Tracing Filipino Culture Through Art
Tracing Filipino Culture Through Art
The Ayala Museum is an Arts and History Museum in Manila Philippines that celebrates the diversity of Filipino culture and the rich tapestry of its art. The museum was the brainchild of artist Fernando Zobel de Ayala y Montojo who envisioned a museum dedicated to preserving and showcasing the cultural heritage of the Philippines. The museum became a reality in 1967 as a project of the Ayala Foundation and was housed at the Insular Life Building along Ayala Avenue. In 1974 the museum was moved its own custom built property at Makati Avenue and was designed by the National Artist for Architecture Leandro V. Locsin.
The museums architecture suits its collections and it is famous for its juxtaposing blocks that create wide spaces in the interior of the building. Among the collections at this museum the most popular are sixty diorama collections which chronicles over 50000 years of Filipino history. All sixty exhibits are handcrafted by talented Paete artists and go back in time form the early native Filipino settlements to the arrival of the Spanish and the Americans and the subsequent struggle for independence. The exhibit also has a multimedia exhibition titled Peoples Power which shows the turbulent 1950s period and the authoritarian rule of Marcos and the victory of the Peoples Power Movement in 1986.
The finely crafted sail ship exhibit is also an extremely interesting part of the museum that represents the countrys association with sea faring nations such as Spain China and Persia. Models of traditional Filipino ships Chinese Junks Arabian Baghlas and Spanish Galleons can be seen at this display. The museum also maintains an ethnographic collection of cultural artifacts from the small indigenous communities from all over the archipelago.
Archelogical exhibits that trace the beginning of Filipino culture such as Gold jewelry dating back to the preHispanic times and decorative tribal items some of which are more than 4000 years old are on display here. Visitors to Manila can discover the richness of the countrys culture by visiting this museum located close by are a block of Manila serviced apartments known as Ascott Makati that offer great accommodation packages for business travelers.
About the writer: Naveen Marasinghe is an Online Marketing Executive at eMarketingEye which is a search engine marketing company that offers integrated Internet marketing services and specializes in serving the online travel and hospitality industry.
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