Museums and Galleries Month

   The Philippines has many establishments that are repositories of our people’s heritage. Aside from our libraries and archives, we also have museums and galleries all over the country. The Museum of the Filipino People (formerly, the National Museum of the Philippines), the Museo de Manila of the City of Manila, the Hiyas ng Bulakan of Bulacan Province, the Ayala Museum, the museums of the universities and local government units – all contain thousands of priceless Filipiniana materials, artifacts, and objects that speak of our people’s rich historical and cultural heritage.

    These museums have archaeological artifacts bearing imprints of our ancestors such as barangay boats, the Manunggul jar, burial jars and their covers with intricate inscriptions of scripts of long ago; rich fabrics of tapestries made of native fibers such as abaca, piña, and jusi, armaments and furniture-inlaid with mother-of-pearl, carved images of hardwood and ivory, works of art by our artists. There are also the original manuscripts of Dr. Jose P. Rizal’s novels such as Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. The skull cap of the Tabon man, the original editions of many rare Filipiniana publications, and the Laguna Copper Plate.

    October is celebrated in our country as Museum and Galleries Month to promote public awareness about our museums and galleries and the many priceless collections that are housed and preserved in these institutions.

Original essay by Patricia Nicole
October 27, 2004