While browsing through my Facebook feeds recently, I saw one of my friends post several photos of them visiting the Louvre and some other Museums in Europe.
“Sosyal” I thought before hitting the “Like” button on every photo just like a good FB friend will do…and so that I wouldn’t seem envious or bitter about it.
I used to love art, until I realized it was going to be a lot like my relationships with Solenn, and Ellen Adarna–na nganga at hanggang tingin na lang.
So if it wasn’t for my friend Lydia Vivero, I would have ignored the invitation to attend her event at the National Museum, besides, i think I was still in khaki shorts the last time I went there, and all i could remember was my teacher shouting “Stay in Line” and “Don’t touch anything!”
Well she didn’t have to tell me twice, I was afraid every item there on display was cursed or had some evil spirit and I sure had no plans of loitering around and getting lost in a place that was clearly haunted—or would be haunted if ever I got left behind.
The first thing I realized as soon as I stepped in the Museum was that I actually hadn’t been there before. This one was the Old Legislative Building (also known as the Old Congress Building)that had been converted to the National Art Gallery of the National Museum of the Philippines., so I guess the only spirits residing there would be the ghosts of “aborted bills and a lot of forgotten laws.”
The second thing I realized was that it was such an old building, I guess they forgot to install some signal boosters during renovation, because both my Smart and Globe phones had no signal. So we asked the guards, which seemed to be just as lost as us, of the exact venue.
We were directed to the third floor, and after the brief scare inside the screeching elevator, we found out that we were given wrong directions and that the event was happening at the second floor.
The new PhilAm Life CEO Axel Bromley was in the middle of his passionate speech when we arrived, and all I remembered hearing was that he was an aspiring artist and that was the reason why they decided to partner with the National Museum to house some of the artworks of National Artist Vicente Manansala.
The experience was like browsing through your Instagram feeds EXCEPT IT WAS 100x better since the artworks featured there had a lot of history and I guess were not just aiming for more “likes” and “shares”
Walking along those halls filled with those masterpieces gave me a sense of pride–much like the “Manny-Pacquiao-wins” kinda pride but without his political entourage and groupies to ruin it.
So if you thought posing in front of that marker or photowall was cool enough for your OOTD, imagine just how you’d look among those paintings–it makes you look almost “cultured” even if the only artists you know are the ones you download on iTunes.
Filipinos have always cultivated a love for the fine arts. From the legendary Juan Luna to National Artist Fernando Amorsolo, art has shaped the landscape and culture of the Philippines. Another illustrious National Artist, the late Vicente Manansala, had his work exhibited at the National Museum, and with the help of Philam Life, more paintings of Manansala are made available for public viewing.
Together with a group of bloggers and media peeps, we were taken to an exclusive tour of the Philam Life Gallery by National Museum Assistant Director Dr. Ana Labrador. The gallery houses the Manansala paintings – the crown jewel in Philam Life’s art collection which are the seven paintings that depict Filipino life, rendered in the artist signature style of “transparent cubism”.
“Life without art is not a life worth living,” said Bromley and as an aspiring artist himself, you could feel his genuine sincerity and passion as he explained why the company is pursuing such endeavors.
“As an art connoisseur myself, it is a privilege to be part of an institution that strongly supports the arts,” said Mr. Axel Bromley. He believes in the importance of developing education and promoting the advancement of Philippine arts and culture. “We hope that through this partnership with the National Museum, more Filipinos can appreciate our collection and have access to these precious artworks of National Artist Vicente Manansala.”
Vicente Manansala was a cubist painter and illustrator of no small renown. He was commissioned by Philam Life to create murals for the Philam Life Head Office. Following his passing in 1981, he was posthumously proclaimed a National Artist in Painting on the same year.
Check our interview with Axel Bromley done with Jeman of www.OrangeMagazine.ph
Philam Life donated Php 1 million to the Museum through the Philam Foundation. This sum will be used for the further upkeep of the paintings at the Philam Life Gallery, and was received by Dr. Ana Labrador on behalf of the National Museum.
The Philam Foundation has also been cooperating with the National Museum in building classrooms in typhoon-affected areas under the “Philam Paaralan” program. They jointly built four new classrooms – two in Loon South Central Elementary School, in Loon, Bohol soon after the earthquake and two in Salug Elementary School in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, which was among the schools devastated by Typhoon Yolanda.
