UP Visayas launches expanded arts and culture museum

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By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) on Oct 26, 2022 launched its Museum of Art and Cultural Heritage (MACH) that showcases more Ilonggo and West Visayan art and culture from various generations.

The new museum has seven galleries, which include textiles and woven pieces, old jars, ancient weaponry, customary depictions, and other interesting bits and pieces that the public will enjoy and learn from.

Three galleries had already been opened in December 2021, including the Ed Defensor and Nelfa Querubin wings, and the Panapton textile gallery in June 2022.

UPV MACH is envisioned to be a university museum that engages students, scholars, and the community into the experience of the study of art and cultural heritage through exhibitions and programs that promote an awareness and appreciation of diverse, inclusive, social, political, and economic realities.

The museum commits itself to develop dynamic programs and exhibitions in the visual arts and cultural heritage for diverse audiences, in and out of the university, that promotes learning and stirs life-long interest in art and cultural heritage.

It also aims to enrich academic and civic life by making the museum an essential part of the university and the community through programs that promote collaborations and partnerships with individuals and institutions, and build up the university’s Art and Cultural Heritage Collection, exercising responsible stewardship and management of these resources.

It is located in several rooms of the Iloilo City campus’ main building, or the old Iloilo City Hall building, which was donated to UP in 1947.

The launch on Wednesday was part of the celebration of the 114^th anniversary of the UP System and the 75^th anniversary of the presence of the national university in the Visayas.

UPV Office of Initiatives in Culture and the Arts director Martin Genodepa said that this was a “dream come true” for UPV, having been envisioned since the term of their first chancellor, Dr. Dionisia Rola.

Rola thought of converting the main building into a museum, when the campus transferred its main campus to Miag-ao, Iloilo and has been sought by every succeeding chancellor since then.

The closest the university has had to a full-fledged museum was the establishment of the UPV Art Gallery in 1985 by Prof. Dea Doromal.

The museum came closer to realization in 2017 when the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NCHP) gave a grant to rehabilitate the building, and in 2019 when the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) gave P15 million for the development of the museum itself.

UPV’s current chancellor, Dr. Clement Camposano, called the galleries a “crown jewel” of Panay Island, in celebrating the diverse collection housed by the museum, hoping that it could show its audiences how culture is static and fluid.

“These galleries, which I will dare call the cultural crown jewel of Panay and Iloilo, is really a space to celebrate both the plurality and fluidity of culture. But it is also a democratic space, a gift of the University so that we are able to create spaces for all the different voices,” Camposano said.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, in his message, reiterated his support to restore the main building and its use as a museum for Ilonggos.

“I am very happy that it has been reused for a purpose which is very noble. Know that Iloilo City under my watch will always be supportive for activities like this. Know also, that we will not hesitate to do what our grandfathers did before, to donate what we have for the sake of education,” the mayor stated.

Interested visitors may enter the UPV Iloilo City campus on a walk-in basis, but preferably, they may also contact the UPV OICA at (033) 337-9159, which may even allow them to avail a guided tour of the museum and its galleries.