07282012: 300 Years of Philippine Maps @ Metropolitan Museum of Manila

Last July 28 (Saturday), despite the rains and fears of being stranded due to flooding in one of Manila's flood prone areas, my friend and I attended the lecture by Dr. Benito Legarda Jr. on the life of Fr. Pedro Murillo Velarde at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Boulevard. Dr. Legarda also talked about the Filipino engraver Nicolas de la Cruz Bagay, among other things like the problems encountered in map-creation during those times, and also the differences between the 1734 and 1744 maps of the Philippines.

We were surprised to find out that Dr Legarda's talk was supposed to be held a week before our visit but due to bad weather, it was moved to July 28. In the afternoon, Florentina Colayco of UP College of Fine Arts talked about the artistic aspect involved in mapmaking, thus shifting the discourse from the scientific to the artistic. She gave examples of artworks associated with spatial identities, dislocation, utopian visions, protest against war, technology, and uprisings.

After this, Metropolitan Museum Director Sandra Palomar Quan hosted the guided tour upstairs where different artworks were on display. I especially find the exhibit on bottles interesting. In it, the artist turned regular bottles of ketchup, cheese spreads, and the like into works of art. Also, a post with many signs ubiquitous in the cities of Metro Manila, while considered an eyesore, here triumphs in calling the attention of visitors. Chunks of painted cement, on the other hand, may cause eyebrows to raise and may make one question if it is art. It's always interesting to know how artists create their works and where they derive ideas, and when you do understand why something is made the way it is, you appreciate it better.

*******************************************************************************
This post would include my first photo for the mere reason that the museum acknowledged my help with the exhibit. I volunteered as translator of the texts accompanying the maps from English to Filipino.