community collabs

 This October here in the Philippines was dedicated to our museums and galleries, as well as our indigenous peoples. So much more attention and support could go towards these valuable endeavors. 

Museums are in essence a repository of collective reflection. It is a place where a community recognizes, reinterprets, and reinvents itself. 

Hosting and providing a home for the objects that reside there. Never dead relics but living interlocutors continuously redefining what it might mean to live together. 

Encyclopedia Britannica defines museums as institutions dedicated to preserving and interpreting the primary tangible evidence of humankind and the environment. 

In its preserving of this primary evidence, the museum differs markedly from the library, with which it has often been compared, for the items housed in a museum are mainly unique and constitute the raw material of study and research. 

In many cases they are removed in time, place, and circumstance from their original context, and they communicate directly to the viewer in a way not possible through other media. 

Museums have been founded for a variety of purposes: to serve as recreational facilities, scholarly venues, or educational resources; to contribute to the quality of life of the areas where they are situated; to attract tourism to a region; to promote civic pride or nationalistic endeavor; or even to transmit overtly ideological concepts. 

Kudos and congratulations to our local gem, The Negros Museum and the Negros Cultural Foundation for rising to the occasion with their offerings and programs this season. 

Starting with Diri sa Amon (here with us) - a showcase of what individual, collective, provincial collections and collaborations in printmaking, painting, and sculpture.  

Featuring what the Visayas province has to offer in exhibitions augmented by pop-up markets, hands on workshops, demonstrations, artists lectures, panel presentations. Be sure to make the time to catch this ongoing exhibit which will run until January, 2027. 

Featuring local art communities, regional printmakers and the work - while inviting viewers to come together and participate along. Sharing their reflections on themes of past and present experiences in their respective communities. 

“Garden of Imprints” in Gallery A, is organized by Marika B. Constantino (Artist/Curator) and features eleven printmaking studios in the Visayas. 

“Sang Una Kag Subong” in Gallery B and the main hallway, is organized by Dennis Valenciano (Grupo Balhag) and features visual artists exhibiting paintings and sculptures of its twenty-four artists. 

“Expanded Printmaking+” in Gallery C, is organized by Angela Silva (Rolling Paper Press), features fine art prints and mixed media works by twenty printmakers.

Negros Cultural Foundation presented Ballet Philippines’ Ang Paglalakbay: The Journey of the Sea People. An epic tale inspired by the Austronesian Migration - the ancient sea voyages that brought our ancestors to the Philippine islands. 

The performance is a full-length original Filipino ballet directed by BP Artistic Director Mikhail Martynyuk. It tells the story of Austronesian migration - exploring our shared heritage, ancestry, and identity. 

A great way to celebrate our Indigenous Peoples Month, "Ang Paglalakbay" is also a love story that turns into a legend. The lead pair are Ama, an early maritime adventurer and Kaman a local lass he meets and falls for in a new land. Their quiet romance explodes for love story to upheavals of change, and eventually finding forgiveness.

It was a treat for residents and visitors alike to watch this world-class performance and experience our history and heritage come alive in its retelling - mounted on stage with artistically recreated props, costumes and scenery. Brought to life in the choreography and performance of the talented corps de ballet. 

Be sure not to miss the permanent exhibits at The Negros Museum as well. 

Talamdan Exhibit. A home grown exhibit of the National Archives of the Philippines that documents and records the Spanish occupation and birth of the sugar industry on the island. 

Pre-Spanish Negros Exhibit. Commissioned life-size murals about the history and culture of Negros from well-known artists of Negros created for the Negros Cultural Foundation.

La Casa de Negros. A gallery reminiscent of Philippine ancestral houses and the Negros Museum’s answer to every viewer’s need to look back to a Negrense past. 

A museum acts as an information center for its community. In addition to its displays and exhibitions, its data banks and publications, it provides a staff of specialists, who in most cases are available by appointment to provide information on request. 

Museums have been founded for a variety of purposes: to serve as recreational facilities, scholarly venues, or educational resources; to contribute to the quality of life of the areas where they are situated; to attract tourism to a region; to promote civic pride or nationalistic endeavor; or even to transmit overtly ideological concepts. 

As cities and communities expand and grow, it is our hope that our local museums can do so as well. Our success and sustainability rely on being able to stay connected in mutually beneficial appreciation and support.

Labels: art culture galleries heritage history indigenous peoples museum safekeeping stewards

Written by Issa Urra @bhaktiCD.org 

Photos in courtesy of The Negros Museum