A short tour of Metro Manila exhibits

Title

Creator

Roxas, Rosalinda G.

Language

English

Source

The Republic Volume I (Issue No.22) 1-31 December 1976

Subject

Exhibitions -- Philippines

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

[This article presents a mini-tour of the Manila exhibits in 1976. This event was under the support of Former First Lady and Governor of Metropolitan Manila, Mrs. Imelda Marcos.]

Fulltext

THE REPUBLIC Metro Manila 1-31 December 1976 5 BRIEFING □ Rosalinda G. Roxas A short tour of Metro Manila exhibits THE current festival of visual arts in Metropolitan Manila started last September 27. Under the patronage of the First Lady and Governor of Metro politan Manila, Mrs. Imelda Romualdez Marcos, the festival’s start was held to coincide with the International Mone tary Fund-World Bank meetings. During most of last October, residents and visitors of Metro Manila were regaled with top-flight music, dance and drama. International stars like the Bolshoi Bal let, the Australian Ballet, Margot Fon teyn, Montserrat Caballe, Ivan Rebroff and Van Cliburn were affectionately re ceived by the Manila audience. Not to be outdone, exhibition halls glowed with art objects from Europe, the United States, China and Egypt. Visitors had a good glimpse of Philippine traditions through such exhibits as the Kulay Anyo ng Lahi (public art paintings of estab lished artists in seven strategic spots of Metro Manila, a project of the People’s Artists of the Philippines for the beauti fication program of Metro Manila); Con temporary Art of the Philippines (at the MuseongPansining ng Maynila); Likhang Bata (some 1,000 paintings by children three to twelve years old); Philippine Costumes and Dolls (exhibit of Philip pine dolls, tribal costumes, the evolution of the Filipina dress and barong Pilipino and Philippine embroidery); the Ilocano Museum and Philippine shells, butterflies and fishes at Nayong Pilipino; Philippine Pre-History and Ethnology at the Na tional Museum; the Philatelic collection and the Animal Museum at the Sining Kayumanggi. Many of these exhibits are still open. They provide a rare opportunity ~ the visual delights of our culture—of the world. Below, The Republic presents a mini-tour of the Manila exhibits. Portraits by Filipino Artists FIVE hundred paintings by Filipinos coming from private collections as well as contributions of the artists them selves are on exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Museong Pansining ng Pilipinas). Formerly the Elks Club Building, the two-story edifice has been rebuilt to house the works of Filipino painters with the hope of preparing them for international grounds. It answers the long-standing need for a commodious gallery for their art. The five galleries of the museum are: a) Backgrounds and Departures, b) Ambiguous Figuration; c) Contem porary Representation; d) New Abstract ion and e) Visual Propositions. The parti cipating painters include: Hernando Ocampo, Tabuena, Ang Kiukok, Ray Albano, Arturo Luz, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, Benedicto Cabrera, Victorio Edades, Roberto Chabet, Lee Aguinaldo, Jose Joya, Cesar Legaspi, Anita Magsaysay—Ho and Vicente Manansala. Ray Albano, director of the Mu seum, said that the place is most ideal for showcasing the works of local artists. “It’s the first time we have a place like that which really fits,” he explained. “White walls, high ceiling. It is intimate for a gallery, not at all cold or business looking.” How many people come to the gallery every day? “Around 2,000 to 3,000 a week, paying or nonpaying,” he answered. “There is a possibility that this will become a permanent site for our art shows.” “The museum gives artists a new attitude,” he further said. “It makes him think bigger, literally, it makes him think of scale. It makes him think sensitively because of the beautiful space, the am bience of the gallery.” Egyptian Art through the Ages THE exhibition of Egyptian art at the old Legislative Building started last September 27 and will last up to March 31, 1977. It consists of cultural treasures from the dawn of Egyptian civilization some 5,000 years ago to the products of Islamic civilization. Sponsored by the Egyptian Antiquities Organization in Cairo, Egypt, the art treasures-100 pieces covering 5,000 years, from pre historic 4,000 BC to the 18thcentuiywere brought to the Philippines through the encouragement of the First Lady. Mrs. Marcos was impressed by the col lection during her yisit to Egypt last year. The exhibit covers the Pharaonic or traditional art which rose from the ritual and funerary needs as conditioned by the natural habitat of the people; the Graeco-Rom an which is influenced by Greece and Rome; the Coptic or Christ ian art; and the Islamic or EgyptianIslamic art. Among its major attractions are the canopic urns which were used to hold the ashes of the dead (one of them the coffin of Prince Rameses), centuries-old icons, representations of the Pharaohs, life-like facsimile of Alexander the Great and various antiques. One is intrigued by the prominence of several artistic motifs, the bird and the boat motifs, for in stance. In Egypt, the boat is the vehicle of the sun-god as he sails across the ocean-like sky. Furthermore,Egypt grew out of a civilization watered by the lower reaches of the Nile River. Travel and feasting were held on a boat and the ancient kings had special royal barges which popular imagination has closely associated with Cleopatra seated majes tically on a magnificent barge leisurely moving on the Nile River. Examples of the bird motifs are the horus, falcon, ibis, geese, peewit, flamingo and vulture. For the Egyptian, the horus and the ibis sym bolize occult powers. With Ambassador J.V. Cruz as overall chairman, the Egyptian exhibit is ma naged by Dr. Muhammed Saleh, curator of the Egyptian museum in Cairo. Saleh had managed similar expositions in Eu rope, the last one in 1973 at the Univer sity of Heidelberg. He is assisted by Mrs. Rosario B. Tantoco, curator of Museum Education at the National Museum. According to Mrs. Tantoco, there were 10,000 people during the first day of the exhibit She added that an average number of 5,000 people visit the exhibit each day, the bulk of whom are paying visitors. Dr. Saleh when asked why the mu seum is dark countered that this is to create an atmosphere of mystery. Among the 100 Egyptian artifacts, which are the most valuable? Saleh mentioned four: the triad of the Mytefonus, builder of the third pyramid which is 4,600 years old; the family statue, which he said he particularly like; the statue of Tutankhamen and one of • the Graeco Roman pieces. One of (he main attractions, he added, is the coffins or canopic jars which are^used for the ashes. He said everyone wanted to see a mummy. And why didn’t he bring one along? He explained that a mummy is fragile, easily broken and affected by the weather. He observed that museum goers sometimes do not believe that what they see are genuine. “Many think it’s an imitation,” he averred. What are his plans after the exhibit closes in March? “Maybe, we’ll send this to Indonesia, Australia or China,” he answered. Archeological Finds of China ALSO exhibited at the Old Legislative Building from October 1 through December 31 from 9:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. daily are artifacts representing 6,000 years of Chinese civilization, from the pottery of the Neolithic age to the porcelain of the Mongols in the 14th century. They form only a fraction of the antiquities unearthed since 1949. Most came from discoveries during China’s cultural revolution. They result from surveys and preservation work car ried out at many important sites and ancient tombs. The artifacts present a bold outline of the development of his tory and culture in ancient China. There are magnificent stone and bronze vessels and images dating from a thousand or fifteen hundred years before Christ showing a highly developed cul ture that was already existing at that time. The Ming and Ching Dynasties por celain are considered superior to any other ceramics known around the world. Intricate flower designs and landscape scenes characterize the porcelain of the late Ming and Ching Dynasties. Paintings from the Sung Dynasty (900-1200 AD) are the richest in the art of painting. Chinese painting is essentially a linear art, composed of lines-horizontal, thrusting, winding, swirling, scaling. This is calligraphic art, a direct off-shoot of the traditional Chinese art of character writing. Philippine Costumes and Dolls THE new Mercury Building at T.M. Kalaw St in front of the Rizal Park houses an exhibit of Philippine dolls, tribal costumes, the Filipina dress and barong Pilipino, and Philippine embroid ery. Inaugurated last October 1, it is a permanent display. The viewer grows acquainted with the rich cultural heritage of the Philip pines through the miniature world of The miniature world of dolls. dolls, depicting the history, games, folk lore and folk dances of the Philippines including the evolution of national cos tumes. The doll collection, first started in 1953 as the Alto Doll Museum by Dr. Aleli Guzman Quirino, was donated to the Museum of Philippine Costumes. Bicentennial Exhibit THE newly-constructed Metropolitan Museum of Manila located at the Central Bank Complex opened October 2 with the Bicentennial Exhibit of early American paintings and Western Euro pean paintings on lo.an from American collections. The museum is vast and stately, with imposing ceiling and spa cious floors which can readily accommo date murals and large-scale sculptures. Consisting of about 100 paintings, a few drawings and prints, and six sculpt ures, the Bicentennial show follows the popular notion of art-that it must be sensuously pleasing, charming as well as relaxing. In some ways, the art exhibits fill up the cultural vacuum in the lifeways and thoughtways of the masses, giving them a taste of artistic standards. It would be quite a change from the superstar spectacles, the basketball craze and the trivialities of fashion, fads and festivi ties. It is to be assumed that by extend ing the products of artistic traditions within the reach of'the Filipino people, the democratization of culture would inevitably be hastened. □

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