PERMANENT DISPLAYSArt and the Order of Nature in Indigenous Philippine Textiles

Ayala Museum is proud to announce the opening of a major ethnographic exhibition,The Art and Order of Nature in Indigenous Philippine TextilesbeginningOctober 24, 2014at itsFourth Floor Galleries.The centerpiece of the exhibition is the generous donation by Mercedes Zobel to the Ayala Museum, which consists of111 textiles representing indigenous communities in the Philippinesfrom the Cordilleras in northern Philippines and from Mindanao in the south, including the Muslim regions in Western Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago.Mercedes Zobel hopes that the collection will inspire and rekindle interest in the living arts of the country. For her, textiles speak the earliest language that expresses the beginnings of our culture.In collaboration with thePrinces School of Traditional Artsin London, the exhibition provides a new way seeing indigenous Philippine textiles. Founded in 2004 by HRH the Prince of Wales as one of his core charities, the Princes School specializes in teaching, researching, and promoting the practice and theory of the arts and crafts of the worlds great traditions. Using traditional geometry and biomorphic design principles, the artists of the Princes School analyzed a selection from the Mercedes Zobel Collection. Showcased alongside the actual objects in the exhibition, together they are like textbooks that illustrate how Philippine indigenous textiles, like other great traditions, reflect the universal order of nature.It is our hope that this highly visual approach to the analysis of indigenous Philippine textiles will be a fresh addition to the corpus of knowledge about the subject matter and will spark renewed interest in this unique aspect of our cultural identity said Mariles Gustilo, Senior Director of Ayala Museum.Ayala Museum will be producing various activities and education programs across the duration of this long-term exhibition, allowing museum visitors to go more in-depth into the topic and relate it to multiple disciplines. A publication co-authored byDr. Patricia Araneta(Outreach Program Director) of the Princes School of Traditional Arts andAmihan Lim, Research Assistant with photographs byNeal Oshimais also set to be launched.In celebration of Philippine-British Friendship Week, The British Embassy will participate in the opening nights festivities.

Fernando Zobel

CURRENTLY ON DISPLAY: FERNANDO ZOBEL IN THE 1960s.In his mid-thirties, Fernando Zobel decided to retire from the family business to live in Spain and pursue the life of a fulltime artist. His work had evolved into pure non-objectivism with the introduction of the Saeta series. This shift in Zobels artistic style, which transpired in the 1960s, continues to be an exemplary standard of Philippine abstraction today.Zobels journey into pure non-objectivism and minimal color defined his work in this decade. The fine, calligraphic lines of theSaetasevolved into the vigorous and painterlySerie Negraworks that recall both American Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline (1910-1962) and Japanese sumi-e paintings, as seen in Vasata (1960) andIcaro(1962).In the mid-1960s, the gestural lines dissolve into atmospheric tonalities, similar to the color field paintings of Mark Rothko (1903-1970) and the landscapes of British artist J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851).El Balcon II(1964) andPausa Clara(1966) are representative of Zobels range in this particular phase. Towards the end of the decade, pictorial space transformed into stark landscapes defined by geometric forms with an implicit perspective, as revealed in the majesticLas Soledades de Lope de Vega(1968).Ayala Museum pays homage to Zobel not only for his artistic legacy but also for envisioning the foundation of an art and iconography museum as part of the overall development of the Ayala Center in Makati.The museums Fernando Zobel collection is part of its permanent displays and is exhibited in its Third Floor Galleries.

Gold of Ancestors

The exhibition of more than one thousand gold objects celebrates the sophisticated cultures that existed in the Philippines before colonization in the 16th century. Many of the precious objects were recovered in association with tenth to thirteenth century Chinese export ceramics. Similarities in form and iconography with artifacts of other Southeast Asian cultures affirm regional affinities and inter-island contacts that flourished in these archipelagic crossroads of civilizations. Adornments of elite individuals and their deities include a spectacular array of golden sashes, necklaces, pectorals, diadems, earrings and finger rings, bracelets, and anklets. Here, the role of archaeology in reconstructing the past is illuminated, demonstrating how funerary offerings become valuable sources of information for subsequent generations of the living.

A Millennium of Contact

Chinese and Southeast Asian ceramics found in the Philippines tell the story of how the country forged social and commercial ties with China and its neighbors. This display of more than 500 ceramics provides one of the most comprehensive surveys of Chinese and Southeast Asian trade wares found in the Philippines, spanning a thousand years.These trade ceramics are not only a feast for the eyes, but their origins and the periods in which they were produced also provide important data about the past. As proof of the lively trade that occurred between China and Southeast Asia, these pieces continue to play an important role in the understanding of Philippine history.Exhibition curator: Rita TanMade possible through the support of the Roberto T. Villanueva Foundation

Embroidered MultiplesThe exhibition features selections from the Leiden National Museum of Ethnologys collection of Philippine garments acquired from the French diplomat Brejard, who served in Manila from 1881 to 1886. The collection includes rare, embroidered silk trousers orsayasayaworn by Philippine elite men, formerly known only through nineteenth-century watercolor images. Multiple examples of delicately embroiderednipisblouses provide a lexicon of decorative techniques including relief embroidery,caladoopenwork, and supplementary weft orsuksuk, as well as the changing silhouette of womens fashion. This unprecedented five-year loan of the Brejard collection is enhanced by a generous ten-year loan from the private collection of Rina Ortiz, which includes heirloom garments formerly in the Pardo de Tavera collection.The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Embassy and supported in part by Unilever Philippines, Shell companies in the Philippines, and Philips Electronics & Lighting, Inc.

Maritime Vessels

The Ayala Museums collection of finely crafted ship models is a tribute to the boats of yore that were used for everything from warfare to transport and dwelling. This selection includes the local skiffs as well as foreign ships that dropped anchor at Philippine shores. These boats were handcrafted out of baticulin, laniti, and apitong wood, and adorned with cloth, string, buntal fiber, bamboo, and bronze.Pre-Hispanic SailboatBetween 6000 and 500 BC, the development of more sophisticated tools allowed for the progress in boat making. Sailboats began to look different the side extended upwards and sideways with planking, creating bigger hull and more space for travelers and cargo.Chinese JunkThe Chinese junk can be used for fishing, trading, and combat. Being flat-bottomed, it can run aground without damage. It is characterized by five-staged masts, splayed like the sticks of a half-open fan.Arabian BaghlaThe ornate baghla is a trading vessel carrying spices and ivory from the Persian Gulf ports. Its lateen sail, long stern, and sharp bow are well-suited to sailing Mediterranean waters.LorchaBuilt in China, the lorcha has a hull similar to those found on European ships, but is rigged like a Chinese junk with three masts and a batten sail. The ships original purpose was to help stamp out piracy in the China Sea, but it was later used for smuggling. It eventually came into use as a trading vessel.GalleonFrom 1565 to 1815, galleons laden with treasure shuttled across the Pacific between Manila and Acapulco. These galleons varied in size but all carried the distinctive half-moon silhouette, with high forecastles and poops. Framed for resisting monsoons and pirates attacks, galleons were called the strong castles of the sea.CaravelIn the 16th century, after the Treaty of Tordesillas finalized the division of the world into two halves like an orange between Portugal and Spain, the countries respective rulers sent their sailors out to commandeer as much land as they could. Under royal decree, both Portuguese and Spanish would-be conquerors set out upon the oceans in caravels, which were built expressly for long voyages. Ferdinand Magellan himself journeyed across the Pacific in a caravel. The caravel was characterized by broad bow, a high narrow poop, and two or three masts with a triangular lateen sail.

The Diorama ExperienceThe Diorama Experience is an encounter with the dioramas of Philippine history that have been a prominent attraction of Ayala Museum since its completion in 1973. Carved by artisans from Paete, Laguna, the dioramas are unique achievements in woodcarving as well as in miniature painting and decoration. They depict sixty major events and themes in history, from prehistoric Philippines to the recognition of Philippine independence by the United States in 1946. The exhibit culminates with People Power, a multimedia presentation that chronicles significant events, including the tumultuous 1950s and the riotous martial law years, that led to the First EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986.UPDATES:The joy of viewing the dioramas can now be experienced anytime, anywhere! As part of Ayala Museums participation in the internationalGoogle Art Project(now under the Google Cultural Institute), high resolution images of fifteen select dioramas have been uploaded to the web, which viewers at home can examine to the last detail. Ayala Museum is so far the only Philippine participant among more than 150 famous museums and galleries the world over. Visit theDioramas @ Google Art Project!

EXHIBITIONSBotong Francisco: A Nation Imagined

Botong Francisco: A Nation Imagined will be on display at President Ramon Magsaysay House in Zambales City from October 7 to November 3, 2015, made possible through a partnership with the National Historical Council of the Philippines (NHCP).This is the sixth NHCP siteand 17th overall stopof this traveling exhibition.The show features 25 reproductions of Botongs paintings from institutional and private collections. Accompanying these images is a film produced by Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI), and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Peque Gallaga on Botongs vision and artistry.This outreach initiative of AFIs Arts and Culture Division is a traveling version of the museum exhibition held last December 2012 to March 2013 in celebration of Botong Franciscos centennial birth anniversary at Ayala Museum in Makati City. The exhibition showcased over 40 actual paintings by Botong supplemented by a short film that captured his large-scale works and murals commissioned for public buildings. The film had also been selected for inclusion in the documentary category at the 2013 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. An exhibition catalogue with the same title was also published for this exhibition. Together with the film documentary presentation in each site, the exhibition catalogue also forms part of the educational component for each site. Copies are donated to partner venues for their reference centers and library.By partnering with malls and centers of education such as universities, museums, and tourism councils, Ayala Museum believes that the life and legacy of the artist will be widely promoted, particularly to students and general audiences outside Metro Manila, where its main building and exhibition spaces are based.Botong Francisco: A Nation Imagined exhibition catalogue and film by Peque Gallaga are now available for sale at the following Fully Booked branches: The Fort (BGC), Alabang Town Center, Rockwell, Greenhills-Promenade and Cebu.

Gerardo Diego and Julio Palacios in the Philippines: Chronicles of a Journey

Instituto Cervantes Manila, The Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, Ayala Museum, and Fundacion Gerardo Diego presentGerardo Diego and Julio Palacios in the Philippines:CHRONICLES OF A JOURNEYExhibition duration: September 30 to October 27, 2015Second Floor Function Room, Ayala MuseumFor the very first time, the Instituto Cervantes of Manila, Embassy of Spain, Ayala Museum, Fundacin GerardoDiego, with support of FormaLighting and Vivanco present the exhibitionGerardo Diego and Julio Palacios in the Philippines: Chronicles of a Journey.Curated by Ariana H. Valladares, this exhibition is presented incommemoration of the 80th anniversary of the first Cultural Embassy between Spain and the Philippines after the Paris Treaty was signed.In 1935, Spains poet Gerardo Diego and scientist Julio Palacios visited the Philippines.They weresent by the Government of Spainas a culturalmission, with the main purpose of delivering a series of master lectures at the University of the Philippines and the University of Sto. Tomas.These servedas a sign of affection and friendship of Spain towards its former colony.During thattrip, ProfessorDiego andProfessorPalacios not only enjoyed and were part of the vibrant cultural scene of Manila but also witnessed that moment of great importance for the formation of the Filipino identity: the approval of the 1935 Constitution, said the curator. Iloilo, Negros, Cebu,Zamboanga, andNorth Luzon were also visited by the cultural envoys beforeleaving for Spain.The exhibition offers Filipinos and visitors the chance to embark on a journey to the Philippines at the 1930s through the impressions of these two Spanish masterminds.These arereflected in a selection of documents, press clippings, audio recorded and photographs from Fundacin Gerardo, together with extra materials about Manila and the Islands at that time from different sources.The briefs of Gerardo Diego and Julio Palacios together with the press of the time described everything they saw, heard and experienced along the journey. These Chronicles serve as our guide through the exhibition, added the curator.

Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms

Asia Society, New York, and Ayala Museum, Philippines presentPhilippine GoldTreasures of Forgotten KingdomsSeptember 11, 2015 to January 3, 2016Asia Society and MuseumNew YorkJoin us this fall for an exhibition of spectacular works of gold that highlight the prosperity and achievements of the Philippine Kingdoms, which flourished long before the Spanish discovered and colonised the region. Many of the objectsincluding exquisite regalia, jewellery, functional and ritualistic objects, ceremonial weapons, and funerary masks from the Ayala Museum and Bangkok Sentral ng Pilipinas Collectionsare on view for the first time ever outside of the Philippines.The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of opening events and a season of programming that will highlight the richness and diversity of Philippine culture and current affairs, and explore its cuisine, performing arts, film, design, literature, and more.

HOMEEXHIBITIONSPHILIPPINE GOLD: TREASURES OF FORGOTTEN KINGDOMS

ARTWORKS (50)"A gorgeous and historically intriguing exhibition"The New York TimesThis exhibition presents spectacular works of gold primarily discovered over the past forty years on the Philippine islands of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. The regalia, jewelry, ceremonial weapons, and ritualistic and funerary objects attest to the recently uncovered evidence of prosperity and achievement of Philippine polities that flourished between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, long before the Spanish discovered and colonized the region. Although the forms and styles of the majority of these works developed locally, some indicate that Philippine craftsmen had been exposed to objects from beyond their borders through the robust cultural connections and maritime trade in Southeast Asia during what was an early Asian economic boom.The Philippine archipelago of over 7,000 islands lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean in the region off the Asian mainland known as Island Southeast Asia. During the time when artists and craftsmen created the works in this exhibition, mariners, merchants, missionaries, and emissaries plied the waters connecting the tropical isles to distant lands including China and India. Monsoon winds dictated the comings and goings of merchant shipsthe time of year they docked, how long they stayed, and when they set sail. Port settlements near protected coves such as ancient Butuan by the mouth of the Agusan River where it empties into Butuan Bay in northeastern Mindanao attracted ships and sailors seeking refuge from the strong southwest winds that blew from May to November. Some of these merchant ships traded for the natural resources of what early Indian texts refer to as Survarnadvipa, or Islands of Gold, a geographic place name that scholars believe refers to the islands of Southeast Asia, including Sumatra in Indonesia and nearby Mindanao and Luzon in the Philippines.The Philippines has the second largest gold deposit in the world. The works on view herefrom tiny gold tweezers to fabulous pieces of jewelryreveal that these natural resources were readily exploited by the local people between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. While the diverse objects offer clues about those who produced and used them, future finds will hopefully provide further information about the once flourishing but now lost cultures that created these sophisticated treasures.Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdomsis organized by Asia Society, New York, and Ayala Museum, Philippines.Florina H. Capistrano-Baker, Consulting Curator, Ayala MuseumAdriana Proser, John H. Foster Senior Curator for Traditional Asian Art, Asia Society

Encounters with Early Asian GoldA symposium on the role of gold in trade and culture in pre-colonial Asia

Large ear ornaments with stylized fruit and bud motif. Butuan, Agusan del Norte province. Gold. 3 3/16 x 3 9/16 in. (8.1 x 9.1 cm); 3 3/8 x 2 5/8 in. (8.5 x 6.6 cm). Ayala Museum, 77.5022ab. Photography by Neal Oshima, image courtesy of Ayala MuseumHeld in conjunction with the exhibition,Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdomsthis symposium features new scholarship that reassesses our understanding of Asian peoples in the context of gold trade and movement. Noted historians, art historians, and archaeologists present papers and discuss findings that impact our understanding of cultural interaction in Asia between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, before the period of sustained contact with western colonial powers. Confirmed speakers and discussants at this one-day symposium include exhibition cocuratorsFlorina H. Capistrano-BakerandAdriana Proser;MJ Louise A. Bolunia, chief archaeologist at the National Museum, Philippines;John Guy, Florence and Herbert Irving Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art;Helen I. Jessup, independent scholar and President of Friends of Khmer Culture;Francois Louis, Associate Professor of Chinese Art and Material Culture at the Bard Graduate Center in New York;Amy G. Poster, Curator Emerita, Asian Art, Brooklyn Museum and Interim Consulting Gallery Director, Japan Society andCherubim Quizon, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Seton Hall University.For the complete scenario clickhere.SHOP AsiaStorefor the exhibition catalogue.Biographies of SpeakersMary Jane Louise A. Boluniaholds a Doctorate degree in Anthropology from the University of the Philippines Diliman, specializing in archaeology and prehistory. She is the officer-in-charge of the Archaeology Division of the National Museum of the Philippines, one of the research divisions of the National Museum. Part of Bolunia's research is on the participation of ancient Butuanon in the Southeast Asian maritime trade and exchange of goods and ideas which became part of her dissertation. Currently, she is the team leader excavating two balangays or ancient Butuan boats that crossed the South China Sea as early as the 8th century CE. She is also part of a team coordinating the acquisition of properties in Butuan to convert into a maritime heritage park; in partnership with the Butuan City government and Butuan Historical and Cultural Foundation. Bolunia is also doing research on the Spanish period shipyards as part of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade Project which is a multi-agency endeavor. She has been with the National Museum for more than two decades and has travelled around the country doing fieldwork as well as training young students in the rudiments of archaeological fieldwork.Florina H. Capistrano-Baker, co curator Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms, Consulting Curator, Ayala Museum. She received her PhD, MPhil, and MA from the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University. Director of the Ayala Museum for seven years from 2000 to 2006, Capistrano-Baker shepherded the museum to its new building in 2004, and played a key role in the transfer of the gold collection to the museum in 2006. She curated the permanent exhibition Gold of Ancestors at the Ayala Museum in 2008, and wrote the cataloguePhilippine Ancestral Goldin 2011. Capistrano-Baker is the recipient of numerous awards, including fellowships from Columbia University, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Asian Cultural Council, Ford Foundation, American Association of University Women, and the Getty Research Institute.John Guy, FSA, is the Florence and Herbert Irving Curator of the Arts of South and Southeast Asia at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and an elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, London. He was formerly Senior Curator of South Asia at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and has served on the Councils of the European Associations of South Asia and Southeast Asian Archaeology and various editorial boards. He has worked on a number of archaeological excavations, both land and maritime sites, and served as an advisor to UNESCO on historical sites in Southeast Asia.Guy has authored books on many aspects of Indian and Southeast Asian art, and numerous research papers. Major books includeOriental Trade Ceramics in South East Asia(1986),Ceramic Traditions of Southeast Asia(1989),Vietnamese Ceramics: A Separate Tradition(co-author 1997),Woven Cargoes. Indian Textiles in the East(1998; reprint 2009),La sculpture du Champa(co-author, Musee Guimet 2005),Indian Temple Sculpture(V&A /Abrams, 2007),Chola. Bronzes of Southern India(co-author Royal Academy 2007),The World of Kubilai Khan(co-curator MMA 2010),Shipwrecked. Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds(co-curator Freer-Sackler, 2010), Gods of Angkor. Khmer Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia(co-author, Freer-Sackler 2010),Philippine Ancestral Gold(co-author, Manila, Ayala Museum 2011),Wonder of the Age: Master Painters of India(co-author, MMA/Yale 2011), Bronzes (co-author, London, Royal Academy 2012),Interwoven Globe. The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800(co-author, MMA/Yale 2013),Lost Kingdoms. Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia(MMA/Yale 2014). He has curated and co-curated many exhibitions, including more recently Wonder of the Age: Master Painters of India (MMA 2011), Cambodian Rattan: The Sculpture of Sopheap Pich (MMA 2013), Interwoven Globe. The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800 (MMA 2013) and Lost Kingdoms. Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia, 5th to 8th Century (MMA 2014).Helen I. Jessupis an independent scholar specializing in the art and architecture of Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia and Indonesia. She has curated several exhibitions, including Sculpture of Angkor and Ancient Cambodia, Millennium of Glory for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (1997), and "Court Arts of Indonesia" for the Asia Society and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (1990) and was the editor and author of the accompanying catalogues. In addition she wroteArt and Architecture of Cambodiafor the World of Art series (2004),Masterpieces of the National Museum of Cambodia(2006),Temples of Cambodia, the Heart of Angkor(2012) and is currently writingAngkor and Beyond, (River Books), about the outlying temples of Cambodia. Born in Australia, Jessups BA is from Melbourne University, and her MA and PhD are from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London University. She has taught at Georgetown University (Washington, DC), the Australian National University (Canberra) and Chulalongkorn University (Bangkok) and is currently an Associate Fellow of Saybrook College, Yale University. She has lectured in the United States, Britain, The Netherlands, Thailand, Indonesia, France and Australia. Jessups studies have also included Dutch colonial architecture, Indonesian art and architecture, and Australian art and literature. She is the founding President of Friends of Khmer Culture and also serves on the boards of The United States-Indonesia Society and the American Friends of the National Gallery of Australia.Franois Louisis an Associate Professor of Chinese Art and Material Culture at the Bard Graduate Center in New York. From 20022008 he also served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Artibus Asiae. He obtained his doctorate in Chinese Art History from the University of Zurich. Dr. Louis has published widely on ancient and medieval Chinese art and design history, including a book on goldsmithing in medieval China. Recent publications include co-edited volumes on Antiquarianism and Intellectual Life in Europe and China, 15001800 (2012), andPerspectives on the Liao(2013). He is currently working on two book projects: one is tentatively calledDynastic Possessions: The Material Culture of the Early Kitan Elite, which evaluates recent archaeological finds from the Liao dynasty (9071125) in northern China. The other uses a tenth-century illustrated book to examine objects used in the Confucian state cult in medieval China.Cherubim Quizonis Associate Professor of Anthropology at Seton Hall University and chair of the Philippine Studies Group, Association for Asian Studies. Her research relates current textile traditions of the Bagobo and related Mindanao groups to early 20th century museum data, helping to more rigorously link the Philippine textile record to that of SE Asia and the Pacific. She co-edited an influential centenary volume on the display of Filipinos at the St Louis Worlds fair, emphasizing the viewpoint of the displayed and their descendants (Philippine Studies, 2004). As guest curator for the UCLA-Fowler Museums innovative exhibition Weavers Stories of Island Southeast Asia (2009-2012), she directed one of eight videos that featured weavers from Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor and the Philippines, and examined how the late weaver Lang Dulay expressed and transcended her individuality, her Tboli identity, and appreciation of a global episteme.Dr. Quizons work continues to link past and present, from the implications of an unspun thread, abaca, on the broader question of Austronesian loom and fiber technology (in Benitez-JohannotsPaths of Origins, 2012), to the ironies of how an identity term, lmad, used in Mindanao, erases identity markers while obscuring womens work in dressing chiefly men (Humanities Diliman, 2012). Most recently, she argued for the agency, efficacy and ecological embeddedness of textile arts in polyethnic contexts (in de Monbrison and AlvinasPhilippines, Archipel des changes, 2013), and is currently exploring how archaeological textiles of unspun fiber can be analyzed through the lens of current textile practices.Amy G. Poster(moderator) is an independent curator of Asian Art and a consultant specializing in museum strategic planning. She is Curator Emerita of Asian Art at the Brooklyn Museum, where she was Curator and Chair of the Asian Art Department from 1989 to 2006. Poster has curated numerous special exhibitions and has authored scholarly publications on topics as wide-ranging as South Asian painting, the history collecting Asian art in America, as well as the seminal reference on Indian terra-cotta sculpture. In recent years, she has served as Consultant on Asian Art at the Ringling Museum, Sarasota, FL (2007-2009), and as Mellon Curator-At-Large for the Indianapolis Museum of Art (2012-2013), where she developed a strategic plan for their South Asian Art collections. Her most recent special exhibition, China Then and Now, opened at the Nassau County Museum of Art in November 2014. Most recently, Poster has been appointed as Interim Consulting Gallery Director of the Japan Society, New York. She presently serves on numerous art advisory committees, including the Islamic Art Visiting Committee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rubin Museum of Art Board of Trustees (Board Member), the Art Advisory Committee of Olana Historic Site, the Advisory Group of the Friends of Khmer Culture, Inc., and the Japanese Art Society of America (Vice-President).Adriana Proser, (moderator) co curator Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms, is John H. Foster Senior Curator of Traditional Asian Art at Asia Society Museum in New York. A specialist in Chinese art, she has organized and co-organized over 40 exhibitions featuring diverse works from all over Asia, including the exhibition Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art. Proser has also coordinated and served as in-house curator for international loan exhibitions such as The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara and Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China's Liao Empire for Asia Society Museum. She was editor and contributor for the cataloguePilgrimage and Buddhist Art(Asia Society Museum and Yale University Press, 2010). Proser received her Ph.D. in Chinese art and archaeology from Columbia University. She was formerly Assistant Curator of East Asian Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and has taught East Asian Art History at the University of Pennsylvania, Loyola College in Maryland, and Columbia University.

Re-collecting a Forgotten Past: Traces of Hindu-Buddhist Art in the Precolonial PhilippinesMembers-Only Exhibition Opening Lecture

Caste cord. Ca. 10th13th century. Gold. 59 1/16 in. (150 cm). Ayala Museum, 81.5186. Photography by Neal Oshima, image courtesy of Ayala Museum.Join co-curator ofPhilippine Gold: Treasures from Forgotten Kingdoms,Florina H. Capistrano-Bakerfor an insightful talk on the origins of these extraordinary objects, from the pre-colonial era of the Philippines, which are on view in the United States for the first time. Dr. Capistrano-Baker is Consulting Curator, Ayala Museum.Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms11 September 2015 - 3 January 2016This exhibition of more than 100 gold objects focuses on the wealth of the golden age of Butuan (pronounced boot wan), a polity on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao that rose to commercial prominence in the tenth century and declined in the thirteenth century.Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdomsis organized by Asia Society, New York, and Ayala Museum, Philippines. The exhibition is cocurated by Florina H. Capistrano-Baker, Consulting Curator, Ayala Museum, and Adriana Proser, John H. Foster Senior Curator for Traditional Asian Art, Asia Society.

Giyera: War in the Eyes of Maestro Amorsolo

Ayala Museum presentsGIYERAWAR IN THE EYES OF MAESTRO AMORSOLO4 August to 11 October 2015Ground Floor GalleryIn commemoration of the70thanniversary of the Battle of Manila, Ayala Museum presents this exhibition of Fernando Amorsolo paintings from the war years, on loan from several public and private collections.Fernando C. Amorsolo (1892 1972), who received the first National Artist Award in the Philippines, was a first-person witness to the everyday sites, scenes, and events that took place in Manila during World War II. Afraid for the safety of his family, he sent them to a rented house on Raon Street while he remained in their home on Azcarraga Street. From his window, he saw and experienced the destruction and brutality of war.With pencil, pen, and paintbrush, the Maestro, how his students and other artists addressed him, was able to depict and create art out of the chaos of war. Amorsolo channeled the harrowing moments into creative energy and captured history as it unfolded before his eyes. The Maestro possessed a vivid visual memory and was able to re-create specific battle scenes in various media throughout the war years (1941 to 1945). The act of repeating various scenes of the tragic war polished the painters skills both artistically and technically. On record, Amorsolo had produced voluminous pencil sketches and drawings of the war protagonists, both local and foreign, as well as of ordinary folk, who were the victims of the conflict.

OpenSpace: Bangaw by Leeroy New

Ayala Museum presentsOPENSPACEBangawby Leeroy NewLeeroy NewBangaw2015Assorted plastic food covers, metal frame, plastic mesh, cable tiesVariable sizeThis whimsical installation is especially commissioned for Ayala MuseumsOpenSpacepublic installation art program. It is made up of numerous plastic covers used in typical Filipino households to protect food from flies and pests. The materials were sourced from Divisoria, Metro Manilas popular wholesale haven. Together, these covers ironically form the shape of a multicolouredbangaw(Tagalog word for blowfly).Perched on the museums fountain, the piece may be commenting on the state of museums in the Philippines. A photo of the work posted on the artists Instagram account was accompanied by the question posed by Leeroy New himself:Totoo nga bang nilalangaw ang atingmga museo?(Is it true that our museums are left to the flies?)Leeroy New(b. 1986) is a Filipino visual artist and designer who graduated from Philippine High School for the Arts and from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. His works often intertwine the visual arts with fashion, film, and theater, as he takes his inspiration from mythology, film, video games, and other artists. He has been recognized and awarded consistently throughout his career, winning the grand prize for Sculpture in the 2005 Metrobank Awards, being a recipient of the 2009 Ateneo Art Awards, and chosen as one of the 2012 Thirteen Artists Awardees of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Leeroy New has been showcased internationally in Singapore, Japan, Australia and in American pop culture, as one of his creations was commissioned for a Lady Gaga music video.

Diorama Augmented Reality Guides

Ayala Museum, in partnership with The Harish and Johnsen Group, takes one more step into the digital age by introducing a dynamic 3D Augmented Reality (AR) feature to supplement its popularDiorama Experience of Philippine Historyexhibition.The dioramas, depicting iconic scenes in Philippine history from the pre-colonial period to self-determination, are part of the inaugural exhibition of Ayala Museum when it opened in 1974. They were designed to be a comprehensive visual narrative of the story of the Philippine people in a way that compresses extensive research on the events, architecture, costumes, technologies and topographies of the times they represent.An iconic part of childhood for many a Filipino thanks to school tours and family visits to the museum, the Dioramas were envisioned to be a compelling way to tell the rich history of our country, described Mariles Gustilo, Senior Director for Arts and Culture of Ayala Foundation, Inc.Through the new AR feature conceptualized, designed and developed by Harish & Johnsen, further supported by Globe, Avida Land, and Power Mac Center, users can now rent special AR units in Ayala Museum to use within theDiorama Experience of Philippine Historyexhibition. When the device is placed in front of one of eighteen AR-ready dioramas, these historic scenes will be brought to life by exciting animations, realistic sound effects, and voice narrations.Weve given the Diorama Exhibit a whole new experience, not only by combining but actually bridging the gap between traditional arts and sophisticated science. We are not just revolutionizing the experience but we are actually witnessing evolution unwrap itself right before our very eyes, at the palm of our hands literally. And it is here at the museum. said Shirah Ragos Segarra, Vice President of The Harish & Johnsen Group.It is the first 3D-on-3D augmented reality feature offered by a museum in the Philippines and Asia.Today, with our partnership with Harish & Johnsen and the use of the fascinating technology of Augmented Reality, I am pleased that we have been able to contemporize [the dioramas] and so continue to fulfill our mandate for generations to come, mentioned Gustilo.We are proud and honored to share with Ayala Museum one of our core digital solutions, said Jhoanna Feliz Serrano, President & Marketing Director of The Harish & Johnsen Group. We hope the new Diorama Experience in Augmented Reality can strengthen the Filipinos appetite in imbibing our history, culture and nationalism.More than just claiming a pioneering stance in both platform technology and art category, the Ayala Museum and The Harish & Johnsen Group partnership purports to create a collaborative fusion of the arts with the evolving digital technology era, added Serrano.Production ofThe Diorama Experienceaugmented reality application was further made possible by the support of brands aligned with the objectives of the project. Globe saw this rich experienceas a unique and meaningful way of catering to the digital and increasingly mobile lifestyle of its subscribers, one thats espoused by itsGlobemyLifestyle Plan.Likewise, Avida Land believes that advocating these one of a kind experiences with art, Philippine history and culture will ultimately add to the vibrant lifestyle that comes with residing in any of its properties, specifically within Makati for its partnerships with Ayala Museum.The new dynamic 3D augmented reality feature was publicly launched on June 12, 2015 during the 117thanniversary of Philippine Independence. During the day of the event, Globe postpaid subscribers were treated with free Ayala Museum admission and were able to download a free version of the AR application, while prepaid users were afforded huge discounts in entrance fees. Avida Land also participated in the public launch by providing free AR-ready devices for guests to try out the museums latest mobile feature.Visitors may now rent units for Php 95 at the Ayala Museum ticket counter to try the augmented reality feature.Learn more about the event and features of the project atwww.ayalamuseum.harishandjohnsen.comAyala Museum regularly introduces new multimedia features to sustain and renew interest in the exhibition which has since been enjoyed by more than a million museum visitors. In 2004, an audio visual presentation on Martial Law and the EDSA People Power was added to the exhibition to continue its historical timeline. Updated audio guides were released in 2009, which have been upgraded to iTouch units through the generous donation of Power Mac Center in 2013. They have donated additional gadgets specifically to use for Ayala Museums augmented reality feature this year.

Beautiful Handicrafts of Tohoku, Japan

Ayala Museum and The JapanFoundation, Manila presentThe Japan Foundation Traveling ExhibitionBeautiful Handicrafts of Tohoku, JapanCeramics | Lacquerware | Textiles | Baskets | Metalwork | Wood craftsJune 16 July 26, 2015Ground Floor GalleryThe Japan Foundation, Manila (JFM), in partnership with Ayala Museum and with support from JT International (Philippines) Inc., commemorates the2011Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunamiwith a traveling exhibition that recognizes the traditional handicrafts of the region steadfastly recovering from the calamity.On exhibition are around 70 works that best exemplify the craftsmens high level of skill in basket weaving, lacquerware, pottery, embroidery, and wood crafts. Some of the curated works includetsugarulacquerware andkoginembroidery from Aomori prefecture;Mage wappa(bent woodwork) andkaba zaiku(bark craftsmanship) from Akita prefecture;E-rosoku(decorated candles) and cloth decorated usingtsutsugakidyeing technique from Fukushima prefecture.The traveling exhibition also features the latemingei(folk craft) movement artists who were not necessarily from the Tohoku region but whose works were significantly influenced by the traditional Tohoku handicrafts. There are wood block prints byShiko Munakata, screens and textiles byKeisuke Serizawa, and ceramics byShoji HamadaandKanjiro Kawai. Serizawa and Hamada were both designated asHolder of Important Intangible Cultural Propertyby the Japanese government.

Aiko Tezuka: Unraveling, Restoring

Ayala Museum and Galerie Michael Janssen presentAiko TezukaUnraveling, RestoringJune 9 July 19,2015Third Floor Exhibition HallAyala Museum, in partnership with Galerie Michael Janssen Singapore, presents the unique exhibitionAiko Tezuka: Unraveling, Restoringfrom June 9 to July 19, 2015 at the Ayala Museum Third Floor Multi-purpose Hall.Her workweaves a timeless narrative into fabrics, based on ancient Japanese, Indian, and Indonesian cultures, stories and symbols, ensuring that the presence of her work will be felt far beyond her time. Tezukas unique treatment offabrics melds together the old world with the familiar and contemporary. Currently based in Berlin, the artist has held solo exhibitions in Singapore, Hong Kong and Germany. Her recent works have been exhibited inHermes, SingaporeandArt Basel, Hong Kong, some of which are on display inUnraveling, Restoring.Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1976, Aiko Tezuka was trained in painting, having graduated from Musashino Art University in Tokyo in 2001, and then completing a Masters Degree in Painting at the same school in 2005. She then moved to Kyoto to complete her PhD, and to teach painting there until 2009. However, Tezuka gradually shifted to working primarily with textiles because [she] could not find a new way to work in painting.Her intricate work consists of the deconstruction of everyday material, fabrics that she either finds or designs herself, which she then unravels and unpicks at specific areas to tell her story. According to the artist, I am interested in loosening up these invisible narratives to unravel forgotten histories or discover new plotlines. Pervading my creative processes are techniques and rules that I have developed over time: untying and unwinding fabric, revealing its structure, juxtaposing time and place, to name but a few. I do not cut or paste, or add or subtract matter. By unravelling and recomposing the structures and stories hidden within the material, I try to capture overflowing time and the continuous process of metamorphosis. (Aiko Tezuka, Berlin, January 2003)Tezuka also spends plenty of time in Tilburg, Holland, where she has found a textile factory with a specialty loom that can create the types of fabrics she needs, with the designs that she creates.Aiko Tezukas works demonstrate the artists concept of globalization and illustrate her Japanese roots combined with her westward understanding of art. Her ability to weave history into her fabrics enables her to mix cultures, stories, symbols, East and West all into a timeless narrative for the viewer to decipher, ensuring that the presence of her work will be felt far beyond her time.

From Citadel to City

Ayala Museum presentsFrom Citadel to CityJuan Luna paintings and 19th-century prints from the BPI CollectionOpens May 26, 2015Third Floor GalleriesThe exhibition features a selection from the collection of the Bank of the Philippine Islands on long-term loan to the Ayala Museum. The display of Juan Luna paintings and 19th-century prints chronicle the history of Manila from palisaded fort to port city and reflect on the ideas and ideals of the young nation at the end of the Spanish colonial period.The imperial gaze of Spanish colonizers and other European travellers reveal the prospect and promise of Manila for both commercial and conversion purposes. The various engravings depict the walled city ofIntramurosand its environs and provide a pictorial chronicle of Manila from palisaded fort to a bustling port city.When displayed in juxtaposition with the later paintings of workers and urban dwellers in Madrid and Paris by Juan Luna, the concept of an urbancenteris tempered with a social realist sensibility and cosmopolitan perspective, culminating in a revolution of ideas and ideals that paved the way for the moderncity of Manila.

Ronald Ventura: Big and SmallAyala Museum welcomes the summer season with a new exhibition entitledRonald Ventura: Big and Small, Joel Mendez, MD Collection, featuring early works by the regions most sought-after contemporary artist today.Considered by many to be the most exciting artist to emerge from the Philippines in the beginning of the 21stcenturya view intensified after his stately paintingGraygroundfetched a record-breaking 1.1 million USD at the 2011 Sothebys auction in Hong KongVentura is first and foremost admired for his technical mastery of the classical human figure.

The works featured inBig and Smallinclude over a hundred male and female nude paintings and anatomical studies dating as early as 1998 until the mid-2000s from the collection of physician and gallery owner Joel Mendez, MD. Venturas dramatization of the human form is apparent regardless of the size of his canvas, hence the title of exhibition.Marking a very early period in Venturas career, the collection, in the truest sense, strips his art off its characteristic potpourri of imagery and reveals what lies at its very foundation: the human body and its language. Art critic Alice Guillermo makes note of this in the bookRealities: Ronald Venturawhen she said the basis of his art is his mastery of anatomy, so that having gone through the entire gamut of male and female nudes in all postures, stances, and attitudes, he has assumed the capability of distorting the human body, clothed or unclothed, or of morphing it in the most unexpected ways.Ronald Ventura: Big and Small, Joel Mendez, MD Collectionis presented under Ayala MuseumsCollector Seriesexhibition program, which aims to expand the understanding and appreciation of local and international art by providing the opportunity to view artworks that are usually not seen in public, especially a body of work of a single artist whom a collector admires.

OpenSpace: Toym Imao

Beginning 12 May, 2015Ayala Museum PlazaAyala Museum is going beyond the walls of its galleries to launchOpenSpace, the new series of outdoor exhibition area at the Museum Plaza. Ayala Museum senior curator Ditas Samson describes OpenSpace a public site for dialogue and interaction with contemporary art and artists.To launch OpenSpace, Ayala Museum has invited celebrated artist and sculptor Toym Imao to displayLast, Lost, Lust for Four Forgotten Episodes; acarroza-like art installation inspired by his childhood love for Japanese animation and memory during the Martial Law years.Toym Imao was born in 1968, just four years before President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in the country. There were few viewing options in 1970s television, having only five broadcast channels to choose from. During this time, Toym and his siblings were avid fans of weekly Japanese cartoons, the super robot seriesVoltes VandMazinger Z. However, with only four episodes left before the finale ofVoltes V,the cartoons were banned from broadcast due to its alleged excessive violence, leaving its young fans devastated and distraught.Now, almost four decades later, Toym used that initial sting of anger experienced during the Marcos years to create this installation work. This art installation was born out of the childhood memory and experience of the artist, shaped and formed with academic training in architecture and fine arts, harnessed with the rigor of professional practice, and inspired by the heroes and ideals of history, and the character and gravitas of public art.Toym Imao is multi-media visual artist. He is a sculptor (brass, bronze and wood), painter, writer and filmmaker. He first trained in the arts under Philippine National Artists for the Visual Arts Napoleon V. Abueva and Abdulmari Asia Imao (his father.) His formal training came from the University of the Philippines (Architecture) and Maryland Institute College of Art (Sculpture). He studied film under premier Philippine director Marilou Diaz-Abaya. He credits his mentor National Artist for Literature Alejandro R. Roces for his passion for Philippine history and culture.Last, Lost, Lust for Four Forgotten Episodes, supported by Ayala Corporation, Ayala Land, Inc., Ayala Foundation, Inc., Ayala Center Estate Association, and LG Electronics Philippines, will be on display at the Museum Plaza until June 15, 2015.OpenSpace will follow up with another Toym Imao creation later this year, and will continue to host compelling contemporary works by Filipino artists.

Common Threads

Ayala Museum and The Princes School of Traditional ArtspresentCommon ThreadsIndigenous Philippine Textiles and the Language of Traditional Art14 May 2015 | 3:00 PMSecond Floor, Ayala MuseumJoin us for an afternoon withDr. Patricia Aranetaas she shares her learnings from her research among the Blaan and Tboli communities in Saranggani province, with special focus on traditional textiles as living art. As Programme Outreach Director of the Princes School of Traditional Arts in London, Dr. Araneta will share her insights on how important the understanding and appreciation of the principles of design are in promoting and sustaining the traditional arts and our cultural heritage.

Sabor a Ming: Eduardo OlbsAyala Museum, in collaboration withSilverlens Galleries, opens 2015 withSaborA Ming: Eduardo Olbs Ming design series, an exhibition featuring sculptural works of the Mexico-based artist and furniture designer.The series was inspired in homage to a lifelong admiration of a particular period of excellence in Chinese cultural history, says Eduardo Olbs (born in 1951, Manila). The exhibitionthe title of which translates to Ming flavorfeatures architectural benches, consul chairs, high tables, writing desks and other forms of functional art.I wanted to celebrate the wonderful furniture of the Ming Dynasty, the artist explains, the strong clean lines, the elegance of the joinery, the connoisseurship of craftsmenevinced in the woods they chosethe wisdom of their craft, and in particular, the subtlety of the works seeming simplicity.The exhibition does not intend, however, to reproduce period pieces, but rather, manifests the artists interpretation of what he believes to be the essence of Ming aesthetic.Eduardo Olbs body of work ranges from purely artistic to beautiful functional sculpture. He began as an apprentice in woodwork more than 40 years ago then later began to master stone carving in Mexico, where he now resides.His fountains, sculptures, and furniture are in some of the best private collections in Mexico, and his work has been shown in galleries and museums in Mexico City, LA, Manila and Madrid.Sabor a Mingwill run from 27 January to 1 March, 2015 at the Ayala Museum Ground Floor Gallery. For more information, call (632) 759 82 88 or emailhello@ayalamuseum.org.

IMAGE DETAILS.Eduardo Olbs.Chinese Consul Chair II(2010). Santo Tomas marble and tindalo wood.85 x 64 x 55 cm.

Cesar Legaspi: The Brave Modern

Ayala Museum opens December with a new major exhibition featuring the works of a Philippine master of Cubism and National Artist in the Visual Arts for Painting, Cesar Legaspi, under its programImages of Nation.Cesar Legaspi: The Brave Modernincludes the artists works from the pre-war period, which show lessons in Cubism; to the ascendancy of Neo-Realism in the 1950s and 1960s; and select large-scale works from the 1970s to the 1980s. The exhibition will run from December 2, 2014 to April 26, 2015, at the Third Floor Gallery of Ayala Museum.The exhibition includes select paintings from the Ateneo Art Gallery, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Kalaw Ledesma Foundation, Inc., Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center, UCPB, and from the private collections of Felix and Grace Ang, Louie and Liza Bate, National Ben Cabrera and Annie Sarthou, Stanley and Abby Chan, Senator Nikki M.L. Coseteng, Silvana Diaz, Dr. Ambeth Ocampo, Lawrence Ong, Jonathan and Stella Que, Manuel and Alice Que, Mario and Mimi Que, Paulino and Hetty Que, Mikee and Sheila Romero, and Joanne Young.In the halcyon and heady days in pre-war Philippines, a group of young artists were paving the way to a brave new world of modern art. Learning from the acknowledged Father of Modern Art, Victorio Edades, the young artists, who called themselves the Thirteen Moderns, which included Cesar Legaspi, were eager in finding new ways of visual expression.The work of Cesar Legaspi shows the progression and development of Philippine painting in the twentieth centuryfrom the rigorous intellectualism of Cubism in his early paintings to the harmonious unity of stylized figuration and tropical chromaticism at the peak of Neo-Realism.His fragmented pictorial style, intense color, and stark social commentary contributed significantly to the acceptance of Philippine modern art, earning his place in the pantheon of Filipino National Artists.

Graven Images: 1964 2014, Pandy Aviado Fifty Years of Printmaking

Ayala Museum, in partnership with Avellana Art Gallery and Crucible Gallery, presents the exhibitionGraven Images: 1964 -2014, Pandy Aviado, 50 Years of Printmaking, which opens on November 25, 2014 at its Ground Floor Gallery.This exhibition features a broad array of graphic images from an artistic output in a span of fifty years. Included are 161 prints; over a hundred are from the artists personal collection, supplemented with loans from cultural institutions and private lenders. The majority of prints are in the artists favored technique of etching, but the exhibition also displays works woodcuts, rubbercuts, lithography, as well as rare prints done by solar etching and epoxy relief.Graven Images: 1964 2014attempts to group his prints thematically. Like his mentors Manuel Rodriguez Sr. and Araceli Dans, the work of Aviado was never totally abstract but persisted on creating images from history, his personal world, popular culture, and classical myths on stone and copper.Virgillio Pandy Aviado (born 1944) first saw prints as a college student at the Ateneo de Manila University. He was a member of the Ateneo Arts Club and was a frequent visitor at the Ateneo Art Gallery. Aviado remembers memorizing Ateneos print collection, which became his first real education in the art of printmaking.Aviado pursued and perfected his creative and technical skills in printmaking during his college years. He arranged to have sessions at the print workshop of Rodriguez called the Contemporary Graphic Arts Workshop. Aviado first worked on stone lithography, then proceeded to the etching press. He eventually had his own printing press fabricated from spare parts found in a junk shop and set his own studio workshop in his parents home. After joining and winning art competitions and doing both solo and group exhibitions, Aviado obtained further training and specialization in etching and lithography in Madrid and Paris.Pandy Aviado is now one of the countrys staunch champions of the graphic medium and the leading practitioner of the art of fine print.

Earth Manual Project

The Japan Foundation, Manila, in partnership with Ayala Museum, is proud to present the traveling exhibitionEarth Manual Projecton the third floor gallery of Ayala Museum from November 8 to December 7, 2014.An initiative of KIITO (Design and Creative Center Kobe),Earth Manual Projectencourages a country of frequent natural disasters, such as the Philippines, to also become a country of excellent disaster preparedness. The exhibitions maiden run happened last year in Kobe, Japan, wherein 23 projects from different Asian countries showcased activities centered on disaster risk reduction and post-disaster relief and recovery.The Manila run of the exhibition includes 11 projects that tackle earthquake, typhoon and flood:Iza! Kaeru Caravan!, Jishin ITSUMO Project and Red Bear Survival Campby NPO Plus Arts (Japan),Design for Floodby Thailand Creative and Design Center (Thailand),Climate School Projectby Dakila (Philippines),The Filipino Spirit is Waterproofby Ayala Museum (Philippines),Paper Partition Systemby Shigeru Ban (Japan),RooSuFlood: Knowledge to Fight Floodby RooSuFlood (Thailand),Lost Homes Model Restoration Projectby Osamu Tsukihashi (Japan),Core House: Extensive Live Post Earthquakeby Ikaputra (Indonesia),FLOATING WOMBS: A healing project through the arts heARTSby Alma Quinto (Philippines) andForms of Recollectionby Plus63 Design Co. (Philippines).The exhibition is an opportunity for visitors to make their own disaster preparedness manual based on the presented projects, as well as for audience to hear stories and expertise from overseas creators. Talks are slated on the first two Saturdays, with speakers Osamu Tsukihashi ofLost Homes Model Restoration Projecton November 8; and Hirokazu Nagata of NPO Plus Arts, Ruttikorn Vittikorn of Club Creative Co. Ltd., and Dan Matutina of Plus63 Design Co. on November 15.After Manila, the exhibition will travel to Legazpi, Albay and Bohol in the first quarter of 2015.Earth Manual Projectis also made possible through the support of KIITO, NPO Plus Arts, AIG, Muji, Yoshinoya, Plus63 Design Co., Capitol University and the Ateneo de Manila University, Japanese Studies Program.

Triumph of Philippine Art Homecoming

After exhibiting the works of todays renowned Filipino visual artists at two university museums in the USA, the showTriumph of Philippine Artwill hold its homecoming at the Ayala Museum this July.Triumphfirst opened at the George Segal Gallery of Montclair State University in New Jersey on September 21, 2013. Curated by the gallerys Philippine-born Director, M. Teresa Lapid Rodriguez, the exhibition is inspired by our long history of socio-economic/political struggles and the Philippines search for a national identity. This unique retrospective is the first exhibit in America to ever specifically use artwork to tell the nations political story, beginning with the oppression of the martial law period (1972-1986), leading up to the 1986 non-violent revolution that surprised the world and ultimately resulting in the vibrant and robust art of a free society at the turn of the 21stcentury.Featured in the exhibition are works of Leo Abaya, Benedicto BenCab Cabrera, Buen Calubayan, Ernest Concepcion, Mideo Cruz, Imelda Cajipe-Endaya, Brenda Fajardo, Karen Ocampo Flores, Michael Rodriguez Gomez, Gregory Raymond Halili, Mark Orozco Justiniani, Julie Lluch, Athena Santos Magcase-Lopez, Racquel De Loyola, Renan Ortiz, Christina Quisumbing Ramilo, Mark Salvatus and Pablo Baen Santos.Triumph of Philippine Artthen traveled to the West Coast and was hosted by the Fisher Museum of Art, University of Southern California, CA, from February 6 to April 13, 2014. The homecoming show at Ayala Museum will run from July 22 to August 31, 2014 at its Third Floor Glass Lane and Multi-purpose Hall.

Mexico: Fantastic Identity

Ayala Museum, in partnership with the FEMSA Collection and Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines, are honored to present the exhibitionMexico: Fantastic Identity, 20th Century Masterpieces, FEMSA Collection.The show includes Mexican artworks starting form the European experience of the early 20th century through the vanguard movements and schools; and artists portraits captured by renowned photographers.Jana Benitez: Life ForceNew Frontiersis an exhibition program of Ayala Museum that provides the space and opportunity for the concept, production, and documentation of fresh and innovative issues and developments in Philippine contemporary work and provides a venue for its discourse and dialogue. The work featured and manner of presentation offer alternative perspectives to expand the museum exhibition experience. In 2010,New Frontiersintroduced Olivia dAboville, whose art installation fused the tradition of craftsmanship with the contemporary use of utilitarian objects.For theNew Frontiersexhibition offering in 2014, Ayala Museum will display new work byJana Benitez. Returning to the museum where she had her first solo exhibition as a twelve-year old artist prodigy in 1998, Benitez will unveil thirty-five new large-scale paintings. The exhibition display will incorporate the thinking and the creating that goes into the production of art. Consisting of random thoughts, sporadic notes, and visual references of the artist as she conjures imagery, the museum installation and environment juxtapose graphically both concept and process into backdrop and frame of the finished paintings to provide a comprehensive and compelling art encounter.Journey into Space: The Visual Odyssey of Fernando Zobel

Ayala Museum will present a major exhibitionJourney into Space: The Visual Odyssey of Fernando Zobel, at its Third Floor Galleries. To span from the artists early output in the 1950s until his last years in the early 1980s, paintings, drawings, prints and photographs from the Ayala Museum collection and several private collectors will show the pictorial metamorphosis from stylized figurative paintings to works of total abstraction or non-objectivism.The life and career of Fernando Zobel (1924-1984) had traversed a large, geographical areafrom the Philippines to the United States and Spain. Described as a transnational artist, he felt at home and thrived in any country. Zobel was also pulled in several different directionsto Manila where he was a pioneer in the modern art movement, especially in non-objectivism; to Boston and Providence in the United States where he enjoyed the intellectual stimulation within his circle of friends who were artists and writers; and to Madrid, in the company of Spanish artists at the ascendancy of Spanish abstract painting. Ultimately, Zobel described himself as someone who lives in museums and is happiest when surrounded by books and paintings. His world was the history of art.The exhibition will serve as a visual walkthrough of Zobels transition from a more figurative style to his signature meditative, harmonious abstract works, composed primarily of calligraphic lines, gradients and even the positive use of space.Journey into Space: The Visual Odyssey of Fernando Zobel, will be on display on the 3F Galleries of Ayala Museum from July 1 to October 5, 2014. This show is a long-awaited follow-up to Ayala Museums 2009 exhibitionFernando Zobel in the 1950s: the Formative Years.

Museum Collections Make Connections

Together with the rest of the world, Ayala Museum is one in the celebration of International Museum Day held every 18th of May of every year.2014 marks the 36th year of the establishment of INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM DAY around the world. IN line with this years celebration, Ayala Museum offers a special exhibition of selected objects from the museums permanent collection to dramatize the connections established among the various subcultures in the country across the islands of our archipelago. Filipinos celebrate the uniqueness and diversity of existing local cultures that are distinctly marked by the material culture of the regions. From what is worn, to what is used, eaten, worshipped, and/or engaged in, the differences in shapes, colour, forms, and complexities of all these sum up to the multiplicity and splendour of the Philippine culture as a whole.

Kisame: Visions of Heaven on Earth

CURRENT LOCATION:Museo Iloilo, Iloilo City, IloiloNEXT DESTINATION:To be announcedILOILO CITY, ILOILOFollowing the tragic destruction brought about the earthquake that hit Visayas in October 2013, Ayala Museum in Makati City is bringing around the nation an exhibit featuring photographs of ceiling paintings from colonial churches of the province of Bohol, which it originally staged in its Ground Floor Gallery last 2008.Entitled, Kisame: Visions of Heaven on Earth,this exhibit is curated by Fr. Milan Ted D. Torralba and Kenneth C. Esguerra and features photographs of Atty. Paquito Jojo N. Ochoa, Jr.Kisameis also presented in partnership with the Filipino Heritage Festival, Inc. and the Diocese of Tagbilaran, Bohol.Museo Iloilo will host the exhibition from July 30 to August 29, 2014.This is now the fifth stop ofKisamestraveling version, after being officially re-launched at the Greenbelt Fashion Walk last November 2013 as part of Tugon sa Bohol, an initiative of the Ayala group of companies for the restoration of Bohol churches. It was then on view at the Anita Magsaysay Ho Gallery in CASA San Miguel, San Antonio, Zambales (February-April 2014); at the Tam-awan Village Gallery, Baguio City (May-June 2014); at the Negros Museum, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental (May-July 2014).The exhibition was also previously re-staged at the Museum of the Filipino People (part of the National Museum complex) from June to September 2012 prior to the collapse of the Bohol churches.

Beyond Tobacco: Tabacalera, A bridge between the Philippines and Spain

Perhaps the most important company in the Philippines at the end of the nineteenth century and until mid-twentieth century and certainly the main tobacco company in the country, the Compaa General de Tabacos de Filipinas, more popularly known as Tabacalera, is still a stranger to many of us. However, having existed for more than a century, the history of Tabacalera plays a significant role in the economic history of the Philippines and in Philippine-Spanish relations.For the very first time, theEmbassy of Spain in the Philippines, in partnership with theAyala Museum, and with the sponsorship ofS & RpresentsBeyond Tobacco: Tabacalera. A bridge between the Philippines and Spain, a glimpse to the past through the history of Spains very first multinational company based in the Philippines in 1882. Curated by Prof. Martn Rodrigo, historian from the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain, the exhibit will be open to the public from theApril 21 until July 6 at the Ayala Museum in Makati City.The exhibit retraces the history of the company through a selection of images, maps, books, art objects and antiques that have been loaned by Spanish and Philippine institutions as well as private collectors. It showcases the luxury of its offices in Manila and Barcelona, the life in its haciendas in Ilocos, Tarlac and Negros; the variety of its businesses (tobacco, sugar, alcohol, maritime transport, etc.) and its cultural legacy; over a hundred years of history of a company that was able to survive deep historical, political and social changes both in the Philippines and Spain.Bringing together researchers from Spain and the PhilippinesThe history of Tabacalera, as large and complex as the society in which it happened to live, has attracted historians and researchers from Spain and the Philippines. The tobacco monopoly and the foundation of the Compaa General de Tabacos de Filipinas, the companys ability to adapt its business to the new political situation, its legendary cigar brand La Flor de la Isabela and its cultural legacy have, among others, been the subject of numerous studies.Given the historical and public interest in Tabacalera, we are preparing a catalogue that includes essays written by Filipino and Spanish historians, researchers and authors. Dr. Benito Legarda, Jr., John Silva, Mara Dolores Elizalde, Josep Mara Delgado, Saul Hofilea, Prof. Arcadio Malbarrosa, Gloria Cano and journalist Ramn Vilar have, among others, contributed to this catalogue that aims to bring closer the history of the company to a wider public with the analytical and conceptual rigor that we would expect from such renowned authors.In parallel with the exhibit, a series of talks and round table discussions will be held at the Ayala Museum to complete the whole picture of the companys history and impact not only on the Philippines but also on the rest of the world.Biblioteca Filipina:the cultural legacy of TabacaleraTheAparato Bibliogrfico de la Historia General de Filipinas, published by Philippinologist Wenceslao E. Retana in 1906, is considered one of the best historiographic work on the Philippine archipelago which wasfirst published in order to make the world aware of the great library -the richest and most important bibliographical collection on the Philippine Islands owned by the Compaa General de Tabacos de Filipinas.(Gloria Cano, Researcher University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona).In 1913 the collection was sold to the National Library of the Philippines, becoming the Librarys core Filipiniana collection.Thereafter, donations and purchases of other collections continued, including that of Jose Rizals, but there would be no other Filipiniana collection of the number, the breadth, and the vintage as that of the Tabacalera Collection.(John Silva, Executive Director Ortigas Library Foundation). Sadly, World War II and the Japanese occupation displaced the cultural legacy of Tabacalera, a collection that shows the important role that the company played in the Philippines, going farbeyond tobacco.

Biyaya ng Lupa: Amorsolos Landscapes of AbundanceFernando Amorsolo reached his creative peak as a painter during the American colonial period. This was a time of prosperity and abundance in the Philippine countryside, resulting from the countrys blooming export trade to the American market. By 1935, America was importing 83 percent of agricultural exports from the Philippines. Rice (palay) was the countrys most abundantly grown crop.This period was also a time of nationhood in counterpoint to American colonial rule. Amorsolo pioneered the use of impressionistic techniques and shimmering sunlight on pastoral landscapes in painting idyllic country scenes, beautiful maidens, and colorfully dressed peasants planting or harvesting rice. This national nostalgia for the Philippine rural life was also expressed in creative art forms like poetry, prose, music, dance, and fashion.By 1928, Amorsolo dominated the local art scene. He made a living out of painting commissioned portraits and genre pieces for select clients, while continuing visits to the countryside to paint his landscapes of abundance. The artist painted and sketched more than 10,000 pieces in his lifetime. His works remain significant in the development of Philippine art and the formation of Filipino notions of self and identityidealized images of the true Filipino that persist today.

Ai Weiwei: Baby FormulaAyala Museum, in partnership withGalerie Michael Janssenin Singapore, presents the installation Baby Formula by the controversial Chinese artistAi Weiweion its Third Floor Multi-purpose Hall from February 19 to March 16, 2014.Known for his politically charged art installations and vocal criticisms against the Chinese government, Ai Weiwei producedBaby Formulaas a reaction to the issue of childrens milk safety in China. Ai was also commenting on the restrictive trade policies implemented between the mainland and Hong Kong following the melamine-tainted milk scandal in 2008.Baby Formulawill be the artists first solo show in the Philippines. It consists of 1,815 tin cans of seven popular baby formula brands in the shape of the map of China. Panels showing images and text designs made out of visuals on baby formula cans and the artists blog writings accompany the installation.Prior to its Manila exhibition,Baby Formulafirst opened at the Sheung Wan Civic Centre in Hong Kong last May 2013. It traveled soon after to Galerie Michael Janssen in Singapore in August.

In City and Country: Elmer Borlongan 1992-2012The paintings of Elmer Borlongan representing two decades of his art will be exhibited in the upcoming Ayala Museum show,In City and Country: Elmer Borlongan, 1992-2012from February 18 to April 6, 2014.Presented in partnership withHSBC Premier,InCity and Countryreviews Borlongans body of work, mainly visual expressions of marginalized people in Philippine society. Using a social realist style, his abstract portraits of the Filipino situate subjects in their contexts and convey social issues of the day.Over 40 paintings gathered for the exhibition depict stories of survival and endurance amidst poverty and despaira testament to the strength of the Filipino spirit. Among the selection include those from the artists private collection, pieces that Borlongan personally chose to keep tucked in his residence.The schedule of its opening week was planned to coincide with the much-anticipated 2014 Art Fair Philippines, the premierplatform for artists and the countrys foremost galleries to showcase the best in modern and contemporary Philippine visual art.After graduating from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts with a degree in painting in 1987, Elmer Borlongan (or simply Emong to his friends and family) quickly established himself in the local art scene. In 1988 and 1992, he won second prize in the oil painting category of the Metrobank Annual National Painting Competition. He also received the Thirteen Artist Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1994.More recently, he received the Award for Continuing Excellence and Service (ACES) from Metrobank Foundation in 2004. He was also chosen, in 2006, to be a fellow for the Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development (CANVAS), a non-profit organization that works with young artists to promote Philippine art, culture and environment.Borlongan has held numerous solo exhibitions here and abroad. A number of his works now belong to the public collections of foreign museums such as Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan; Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan; Queensland Art Gallery, Australia; and Singapore Art Museum.

Constancio Bernardo 1913-2013November 28, 2013 March 2, 2014A retrospective exhibition of the work of Constancio Bernardo (1913-2003) marks the artists centennial at Ayala Museum, celebrating the artists life and work as well as revisiting a critical gap in the history of Philippine abstraction, heretofore unaddressed with either depth or breadth.Comprising a total of around 100 works, the exhibition provides the first opportunity to view the full range of Bernardos uvre from a career span of more than sixty years and highlights his canvases of abstraction, lauded by a number of critics from the 1950s onward as among the most important examples of Philippine modernist painting but increasingly overlooked as the decades passed. While included in a number of group exhibitions and the subject of 22 solo exhibitions including retrospectives at U.P. Baguio in 1969, at the Museum of Philippine Art in 1978, and at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1990, Bernardo remains to be on the margins of the annals of Philippine art history. Dedicated to his lifelong art practice and his teaching career at the University of the Philippines, Bernardo staunchly resisted the limelight, eschewing the social scene of the art world and opting to work tirelessly in his studio.Within abstraction, his paintings ranged from geometric abstraction to Op art and abstract expressionismeach series structured with a formal mastery and infused with a depth of feeling singularly his. Obdurate in his self-effacing silence in his lifetime, his body of work preserved by the Museo Bernardo Foundation Inc., and Constancio Ma. A. Bernardo Foundation prove to be the clearest evidence of enduring artistic expression.The centennial retrospective also tracks the artists evolution and transitions, revealing Bernardo to be the consummate artist who was accomplished at both figuration and abstraction. Early in his career, Bernardo was identified by Fernando Amorsolo as the student at the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts most likely to surpass the master himself. Upon being named the first Filipino Fulbright fellow in art in 1948, he continued his studies at Yale University and he spent his first two years honing his facility with classical drawing and painting techniques. A selection of around 12 works from the Yale years appears in this exhibition.Bernardos yearlong fellowship was extended to four years so that he could complete both his BFA and MFA at Yale. It was during his MFA studies that he proved to be a virtuoso at abstraction. He absorbed the developments of abstract art at Yale with such intensity that Josef Albers, one of the most influential art teachers in the world and a luminary of geometric abstraction, declared him not a student but a peer. The centennial exhibition features Bernardos seminal abstract work, Perpetual Motion, completed in 1952 for his Masters thesis exhibition. An excellent illustration of achieving vibrant energy with an economy of means, the spare lines and bold colors anchor the flat painting in its most distilled form but simultaneously catapult it into an optical play of depth and volume.Contrary to Alberss auspicious projection that the Bernardo who had demonstrated mastery of the visual language of abstraction within such a short period of time would meet unprecedented success upon his return to the Philippines, Bernardos radical shift was shunned rather than embraced by Amorsolo and his colleagues at UP. Bernardos manifest engagement with abstraction not only disappointed Amorsolo who had high hopes for his protg in the field of figurative art; it also led to the archetypal interrogation of meaning in his paintings in which the human figure, still life objects, or landscape scenes are absent. To this, Bernardo contended that abstraction allowed him to free himself from the constraints of representing only what is physically visible in the world and allowed him to give visual form to what only the mind could perceive. Nevertheless, the teaching environment at UP became difficult enough that Bernardo reportedly returned to genre paintingpictorial representations of everyday scenesand became a closet abstract artist at one point. This meant that he never fully abandoned figuration while tenaciously persevering on the path of abstraction. His exhibitions of abstract art tended to be misunderstood or dismissed despite being championed by some critics. In 1978, Leonidas Benesa cited Bernardo as the most underrated of the exponents of modern art in the Philippines and as second to none in this country in the field of abstraction, particularly of the geometric-planar, optical-painting variety.Refusing to be buffeted by the waves of public opinion, to be conditioned by the dictates of the art market, to solicit attention from collectors, to capitulate to pressures from the art world, or to pursue the trappings of fame, Bernardo chose to be steadfast in the discipline of his studio practice. So quietly sustained was this commitment over the years that he was referred to by Eric Torres as the invisible man of Philippine painting.This exhibition showcases not only his astounding ease with shifting from one style to another but also the rigor and discipline exemplified by each body of work. The disadvantage of his limited commercial success in his lifetime is in its own way the advantage of having a body of work thats almost intact to reconsider in the context of the larger history of Philippine art in general and Philippine abstraction in particular and provides an opportunity for the public to be introduced or reintroduced to the work of an important artist. Forms of expression without an audience are mute. But forms of expression preserved are gems within the realm of possibility. These paintings and drawings might havelike Bernardo himself in his liferemained quiet in his studio for years after his death but they are formidable imprints of a compelling artistic vision and a powerful creative voice.