Legarda to Launch Twin Cultural Exhibits in National Museum

Senator Loren Legarda is set to launch the Baybayin Gallery and the expanded permanent textile gallery at the Museum of the Filipino People on September 20, 2013.

Legarda, 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 Potsherd and the Monreal Stones.

“The Baybayin Gallery showcases the ancient and traditional scripts of the Philippines. It also features and promotes awareness of the writing systems used by ancient Filipinos. It also highlights the continuing tradition of script writing among a few remaining indigenous communities in Mindoro and Palawan, particularly among the Hanunoo, Buhid and Tagbanua peoples,” Legarda explained.

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

According to the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), there are 181 known languages in the Philippines, 177 of which are currently spoken, while four are already extinct.

“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.