Last week I tried to go over the internet to find places to visit for the coming long weekend. First thing I thought was to visit a museum. I started searching and found out that the National Museum of the Philippines is celebrating the Museums and Galleries month and offers a free admission for everyone for the whole month of October.
It was already 1:30 PM of Saturday when I arrived at the Museum of the Filipino People, a branch of the National Museum that houses its anthropology and archaeology division. Staff of the museum greeted me and asked me to sign on their record book and at the same time giving the guidelines in entering the museum. You also need to leave your things (except valuable) at the information booth.
First thing that caught my attention were the sculptures of Jerusalino V. Araos: Metamorphosis (Pirouette), Pepe’s Previous Lesson: On Avoiding the 3F Temptations (Attitude) and Kustumusik (Arabesque)
The museum houses the different exhibits such as (click the links to check out my separate posts for the different exhibits) San Diego Wreck Site, History and Treasures, History of the Filipino People, Biodiversity, and Linnaeus and Linnaean’s.
In the middle of the building is a landscape where you can see an Ifugao House, an Ayangan House from Mayaoyao, Ifugao. The architecture of the Ifugao house, of which there are many varieties based on the different Ifugao sub-groups, is reflective of the geography of the region. Henengan was the ancient name of the municipality of Mayaoyao – NMP.
Hanging on the wall facing one of the stairs on the ground floor is Edgar Doctor’s painting Green Country.
I left the place around 3 PM and advanced to the National Art Gallery which is just adjacent to the building. Greeted me were the sculptures of Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmena by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino (sorry, no picture for the Osmena sculpture.)
To welcome you inside the museum is the Hall of Masters (Bulwagang Luna at Hidalgo) that houses the famous Juan Luna’s Spoliarium and Felix Resureccion Hidalgo’s La Tragedia de Gobernador Bustamante. At the lobby of the building are two wooden reliefs by National Artist Napoleon Abueva, assisted by Renato Rocha and Jose Mendoza. They portray Rajah Sulayman, His Court, and the Palisades (1967) and Legazpi and the Founding of Manila (1967). –NMP
You can check my other posts for the different attractions in the National Art Gallery such as Ablaza and FCCP Halls, Works of Juan Luna, Portraits, Various Drawings, Studies and Notes of Fernando Amorsolo, Arts Related to Jose Rizal and the Fundacion Santiago Hall.
