Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 8 No. 6 - Leisure
The Past is Just Nearby
Two private museums within the metropolis tell our history and describe our identity
By Don G. Rapadas

The Ayala Museum provides a guided view of the nation’s history through these dioramas

Ayala Museum
History in Dioramas
Envisioned in the 1950s by well-known abstractionist Fernando Zobel de Ayala y Montojo (1924-1984), the Ayala Museum became a reality in 1967 as a project of the Ayala Foundation. The goal was to instill awareness and appreciation of Philippine culture and art among Makati businessmen.

Back then, Zobel gathered the country’s premier historians, researchers, and scholars to assess the different events in Philippine history, including significant turning points. These historic events were then rendered in three-dimensional forms by artists and craftsmen from Paete, Laguna led by Simeon Abaya. A total of 63 impressive dioramas were created, chronicling a rich tapestry of the nation’s history. The dioramas later became the core of the museum’s collections. In 1990, the dioramas on the Martial Rule and People Power I were added.

The entire display, however, was not accessible to the public until 1974, when National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin finished the Ayala Museum building along Makati Avenue. Aside from the dioramas, the museum’s collections include archaeological materials like fossils recovered from Cagayan Valley, Stone Age tools from Batangas, Cebu, and Zamboanga, and Chinese pottery. Also on exhibit are miniature boats, which are models of naval architecture throughout history, and wooden dolls depicting the evolution of Filipino costume.

Moreover, the fine arts collections contain 20th century art by national artist Fernando Amorsolo (1882-1972). Most of the collection have historical themes like the first baptism and Mass in the Philippines, some rare 19th century paintings by Damian Domingo and Juan Luna, and other works by Zobel.

The Ayala Museum is one of the oldest private museums in the country. It has open gallery spaces for budding and more established artists and designers. It also offers educational programs and multi-media products to further people’s interest in the study of Philippine history. A store inside the museum offers an exciting line of products inspired by the works of Amorsolo and Zobel. It also has an appealing array of novelty items that are available throughout the year.

When and Where To Go
As part of its expansion, the Ayala Museum recently moved to two new sites. The galleries are now located at the ground floor of the Makati Stock Exchange Building along Ayala Avenue. The dioramas and museum shop are at the 3rd floor of Glorietta 2, also in Makati City. Both the galleries and the dioramas are open for viewing Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Guided tours for children and adults cost P100, while the non-guided tour is P55 for adults and P35 for children. Audio tours cost P80, both for children and adults. Multi-lingual tours are available upon request.

In 2003, the new Ayala Museum building designed by Leandro Locsin Jr. will rise at the corner of Dela Rosa Street and Makati Avenue.

The Ayala Museum accepts tour reservations by phone, fax, or personal visits. Interested parties may call (632) 812-1191 to 97 local 112 or fax to (632) 817-3209 or 840-1588.

Lopez Museum
Six Centuries of Arts and Culture
The Lopez Memorial Museum was established on 13 February 1960 – a concrete evidence of the Lopez’s family’s commitment to preserve the nation’s cultural heritage. Built in honor of his parents Benito Lopez and Presentacion Hofileña, it was also Don Eugenio’s (the Old Man) way of providing scholars and students access to his personal collection of rare Filipiniana books, manuscripts, maps, archaeological artifacts, and fine art. It was believed that the ‘Old Man’ acquired all these rare collections through his close ties with Don Alfonso Ongpin, an inveterate art dealer and collector in the 19th century.

Juan Nakpil built the museum building originally located at the back of Hyatt Hotel in Lancaster Street in Pasay City. However, the sea air from nearby Manila Bay and the frequent flooding in the area, which were both harmful to the museum’s collections, prompted its transfer to the Chronicle Building (now Benpres Building) in Ortigas in 1986.

Breadth of Philippine Art
Among the museum’s most important collections include paintings by 19th century Filipino masters Juan Luna y Novicio and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. A total of 38 Lunas and 184 Hidalgos (paintings and sketches) are in possession, making it the single largest collection of these paintings anywhere in the world.

La Barca de Aqueronte, a masterpiece of Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo in Neoclassic style, inspired by a passage from Dante’s Inferno, is a portrayal of the souls of the damned on their journey to hell. España y Filipinas, oil on canvas by Juan Luna, encapsulates the ties between the colonial and the colonized. Both are centerpiece art in the Hidalgo and Luna halls, respectively.

Also acquired over the years were paintings by most of the country’s national artists including Fernando Amorsolo, Carlos “Botong” Francisco, Vicente Manansala, H.R. Ocampo, Cesar Legaspi, and Arturo Luz. Important artists such as Fernando Zobel, Nena Saguil, Juvenal Sanso, Macario Vitalis, Jose Joya, and Romeo Tabuena are also represented in the museum’s ever expanding collection. The museum is equally proud of its largely under-rated pieces from Juan Arellano and Dominador Castañeda.

Also in the collection are 14th and 15th century artifacts recovered from the Calatagan burial sites in the 1950s. The excavations opened new areas of study on the culture and civilization of the early Filipinos. The museum’s share in the diggings, which Don Eugenio partly financed, consists chiefly of porcelain of Chinese origin, Filipino earthenware, beads, and a few Annamese and Siamese pieces.

The Rizaliana collection includes some 90 letters of the national hero, as well as some personal effects like his billfold, paintbrushes, flute, and some personal papers.
But what the Lopez museum can really boast of is its collection of rare books, foremost of which is the third edition (Rome, 1524) of De Moluccis Insulis by Maximilianus Transylvanus, which has the first printed account of Magellan’s voyage to the Philippines. The institution’s oldest Philippine imprints include the first edition of Belarmino’s Doctrina Christiana (Manila, 1620) translated into Ilocano by Fr. Fernando Lopez and printed by Centonio Damba and Miguel Saixo, and the famous Relacion de las Islas Filipinas by the Jesuit Pedro Chirino (Rome, 1604).

Other collections on art, culture and society include a five-volume work titled, The Philippine Insurrection Against the U.S., a compilation of documents on the second phase of the Philippine revolution against the United States, a biography on Juan Luna: The Filipino as Painter by Santiago Pilar, the award-winning work of Alfredo Roces titled Hidalgo and the Generation of 1872, and a monumental two-volume coffee table-size book on Philippine orchids, Orchidiana Philippiniana by Dr. Helen Valmayor of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños.

The museum administration headed by Mariles Ebro Matias maintains environmental measures to preserve the good condition of its collections. The museum is airconditioned 24 hours and light and temperature levels are stabilized. Microfilming technology was started in 1998. Matias is proud to reveal that they now have works by every Filipino national artist for art, except Guillermo Tolentino. The collection is further expanded by new acquisitions.

The Lopez Museum is open to all students, art lovers, Filipiniana scholars and researchers who wish to discover their heritage as a people and a nation. The museum is located at the ground floor of the Benpres Building, Exchange Road corner Meralco Avenue, Pasig City. Viewing hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. About 15 to 20 adults can be accommodated at one time