Do you remember the rush of excitement in marching towards the museum and happily lining up in the entrance to see what it looks like inside? The memories might be fleeting but the feeling remains. After all these years, museums still invoke curiosity and wonder.
Every month of October, we are encouraged to revisit the museums all around the country. This month celebrates the Museums and Galleries and is intended to kindle national consciousness in the Filipino; promoting the nation’s rich and distinctive culture, heritage, and national identity embodied in the form of art and cultural, historical, and religious artifacts.
The country has numerous museums welcoming visitors. For Thomasians, these are only some that are nearby and very accessible. Let’s get ready to discover galleries and the astounding visuals they have to offer.
National Museum of Natural History
Photo from Rappler
One of the most visited museums in the metro and also the largest museum in the Philippines, the National Museum of Natural History puffs its hint of modern architecture mixed with its rich heritage and collection of numerous artifacts.
Located at Teodoro F. Valencia Circle, Ermita, Manila. It opens it doors from 10:00AM to 5:00PM every Tuesday to Sunday. The newly reformed museum boasts a pristine atrium where the “The Tree of Life” rises in the center. Extending upwards, the skydome acts as a natural lightsource. It has now hosted numerous tourists and fellow Filipinos alike. Visitors can ogle on the beautifully designed halls and displays that consist of many artifacts and paintings.
Roaming around the alluring space of the museum, it would instantly make you realize that it is jam packed with literally everything—from marine life to biology to botany, the possibilities are endless. It shows the exquisiteness of our world, engaging us to become more interested in the life that exists around us.
National Museum of Fine Arts
Photo from National Museum
Amidst the busy streets of Manila, peace can be found at the National Museum of Fine Arts located at Padre Burgos Drive, Manila. It opens at 10:00AM to 5:00PM from Tuesday to Sunday. One of the most famous paintings in the country’s history is displayed in the first floor lobby—Juan Luna’s Spoliarium. The enormous piece could be found hanging on a wide wall, being admired by anyone who enters.
Aside from the Spoliarium, the museum also showcases the works of famous painters such as Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo and Fernando Amorsolo. Aspiring artists, art lovers, or just casual viewers of art will find this museum a safe haven.
Ayala Museum
Photo from Ayala Museum
Located in the city of business and industry, the Ayala Museum can be found at Makati Ave. cor. Dela Rosa St., Makati City and opens during 9:00AM to 6:00PM from Tuesday to Sunday.
The museum boasts as a major destination for school field trips, showcasing the country’s history from prehistoric times until the EDSA Revolution in 1986. The museum keeps a large number of rare artifacts that aren’t found elsewhere in the Philippines. The display of Philippine History enraptures its visitors—especially the Maritime Vessels Collection that pays tribute to a variety of ancient ships. A collection of pre-Hispanic items are worth looking at as well.
The museum also holds a lot of exhibitions, talks, workshops and even concerts which strengthens the museum’s goal in uplifting the Philippine arts, history, and culture scene vibrant.
Intramuros’ Museums and Galleries
Aside from the beauty that Intramuros radiates because of its history, there is more to it than just aesthetics. Its sites and museums houses the pieces and artworks that are part of the walled city’s rich past.
You can start a museum hopping adventure around the area by starting from the Intramuros and Rizal Bagumbayan Light and Sound Museum which uses images, sounds, and animatronics to tell the history of the Philippines when it was colonized by Spain.
Following that is Casa Manila Museum which also depicts the Spanish colonial lifestyle and how it influenced the Filipinos back then. The San Agustin Church is a UNESCO Heritage Site and its museum takes pride as well on its religious relics, wooden and ivory statues, the church’s 3500-kilogram bell, and many more.
Inside the San Agustin Church Museum. Photo from San Agustin Museum Facebook page
Depicting the lives of the largest number of immigrants in our country, the Bahay Tsinoy tells the struggles of the Chinese people, how they established Binondo, and how they connected with the Filipinos despite our differences.
RIzal Shrine inside Fort Santiago, Intramuros. Photo from nhcp.gov.ph
Last on the list is the two-storey building Rizal Shrine Museum located in Fort Santiago where the Filipinos and Americans were imprisoned including our country’s national hero Jose Rizal. It stores Rizal’s archives and personal valuables such as books, clothing, medical instruments, and other things.
Inside Museo de Intramuros. Photo from The Philippine Star.
You can also explore and see for yourself the other museums such as the NCCA Gallery, Museo de Intramuros, iMake History Fortress, Destileria Limtuaco Museum, Instituto Cervantes de Manila, and Fr. George J. Willman SJ Museum.
León Gallery
Situated in W14 La Fuerza Plaza, 2241 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City, the León Gallery is the steward of Philippine antiques, Old Master Paintings by Juan Luna and Fernando Amorsolo to modernist modernist works by Fernando Zobel and Diosdado Lorenzo, and and other historical pieces of Filipino art.
Photo from Rappler
The gallery also hosts exhibitions which features and commemorates the works of contemporary artists as well as antique furniture, ivory, and paintings. They also conduct biddings and auctions on antique furniture and paintings. The gallery definitely exceeds its mission on providing convenient access to contemporary and historical pieces of Filipino art.
UST Museum of Arts and Sciences
In the heart of the campus, is our very own museum that is a place to behold. Our museum has a wide collection of mineral, botanical, and biological artifacts that came from the science courses—more than 400 years ago when the university was beginning. Along with being the oldest university in the Philippines, UST also holds the oldest known museum in the country. The museum opens at 9:00AM to 2:30PM on Sunday and Monday, while it opens at 8:30AM to 5:30PM from Tuesday to Saturday.
Photo from UST Museum Facebook page
Cultural and historical pieces are the prevalent displays in the museum. It has old instruments, clothing, weaponry, and burial jars from different eras from the Philippines, China and Japan. Exuding the university’s pontifical status, the chair that Popes John Paul II and Francis sat on when they visited the country is showcased at the second floor.
The university definitely ignites and strengthens the sciences, Philippine culture and history together with religious artifacts in its museum.
The month of October is not the only time for you to visit these museums, in fact, you can visit museums all year round. Now that art is made more accessible, these displays of Philippine culture can educate us about our identity. By seeing these in our museums—we become far more stimulated to understand their interpretations in the past.
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