Legarda launches twin cultural exhibits at National Museum

Sen. Loren Legarda

Senator Loren Legarda launched on Sept. 20, 2013 the Baybayin Gallery and the expanded permanent textile gallery at the Museum of the Filipino People.

Sen. Loren, Chair of the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities, said that the Hibla ng Lahing Filipino: The Artistry of Philippine Textiles, the country’s first permanent textile gallery, has been expanded to include more traditional garments made from indigenous fiber and weaving looms from several weaving communities.

“The National Museum has a vast collection of indigenous textiles and we want these items to be on display for Filipinos, and even foreign tourists, to appreciate. This expanded exhibition reveals more about our rich weaving culture. Traditional garments and looms from my personal collection, as well as those from various local government units, are also included in the exhibit,” said Legarda.

Beside the Textile Gallery is the Baybayin Gallery, also a permanent exhibition at the National Museum, that features pieces from the museum’s collection of artifacts bearing ancient scripts, such as the Laguna Copperplate, the Calatagan Pot, the Intramuros Pot Shard and the Monreal Stones.

Coinciding with the launch of the two galleries was the formal turnover of Mother Tongue-Based materials to the National Museum. The event highlighted the relationship between the promotion of mother tongue languages and the preservation of indigenous practices.

“These projects are among the ways through which we can bring our culture closer to Filipinos. Cultural and heritage galleries, such as the Textile Gallery and the Baybayin Gallery, tell stories of our ancestors and our nation in different periods of time. These galleries can ignite the interest of our citizens to know beyond what we have shown them,” Legarda concluded.