A diptych exhibition, Viva España/Long Live América straddles between two different locations in Metropolitan Iloilo chosen for their historical, cultural and political affinities.
Viva España will be presented at Museo Iloilo (built 1971) located in the capital city. It is the first government-sponsored museum outside Metro Manila.
It houses an outstanding collection of Iloilo’s cultural heritage, but what makes Museo Iloilo significant is its around 300 pieces of religious artefacts and figures from home altars of old, prominent and devout Catholic families in the province.
The Ilonggos’ generous donations of Catholic material culture firmly and eloquently attest to the influence of 400 years of Spanish rule in the Philippines on the Visayan region and its people.
On October 5, 1889, Maria Christina, then Queen Regent of Spain, raised the status of the town to the Royal City of the South due to Iloilo’s economic development during the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1896, the Queen Regent named Iloilo “La Muy Noble Ciudad,” or “The Most Noble City”, in appreciation of the Ilonggos’ allegiance to Spain, and their chivalry to defend the “Queen City of the South” against the surge of the Philippine Revolution.
This section of the diptych is an attempt to “colonize” the space of the museum, retaining some selected pieces from its collection, and intervene in its present narrative.
Viva España/Long Live América is on view until February 28 at Museo Iloilo and Kri8 Art Space.