SE ASIA'S BEST MUSEUM: The Ayala Museum
We found another one of Southeast Asia’s Best Museums. This is actually what me and my friends came here for – check this building out and that special collection on the 4th floor.
We loitered, sashayed, gawked, sashayed some more, had coffee, loitered even longer and spent the whole darn rainy day in and around the “legendary” Ayala Museum. I say “legendary” because since we saw that docu (by Che-che) on satellite telly a few months ago, we were itching (like scabies) to come over and check it out.
The Ayala Museum was established in 1967 by the Ayala Foundation Inc., owned by the prominent Ayala family. One of the most modern in the country. It is an Art & History museum showcasing works of famous Filipino masters and their recent collection has drawn visitors from all over the world *including me, me and me!*.
I am prepared to talk about the Gold of Ancestors Exhibit on the 4th floor all day but my friends say we should also mention about the other exhibits on the floors below – there, I mentioned it already. Can I continue? Good. Now, listen....
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The Gold of Ancestors exhibit is the most exciting, exhilarating, thrilling (and to some extent, drooling) pieces of evidence that the Philippines has their OWN identity before their colonizers.
A whopping 1,059 gold objects (jewelleries!, accessories, sabre and all things wonderful) is a new permanent exhibition from the 10th-13th century. Its’ importance to RE-WRITING history is like a refreshing ray of sunshine…
A golden “kinnari” (deformed, photo below) suggests that the people of Southern Philippines (Surigao) share similar cultures with Mainland Southeast Asia and Indonesia. I told you! We are brothers! Goddammit. You won’t believe me – why is it all about Spain, Spain, Spain?! Wake up already! Ha! Nothing wrong with being similar to our neighbors.
The centrepiece *drumroll*, is a 4kg-pure-gold belt (an Upativa, a Hindu term for the “Sacred Thread”). You have to check it out to believe it!
No cameras allowed in the museum *I don't even know where other blogs got theirs!*. Ok, I can live with that. But I can assure you…I will never forget the images that I saw in there for a long, long time. The thrill that I felt that a nation, trying so hard to find its identity, has finally found it.
Visit the Ayala Museum – highly recommended and worth the trip. Located on the corner of Makati Ave. and De la Rosa Sts. in Makati City. It’s easy to find amidst the Ayala Center shopping mecca. Open between 9am-6pm [Tue-Fri] 10am-7pm [Weekends] Closed on Mondays. Admission fee is Php450 (300Baht, US$10, 30 Ringgit) for foreigners. They also got a fantastic coffee shop and the mandatory souvenir shop in the building. Senior citizens (local or foreign) gets a discount!.
We loitered, sashayed, gawked, sashayed some more, had coffee, loitered even longer and spent the whole darn rainy day in and around the “legendary” Ayala Museum. I say “legendary” because since we saw that docu (by Che-che) on satellite telly a few months ago, we were itching (like scabies) to come over and check it out.
The Ayala Museum was established in 1967 by the Ayala Foundation Inc., owned by the prominent Ayala family. One of the most modern in the country. It is an Art & History museum showcasing works of famous Filipino masters and their recent collection has drawn visitors from all over the world *including me, me and me!*.I am prepared to talk about the Gold of Ancestors Exhibit on the 4th floor all day but my friends say we should also mention about the other exhibits on the floors below – there, I mentioned it already. Can I continue? Good. Now, listen....
">
The Gold of Ancestors exhibit is the most exciting, exhilarating, thrilling (and to some extent, drooling) pieces of evidence that the Philippines has their OWN identity before their colonizers.A whopping 1,059 gold objects (jewelleries!, accessories, sabre and all things wonderful) is a new permanent exhibition from the 10th-13th century. Its’ importance to RE-WRITING history is like a refreshing ray of sunshine…
A golden “kinnari” (deformed, photo below) suggests that the people of Southern Philippines (Surigao) share similar cultures with Mainland Southeast Asia and Indonesia. I told you! We are brothers! Goddammit. You won’t believe me – why is it all about Spain, Spain, Spain?! Wake up already! Ha! Nothing wrong with being similar to our neighbors.
The centrepiece *drumroll*, is a 4kg-pure-gold belt (an Upativa, a Hindu term for the “Sacred Thread”). You have to check it out to believe it!
No cameras allowed in the museum *I don't even know where other blogs got theirs!*. Ok, I can live with that. But I can assure you…I will never forget the images that I saw in there for a long, long time. The thrill that I felt that a nation, trying so hard to find its identity, has finally found it.Visit the Ayala Museum – highly recommended and worth the trip. Located on the corner of Makati Ave. and De la Rosa Sts. in Makati City. It’s easy to find amidst the Ayala Center shopping mecca. Open between 9am-6pm [Tue-Fri] 10am-7pm [Weekends] Closed on Mondays. Admission fee is Php450 (300Baht, US$10, 30 Ringgit) for foreigners. They also got a fantastic coffee shop and the mandatory souvenir shop in the building. Senior citizens (local or foreign) gets a discount!.
Treasures of Southeast Asia.
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**2nd & 3rd photo courtesy of the Ayala Museum official website.
