Cebu Daily News / Opinion

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view_article.php?article_id=136719

PAST FORWARD Past Forward : An exhibition to die for By Jobers Bersales Cebu Daily News Posted date: May 15, 2008 Ayala Museum dubs it the exhibition you have all been waiting for a thousand years to see: a triad of the best of Philippine pre-colonial and colonial wealth and tradition that has ever been showcased in the country. Opened last May 1, the special permanent collection of gold, ceramics and textile – the best ever assembled in the country – does not fail to impress. This is the exhibition to end all exhibitions and I thank the people at Ayala Museum for giving me a personalized tour that I shall never forget. Over a thousand gold pieces, 550 Chinese and Southeast Asian ceramic wares, and the finest pieces of 19th century costumes now adorn the fourth floor of the museum, waiting for eyes to feast on the wealth of our ancestors and the fruits of their trading with Chinese and Arab merchants. Curated by Florina Capistrano-Baker, the gold pieces are part of the Locsin collection, which has never before exposed to the public. This specially-designed exhibition, aptly titled “Gold of Ancestors: Pre-Colonial Treasures in the Philippines,” mixes the gold objects with light, sounds and multimedia that are the state of the art in museology. A highlight of the exhibit is the “Sacred Thread,” a 3.6-kilogram, thick gold sash made of the finest gold wires woven together, akin to the thick rope used to pull big ships to shore! This is part of the Surigao Treasure, accidentally recovered by a bulldozer operator while opening an irrigation ditch. Before this, only the illustrations in the 17th century Boxer Codex gave us a hint of the wealth of our ancestors. Across this gallery is the multi-room array of the finest ceramic wares from the Tang to the Qing dynasty, as well as Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian wares that form part of some 1,500 pieces obtained by the museum on a long-term lease from the heirs of the financial wizard of his time, the late Roberto Villanueva. The exhibition, entitled “A Millennium of Contact: Chinese and Southeast Asian Ceramics in the Philippines,” also contains some of the ceramics collected by the Father of Philippine Anthropology, the late Dr. H. Otley Beyer, that was eventually bought by Villanueva. My friend Rita Ching Tan, former president of the Oriental Ceramics Society of the Philippines, curated the gallery and selected the finest pieces that represent the volumes of ceramic ware that entered the archipelago. A purposely-built mount of frosted thick glass and the appropriate lighting make for a dazzling spectacle of the best reference material for the ceramic collector or the archaeologist looking to date some excavated pieces. This dual array of the best of hard treasures is complemented by a recent find: textiles that had been hidden in the stockrooms of the Leiden Museum in The Netherlands that bring to light what had heretofore been found only in portraits by Damian Domingo of the Tagalog elite: embroidered pants and shirts collected by the French diplomat named Berjard between 1881 and 1886 and eventually acquired by Leiden. The collection is augmented by the Rita Ortiz collection of heirloom garments that were formerly owned by Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera. This feast for the senses, not just the eyes, is cheap at a cost of only P120. So the next time you come to Makati, take three hours of your time to feast on the treasures of the past at Ayala Museum. * * * The Basic Training on Establishing Town/City Museums, sponsored by the Committee on Sites, Relics and Structures, begins today at the Social Hall of the Cebu Provincial Capitol. Next week, the specialized training on museum management and conservation will also be held at the same venue from May 20 to 23. It is sponsored by the Visayas Association of Museums Group Inc. Kudos to all on these two fitting celebrations of the International Museum Month.