OCT. 17 - JAN. 31, 2012

CONSCRIPCION: Imagining and Inscribing the Ilocano World

"Conscripcion" is an extensive exhibition of documents, maps, diagrams and illustrations which show the official workings of the Spanish colonial government in Northern Luzon in the 19th century. These archival materials from the National Archives of the Philippines form the basis of an exhibit on Ilocos Sur. Collateral activities such as workshops and lectures are being organized for the duration of the exhibit.

The exhibit is in partnership with the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur, the Ilocos Sur Historical and Cultural Foundation and the National Archives of the Philippines with The Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

Records are by products, the remains of activities. They are reminders of what had taken place. As reminders, records can honor or they can haunt. For script can conscript, text can be context. In the colonial setting, records and documents help rulers envision distant possessions. Subjects only take shape as constructed on paper: in reports, plans and maps. Authority is transcribed on a page and conveyed across oceans. What may describe, may also prescribe. Records carry great power.

When territorial aspirations are committed to paper, maps are born. A record is called into existence which is part hope and part despair. Maps define what is intimate but also what is intimidating and must therefore be unmanned.

The documents presented in the show "Conscripcion: Imagining and Inscribing the Ilocano World" arose from the time when the Ilocos region was still part of the Spanish Empire. They facilitated the governance of a faraway land.

Before the colonial can be administered, it must first be conceived. Above all else then, are documents not agencies of imagination? Worlds which produce records are by the records themselves produced.

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OCT. 24, 2011 - JAN. 15, 2012

Photo by Photo: A Portrait of Spain

A visual trajectory following the evolution of the country from the end of the 1950s to the present day based on the concept of the city it represents a meditation on the Spanish Pavilion's theme for the Shanghai World Expo 2010. "From the City of Our Parents to the City of Our Children".

The carefully chosen selection from the work of 15 Spanish photographers included in this collection spanning different generations bearing witness to the process of transition is indispensable due to the plurality of vision contained within. This multiplicity is an essential part of any approximation of the idea of the city. From the complexities of its inhabitants to the troubles, desires and fears belonging to each epoch.

Download Opening Night Speeches in PDF version

- President Benigno Aquino (CLICK HERE)
- Ambassador Jorge Domecq (CLICK HERE)
- Ms. Cora Alvina (CLICK HERE)

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NOV. 10, 2011 - JAN. 7, 2012

Pablo Picasso's - The Vollard Suite (created in Paris, 1930-1937)

Owner: FUNDACION MAPFRE and its Instituto de Cultura

Description: 100 etchings of different techniques on watermarked Montval paper

Commissioned by the art dealer and editor Ambroise Vollard, Pablo Picasso created one hundred copper etchings between September 13, 1930, and march 1937 that have come to be known in art history as the Suite Vollard.

In 1938, the set of 100 prints appeared in two different formats, one large (760x500mm) on vellum paper, signed by the artist with red or black pencil, and 50 copies per plate. The other, smaller version (445x340mm) is on laid Montval paper, watermarked with "Vollard" or "Picasso", and produced in runs of 250 copies.

Today, the small format is found spread out as single prints in different private and public collections, and only some of these sets, such as the FUNDACION MAPFRE's are preserved in their entirety. The complicated history of the work's origin, the varied themes and diverse techniques used, such as graver, etching, aquatint, color wash and drypoint, and even combinations thereof, encouraged their dispersion and there are few complete collections currently in existence. The Suite Vollard makes up, as such, one of the most important historic-artistic testimonies of the 20th century.

The complete series includes three portraits of Ambroise Vollard, five plates referred to as the Battle of Love, or Rape, created in 1933; forty-six plates from The Sculptor's Studio (forty etchings from March 20 to May 5, 1933, and six between January and March 1934); four plates of Rembrandt (created July 27-31, 1934); fifteen plates of The Blind Minotaur, created from May 17-June 18, and September 22-October 22, 1933; and twenty-seven varied compositions. The etchings do not follow a logical sequence in their images; their chronology follows more current events and the artist's personal experiences.

In twenty-seven of the one hundred copper plates that make up the Suite Vollard, Picasso takes on very diverse topics that were mostly already present in his work like the bathers, the jugglers, and the circus. Some of them, such as the woman-model, in Suite Vollard acquire an inverse classicism, full of serenity, enormity and balance.

The Suite Vollard fully reflects the Picasso-type dialectic that fluctuates between order and violence, classicisms and disfiguration, serenity and chaos. All of Picasso's influences can be seen in the series, his delusions of grandeur and his deep Mediterranean culture.

The Metropolitan Museum of Manila hosts Pablo Picasso's Suite Vollard in partnership with Fundacion Santiago and Fundacion MAPFRE.

Download Ms. Cora Alvina's Opening Night Speech in PDF version
CLICK HERE

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AUG. 9 - OCT. 29, 2011

Money Matters for Kids

Money Matters for Kids features many hands-on displays that will encourage children to think about money, and how it impacts our everyday lives. The basic themes that are displayed in the exhibit range from earning money, to spending money wisely.

This exhibit was first shown at the Museo Pambata, in collaboration with Citibank, in February of this year. In August, the exhibit was fomally turned over to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas through Financial Consumers Affairs Group that will facilitate its subsequent travels.

Money Matters for Kids runs until October 29, 2011 at the Galeriya ng Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

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In the Round

In The Round features around 30 sculptural pieces from Metropolitan Museum's contemporary art collection.

When the Metropolitan Museum of Manila's Philippine art collection was started in the 1990s, its organizational curatorial direction included acquiring sculptural pieces, both in relief and in the round. Selections from the Met Museum's in-the- round collection, augmented by loans from artists and private collections, are in this exhibition, as points of departure for some information sharing, and as aid for enjoyment of this art form.

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JULY 05 - SEPT. 30, 2011

UST sa BSP

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, since its existence as the Central Bank of the Philippines, has collected paintings. The first accessions of major works by contemporary artists were made in 1971. In the 1980s, the scope of the collection was expanded "to the origins of Philippine paintings," resulting, in the words of art critic Emmanuel S. Torres, "in the most encyclopedic public collection of visual arts."

In the course of this mindful collecting and conserving of Philippine visual arts, paintings by mentors and students from the University of Santo Tomas joined the inventory of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Art Collection. Through time, these teachers and pupils have achieved admirably in their chosen art forms, and three of them, notably, have been conferred the rank of National Artist: Ang Kiukok, Victorio Edades and J. Elizalde Navarro. Many other Thomasians have become leading lights in the field of visual arts.

Selected works from some of these Thomasian artists are on view in UST SA BSP, an exhibition organized and realized as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas's gesture of partaking in the celebration of the quadricentennial of the University of Santo Tomas this year.

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JULY 7 - AUGUST 31, 2011

JAPAN: Kingdom of Characters

In recent years, a subculture related to Japanese anime and manga has rapidly attracted worldwide attention. To make the most of this trend, the Japan Foundation has organized this travelling exhibition called "Japan: Kingdom of Characters" which examines characters as one radical aspect of this subculture.

Used unhesitatingly by both adults and children in private and public spaces, before we realize it, these characters have become a part of our daily landscape. One finds, for example, characters printed on bank passbooks and train commutation passes, and as indicated by the regular and seemingly natural presence of stuffed mascots at local police boxes, they have premeated everyday life in Japan to a degree that would be unthinkable in most other countries.

What exactly is a character? Why are they so popular? What kind of society do these characters reflect and what kind of influence do they exert on that society? And finally, where is Japanese character culture headed? In this exhibition, as we introduce the intimate relationship between characters and Japanese people, we hope that the visitors will gain a better understanding of the cultural and historical background behind the Japanese love of characters as well as the future of characters in contemporary Japan.

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JUNE 16 - JULY 02, 2011

JOYA Journeys: Travel Sketches

"Drawing has always been central to my art. It formed the basis of my paintings in the past, and is, today ( now that experience and maturity have given me sufficient confidence to apply paint directly to canvas), a pleasure end in itself."--Joya, 1978

The Metropolitan Museum of Manila has chosen to exhibit drawings and sketches from the Joya family collection. When the Met Museum was established in 1976, its mandate was to show and share art from other parts of the world with Filipino audiences. The curatorial decision to participate with "pictorial mementos" of Joya's journeys is in a manner informed by that mandate, thus choosing to show foreign places, spaces and people, but seen and refracted through an exemplary eye, discerning, exact, artistic, and Filipino.

Travel's consequences are many, as the intentions for going forth abroad are various. One brings home, inevitably, images of the experience of travel. Among the gains of the travels of Jose Joya are drawings and sketches. Joya called these drawings "a visual diary of my life and art". They were a journal of travels the artist made to various parts of Asia, Europe, the United States of America, and the Philippines.

JOYA/JOURNEYS has been made possible by Mrs Josie Joya Baldovino and the Joya Family, Mr Rachy Cuna, Carte Blanche, Pacific Paints (Boysen Phils) Inc., other benefactors, and the support of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila Board of Trustees.

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MAY 19 - JULY 15, 2011

BISA: Potent Presences

BISA: Potent Presences is the Philippine response to the 2008 project of the Asia-Europe Museums Network or ASEMUS entitled "Self and Other: Portraits from Asia and Europe".The exhibit presents an interdisciplinary visual display of images centered on the discussion of identity and the realization of its existence, significance and influence.

With over a hundred artworks, BISA is a rare assembly of pieces from masters like Luna, Amorsolo, Tolentino to modernists like Edades, Ang Kiukok, H.R. Ocampo, Jose Garcia Villa, Bencab, it also includes Philippine ethnographic and archaeological objects, installations, and media arts.

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FEB. 17 - APRIL 30, 2011

TANAW: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Art Competition

The Metropolitan Museum of Manila invites everyone to catch the last few weeks of the exhibition of "Tanaw: BSP Art Competition," on view until April 30. The competition aims to support the development of Philippine contemporary art and challenge artists to strive for a higher level of artistic excellence. Winners were awarded with cash prizes and their artworks will become part of the BSP impressive art collection ranging from the 18th century to the present era.

The exhibit comprises the top three winners and 42 artworks of the finalists. The competition was the first national painting competition of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and exceptionally participated by professional and non-professional Filipino artist who have previously won in national and international competitions and art fairs. These award winning visual artists showcased their creativity, technique and sense of design as they were given their personal options of subject and theme.

Gary Custodio, who hails from kalibo, Aklan, bested almost 200 entries nationwide with his watercolor The Rebuilders. Melvin Culaba is from NCR, and placed second for his oil painting Unresolved while third place winner Brave Singh of Bantay, Ilocos Sur won for his oil painting Pagsabay sa mga Hakbang ng Ating mga Pangarap. Competition judges were Dr. Jaime C. Laya, former BSP governor and Chair of the BSP Cultural Properties Acquisition Advisory Committee; Mercedes Lopez-Vargas, Director of the Lopez Museum; Dr. Patrick Flores of the UP Diliman College of Arts and Letters; and Olivier Dintinger, former director of Alliance Francaise de Manille. Other judges were award winning visual artist Nona Garcia and art connoisseur Paulino Que, a trustee of the Met Museum. Awarding ceremonies were held at the Metropolitan Museum led by the Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Hon. Amando Tetangco, Jr., and members of the BSP Monetary Board.

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JAN. 14 - MARCH 25, 2011

RUSSIAN AVANT-GARDE

The Metropolitan Museum of Manila ushers in 2011 with a special exhibition of the works of famous Russian artists, among them Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, Alexander Rodchenko, Lyubov Popova, Alexandra Exter, Aleksey Morgunov, Mikhail Larionov and Pavel Filonov. Their art, known as Russian Avant-Garde, was a unique movement in art during the early 20th century that combined the traditionally polarized rationality of the West and the non-rationality of the East.

The exhibit, entitled Avant-Garde and Architecture of Consciousness, explores the relationship between Avant-Garde, the perception of it, and modern information and communication technologies. The exhibit encourages the viewers to look beyond the abstractions and see the reality reflected in them. According to Sergey Zhemaitis who conceptualized the exhibit, Avant-garde artists foresaw future scientific discoveries and communication technologies such as the relativity theory, television, the Internet and mobile communications, and these they tried to mirror and reveal through their artworks.

The exhibit features more than sixty high quality reproductions of the originals from the collections of various museums in Russia. It is part of the celebration of the 35th Anniversary of the Russian-Philippine Diplomatic Relations, and is being held within the framework of the preparation for the APEC Summit 2012 in Vladivostok. The exhibit is made possible through the cooperation of the State Museum and Exhibition Center of Russia (ROSIZO), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of the Philippines, and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

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