Story & photos by Danielle Gabriel
Now on its fourth decade, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (MET) has stood by its principle of “art for all” by opening classic and contemporary local and international artworks to a larger public and initiating art and cultural education programs.
As part of its anniversary, the MET opened three exhibits, collectively titled FORTY, which explained the museum’s journey and societal contributions through the years.
According to MET President Tina Colayco, the museum has transformed to put more focus on modern art, but still maintained its inclusivity for all.
“The MET has evolved. The expanded direction we have now is for modern and contemporary art by Filipino and foreign contemporary artists, and then by contemporizing the collections of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Here in the Metropolitan Museum, we are able to make our audiences appreciate the culture of the Philippines and the art development. For a lot of people to understand our roots and the richness of our cultural and artistic heritage,” Colayco said.
Meanwhile, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. praised the MET for being one of the institutions that take pride in providing different local audiences the chance to understand art through the use of Tagalog captions and working with different schools.
“The MET was among the first here to provide bilingual captions in Filipino and English to ensure wider appreciation. The MET museum is also the first local museum that launched a program that enables the visually impaired to experience and appreciate art,” Tetangco said,
He added: “We also take note that the MET introduced for the budget-challenged art enthusiasts the free-admission Tuesdays. The BSP partners with the MET museum in promoting that awareness and appreciation of art and culture instills a strong sense of national identity and love of country of our people. This is the rationale that underpins the active involvement of the BSP in researching and promoting Philippine art and culture among others.”
Tetangco also announced plans of the BSP to put up a new museum at the Philippine International Convention Center Complex to house its gold, pottery, painting, cultural properties and Hispanic collections.
“Our goal for this new museum is to reflect our revolution as a nation and as a people, from pre-Hispanic times to contemporary times. Indeed, the promotion of art and creativity across our country deserves full support,” he said.
The MET Collection and New Acquisitions exhibit at the museum’s Tall Galleries and Open Gallery consists of more than 100 works by Filipino artists from the contemporary period and can be viewed until January 8, 2017.
The MET and BSP Print Collections exhibits printmaking works of Filipino and foreign artists and is a celebration of the decades-long partnership between the MET and the BSP. The exhibit will run until January 13.
The MET Archives in the White Cube Gallery showcases posters and catalogues, vernissage photos and other documents that look into the museum’s evolving spaces, programs and thrusts that can be viewed until January 8.
Aside from the exhibit, the MET will also hold a series of symposium and workshops as part of its anniversary.
The Curatorial Intensive Symposia organized by the MET together with the Independent Curators International and National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the office of Sen. Loren Legarda was held early last week.
Also last week, an intensive workshop for public-school teachers on visual literacy and Philippine art history was held.
On December 9 the Visual Perception Workshop will have local government security and safety officers learn more about situational inquiry methods and visual thinking using artworks in the museum. Both workshops are free of charge.
The MET will have the Touch Tours for visually impaired museum visitors from December 2016 to January 2017.
Last, the MET will also be offering free guided tours of FORTY every Saturday at 2 pm.
