November's museum: National Museum of Fine Arts

We headed out this weekend with very little in mind for our museum trip. Rather a realization that November was coming to an end and we were running out of time if we wanted to follow through on our goal. So I went looking for a museum that was open on Sunday, and decided upon the National Museum. Turns out the National Museum has a couple of building, having taken over some of the old legislation sites in Manila. I decided upon the National Museum of Fine Arts for no real good reason except that it was there and I could find the name of it to look up when requesting a taxi. Needless to say I had no idea what we were getting into with a visit to this weekend. But hey, it is open, and as an added bonus is free to the public all the time.

Bright walls!

I was not prepared for the bright walls that greeted us as we explored the ground floor galleries. Although I suppose in some ways they helped to brighten up the sometimes dark 18th century paintings. I'll admit I wasn't all that into the painting that were on display. Although I did find it interesting to note that the portraits, at least, were of Filipino people, easily distinguishable as they wore the recognizable traditional pina fabric made partially out of pineapple fiber. I was also fascinated by the sculptures that were made from concrete, marble being too expensive or not available. To be honest though, I found myself more distracted by the bright walls than engaged in the paintings.

One of my favorite statues, although I don't think
this one was concrete.

So then we had to decide if it was worth heading upstairs to check out another level of galleries. We're here, might as well, right? I was relieved to find the work on this floor more colorful (and the walls less colorful) and modern, more to my taste. In fact I found some work by Vicente Silva Manansala, the National Artist for Painting in 1981, that I quite liked. Not only was the majority of his work of local scenes (landscapes, cock fights, religious ceremonies, etc) his use of color and shapes were quite appealing to me. 

Isda, The Philam Life Manansala Series (No 7)

All in all we spent about an hour and a half in the National Museum. It was worth a visit, especially if you enjoy old buildings. I particularly liked the stairwell near the entrance and the handles on the gallery doors reminding you that you were in the National Museum. All in all, a pretty good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Murals

My favorite new mural 

One of the things that I really enjoy about the area I live in is that there are a pile of murals (just ask my mom, when she came to visit I made her go walking to see most of them) and new ones are getting painted every year. It seems that there is a mural festival in BGC every year, not that it is all that well advertised, nor it is easy to find out where new murals are going up. But in some ways that just makes it more fun, more of a discovery when you realize that there is a new one over there, behind that building.

Stranger Things inspired mural on my walk to school

When I was walking down High Street recently I saw the top of a mural (the first picture) that I had not seen before, which led me on a wander around the fort to see if there were other new murals up. I found three, and saw two more this weekend that were in the process of being painted, although I know that it is not currently the mural festival, that happens sometime towards the end of the school year. 

Traditions inspired

In any case it is fun to have something to "discover" when walking around the neighborhood, and I love being able to watch the evolution of some of them go up. (Although I will admit I'm not so thrilled that they are painting over my favorite one.)

Detail of one mural

October's Museum: The Ayala Museum

October always seems to be one of those months when life and work just get busy. It has been great in some ways, as I feel like I'm finally out of my apartment more than I am in it, but frankly it is a bit exhausting. I'm very much looking forward to the week long break we have coming up, and can't wait for a bit of down time. 

Katie and I outside the Ayala Museum

Things have been so busy that it was a bit difficult to find the time for Katie and I to get out to a museum this month. So we chose to stick close to home. Heading to the Ayala Museum in Makati, a short 10-20 minute taxi ride away. I really had very little expectation for this museum, having no idea what they might have. Only knowing after a brief search on their website that I could actually get in free if I brought my teacher ID with me. Not a normal part of what I carry on the weekend so I was glad I had read that. Otherwise, the only other thing I knew is that the Ayala's are one of the business tycoon families here in the Philippines - having their name on many malls, and so it isn't really a surprise that the museum is at a shopping complex.

Spanish galleon replicas

A little to my surprise, the museum was quite nice. Particularly the two floors that housed the permanent collection. The top floor with a fairly large collection of Chinese pottery that seemed to have mostly been found at archeological sights in the Philippines. An extraordinarily large gold collection was the highlight of my visit. It was mostly taken from burial sights in the Philippines. We were wondering how there could actually be that large of a collection here, in a fairly small museum, but upon reading we realized that most of it was discovered after 1960 when archeologists began working in the Philippines. The second floor had an extensive set of dioramas detailing important events in Philippine history. I will say I learned a bit more about that topic, since I didn't know very much at all. Although it gets a bit depressing to realize just how much war and violence is part of their notable history. All in all quite an enjoyable two hours visiting the museum.

Sculpture outside the museum

The Ayala Museum
Tue-Sun 9am-6pm
Entry: free for teachers with id, price ranges from 100p to 425 p
Makati Avenue corner De La Rosa Street
Greenbelt Park, Makati City 1224