalMuseumPH is now open to the public. Click on this link to book your visit to the museum: https://reservation.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/. Please remember to #KeepSafe and always #WearYourMask.

#ChuhanginCoastalSite
#ArchaeologyOfBatanesIslands
#MuseumFromHome

Text by Sherina Aggarao and Gregg Alfonso Abbang and posters by Timothy James Vitales

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines 

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ELMER BORLONGAN
The Battle of Mactan
2021
Acryclic on canvas

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

As we continue with our celebration of the #NationalArtsMonth2022, the #NationalMuseumPH in partnership with The Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development (CANVAS) on the occasion of the Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines proudly displays to the public “The Battle of Mactan,” a large-scale painting of Elmer Borlongan at The Spoliarium Hall. 

2021 marked the 500th Anniversary of Ferdinand Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world and arrival in the Philippines. It was an event that altered the course of Philippine history and the country’s place in the world. 

With this in mind, Elmer Borlongan’s decision to paint “The Battle of Mactan” to commemorate the Quincentennial came after a surprising realization that while the battle has been the subject of important artworks in the past, there had not yet been any major work created about it of this size or scale. Borlongan spent months of research, interviews, and studies to present an accurate picture of this historic day. 

Elmer Borlongan, born in 1967 in Manila, is a contemporary Filipino painter. He started taking painting lessons at the age of 11 under Fernando Sena. He took up Fine Arts Major in Painting at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. He received the prestigious CCP Thirteen Artists Award in 1994. In 2007, Borlongan’s book, “The Rocking Horse,” was published by CANVAS and won the Gintong Aklat Award for Best Illustrated Children’s Book. In 2004, he won the Metrobank Foundation Award for Continuing Excellence and Service (ACES). 

Borlongan has held numerous solo and group exhibitions in the Philippines and abroad.  His latest solo exhibitions include: An Extraordinary Eye for the Ordinary, a survey show at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (2018); Elmer Borlongan Draws the Line at the Ateneo Art Gallery (2018); Pinoy Odyssey at CANVAS Gallery in Quezon City (2015); Labyrinth of Kinship at Pinto Art Gallery in Antipolo City (2015); and In City and Country: 1992-2012, A Retrospective at the Ayala Museum in Makati City. In 2012, he collaborated with writer Vim Nadera to produce his first iPad digital illustration project, “Rizalpabeto,” also published by CANVAS. 

His works are part of the public collections of Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, the Singapore Art Museum, Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo City, and BenCab Museum in Benguet. 

He currently lives with his artist-wife Plet C. Bolipata in San Antonio, Zambales.

The Battle of Mactan is now on exhibition at the Spoliarium Hall. The process of creating this large-scale painting was documented and made on film, “The Battle Stars” by Plet Bolipata. It may be viewed at the President Sergio Osmeña Hall, adjacent to the Spoliarium Hall.  View the painting and film by booking online through this website.

#NAM2022
#ElmerBorlongan
#MuseumFromHome
#BeatCOVID19

Text by NMP FAD and CANVAS

Photo by CANVAS

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

Angono Binangonan Petroglyphs

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

As we celebrate the #NationalArtsMonth2022, it is very timely that we learn about the oldest known rock art in the Philippines – the rocks of the Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs. 

The Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs is composed of zoomorphic and geometric figures engraved on a rock shelter found at the border of the municipalities of Angono and Binangonan, province of Rizal, hence its name. A total of 179 distinct figures have been discovered as of this writing. 

The petroglyphs are carved on a volcanic ash deposit known as tuff which belongs to the Diliman Tuff of the Guadalupe Formation. Tuff is a relatively soft, poorly consolidated porous rock that is usually formed by the compaction and cementation of volcanic ash ejected during a volcanic eruption. Its color varies from light grayish to buff. 

Since tuff is a relatively soft rock, markings can easily be made on its surface. However, it is not known whether the rock arts were etched using stone tools or metal tools.

Although fossilized leaves of Euphorbia family, bits of wood and teeth fossils of deer and elephants were recovered which gives the formation a Pleistocene age (an age that began about 2.6 million years ago and lasted until about 11, 700 years ago), the age of the petroglyphs itself cannot be established. 

Until today, we cannot say for sure who made the carvings, what tools were used to engrave them, when they were made and what they symbolize for the group or culture that made them. And just like any other rock art in the world, these questions still remain a mystery. 

Stay tuned for more of our #MuseumFromHomeSeries.

#SiningNgPagAsa
#NAM2022
#PhilippineArt

Text and image by the NMP Geology and Paleontology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines