As your #NationalMuseumPH joins the world in the observance of Global Warming Consciousness Week, let’s learn in today’s #WildlifeWednesday the effect of the changing climate to plants.

Climate change is mainly caused by our actions with the emission of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels for our daily needs. Deforestation and modern agricultural practices aggravate climate change. This accumulation of gasses generates changes of temperatures and weather patterns that affect natural ecological processes of an ecosystem. The sudden changes affect many plants and animals that have limited elevational range and unique microhabitat conditions.

Our farmers need to act fast to cope up with climate change. With the change of weather patterns, farmers need to adjust with the planting season and develop plant varieties that are adaptable to droughts or flooding. In many areas, flowering of plants and life cycle of pollinators are not coinciding which will result in less production of crops.

With the increasing temperature, polar ice caps and glaciers are melting at an alarming rate that causes sea level rising. As the global sea level rises, many habitats and ecosystems are affected, especially the coastal areas. Low-lying islands are all at risk of this situation and beach forest in this island will later die off. 

Plant diversity in the high mountains of the tropical regions were the most affected by climate change. The change of precipitation, moisture and temperature will alter the phenology of the plant and affect the migration and life cycle of its pollinators. Cold-adapted plants species of the tropical mountains may be directly affected by the warmer climates. Warn-tolerant species might display them as they encroach up towards the mountain slopes. Native and endemic plants especially from the tropical islands with high mountains are the most vulnerable to this with the presence of alien invasive species. 

The increased level of CO2 will lead plants to decrease water consumption for photosynthesis. However, due to the warming of the planet, plants will eventually need more time to grow and consume water, thus eventually drying up the land. Also, plants in hotter environments may grow larger leaves that could create more surface area for more evaporation that will affect precipitation, runoffs and soil moisture.

In spite of all these, everyone can take part to slow down the effects of climate change. From using our electricity properly, taking a walk or a bike for a short destination, and eating food with less carbon footprint. Each of our individual micro efforts will have great macro effects on our environment.

Text and poster by the NMP Botany and National Herbarium Division.

Burial Goods

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Today, as we celebrate the 92nd birthday of Juvenal Gerrit Sansó, we feature his “Slow and Soft” painting from The Philippine Center New York Core Collection of 1974: A Homecoming Exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA).

This painting, an oil on canvas completed in 1974, is one of the popular bloom series admired by many.  Sansó paints the bright and colorful depiction of nature with flowers and bushes, seascape, riverbanks, and rock formations in the style he has developed and known later.  He has painted in oil, watercolor, acrylic, ink and dry brush, and has produced designs in textile, prints, photographs, and designed sets and costumes in theaters in France and the Philippines.

Juvenal Sansó was born to Jose Sansó and Ramona Gerrit on November 23, 1929, in Reus, Catalonia, Spain.  His family moved to Manila in 1933 and set up a wrought-iron business.  He is interested in arts and enrolled as a special student at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts in 1948-1951. He had been mentored by Fernando Amorsolo, Dominador Castañeda, Guillermo Tolentino, and Irineo Miranda.  At 21, he went to Rome and pursued to study at Academia di Belle Arti. From 1953-1961, he enrolled at the L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts.  Sanso held his first solo exhibition in 1956 in Paris and his first local and first-ever printmaking show at Philippine Art Gallery in 1957 when he returned to Manila.  He has traveled and exhibited internationally and held one-man exhibitions at Philadelphia Print Club and Weyhe Gallery in New York.  Prestigious art institutions also recognized him.  Cleveland Museum of Art awarded him Print of the Year for his etching “Leuers”, which he shares with previous winners like Henri Matisse and Salvador Dali.

This painting is on exhibition at The Philippine Center New York Core Collection of 1974: A Homecoming Exhibition, Galleries XXVII and XVIII, Fourth Floor of the National Museum of Fine Arts.

Follow this page for more features from the National Fine Arts Collection.  The #NationalMuseumPH is now open to the public.  You may book your visit through this website by clicking Book a Tour.  You may also view the 360 degrees virtual tour of this gallery and other eight select galleries at the National Museum of Fine Arts through this link: https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/pcny360/HTML5/pcny360.html

Text and photo by NMP FAD

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Santa Cruz shipwreck Incense Burners

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On the 72^nd birthday of sculptor Agnes Arellano, the #NationalMuseumPh features this sculpture by the artist born #OnThisDay in 1949. 

Born in San Juan, Rizal, in 1949, Agnes Arellano belonged to a prominent family of architects. She studied psychology at the University of the Philippines. After she graduated in 1971, she took up further studies and enrolled in a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at the Ateneo de Manila. During the Martial Law, the government imposed a strict travel ban. The government allowed pilgrimages to the sacred sites in Europe during the Holy Roman Catholic Year. During her travels to Europe, she was exposed to western art.  She was inspired by the works of master artists like Michelangelo and Van Gogh. Upon her return to the Philippines, she studied Fine Arts majoring in sculpture in 1979 under National Artist Napoleon Abueva, a pioneering modernist in sculpture.  She was also greatly influenced by conceptual artist Roberto Chabet. Since her artistic career started, Arellano has exhibited here and abroad in Berlin, Fukuoka, Havana, Johannesburg, New York, Brisbane, and Singapore. 

Arellano is best known for making surrealist and life-size expressionist sculptures primarily in plaster. Her works focus on feminist issues and show how women are traditionally portrayed by reinterpreting local myths. 

The National Museum takes pride in Arellano’s work, “Eshu,” which is currently on exhibition at the Philippine Modern Sculptures Hall (Gallery XXIX) of the National Museum of Fine Arts. Eshu, in African traditions, most especially with the Nigerian belief, is the Lord of the Crossroads or God of Fate. This volcanic cinder and cold-cast marble is a fantasy self-portrait cast and directly modeled by the artist. 

The Philippine Modern Sculptures Hall is temporarily closed to give way to an upgraded exhibition. Watch out for updates on this page and follow our official Twitter and Instagram accounts. 

We are open! Reserve your slot and visit the other galleries at the National Museum of Fine Arts (NMFA).  View the 360 Virtual Tour of the nine select galleries at the NMFA through this website.

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Text and photo by NMP FAD

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)

Today’s #DignayanBiyernes features one of the 10 deadliest minerals in the world – galena.  

Galena is the primary ore of lead and has a chemical composition of PbS or lead sulfide.  It often contains silver and occurs in close association with antimony, copper, and zinc. The lead in dust particles of galena is toxic when inhaled or ingested but generally safe to handle when there are no dust particles present.  

It exhibits perfect cleavage, has a bright metallic luster and distinct silver color. It tarnishes to a dull gray and has a specific gravity of 7.4 t0 7.6.

Galena is a natural semiconductor and is used in electronic gadgets and medical equipment we have today. It is also used in making batteries, cable covering, plumbing, ammunition, as a sound absorber, and as a radiation shield in x-ray equipment and nuclear reactors.  It is also used in paints although with health hazards.

Galena deposits are found worldwide in various environments.  In the Philippines, it is found in the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Apayao, Batangas, Benguet, Camarines Norte, Davao de Oro, Ifugao, Kalinga, Marinduque, Negros Oriental, Quirino, Rizal, Samar, South Cotabato, Zambales, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga del Sur.

If you want to know more about galena and other interesting minerals, you may book a tour at the National Museum of Natural History by visiting our website www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph. 

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Text and image by the NMP Geology and Paleontology Division

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)