National Museum of Anthropology Philippines
Just a reminder that the beautiful collections held by the National Museum of the Philippines in their galleries are available to view for free!
These include:
The Baybayin: Ancient and Traditional Scripts of the Philippines Gallery
The exhibit “Palayok: The Ceramic Heritage of the Philippines”
The “Kaban ng Lahi: Archaeological Treasures.”The gallery highlights the past burial traditions and remarkable craftsmanship of past Philippine societies about 2,500 to 1,000 years ago.
The Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or National Living Treasures
Faith, Tradition and Place Gallery.
Bangsamoro Art from the National Ethnographic Collection.
Lumad Mindanao Gallery features the material culture of the 13 Lumad groups represented in the National Ethnographic Collection.
Biyay Gallery. Tradition, Ecology and Knowledge among the Philippine Negrito Communities.
Entwined Spheres Gallery.
Mats and Baskets as Containers, Conveyors, and Costumes.
Hibla ng Lahing Filipino Gallery
The Artistry of Philippine Textiles
Rice, Biodiversity, and Climate Change Gallery
Tabawan Gallery. The Island of Pre-Islamic Rituals and Traditional Practices in Tawi-Tawi
300 Years of Maritime Trade in the Philippines Gallery.
Among others.
Formerly known as the National Museum of the Filipino People, the National Museum of Anthropology was the former Department of Finance Building that was heavily devastated during the bombings of the Second World War’s Battle of Manila.
The building was rebuilt in 1949, maintaining its original building footprint and five story height. The five-story building has an odd trapezium plan with a chamfer at its northeast obtuse vertex and a concave side on its southeast fronting the rotonda. A ground level approach on a driveway protected by a three-arched porte cochere serves as the entrance at the chamfered northeast corner of the building. Halls and rooms are orthogonally arranged around the central courtyard of the same trapezium shape.
The façades are articulated with giant Corinthian columns and pilasters rising from the second floor level to the height of the three stories of the building, with the first story resembling the one-story high plinth where these columns and pilasters rest.
The Old Department of Finance Building and the Old Department of Agriculture and Commerce Building (now the National Museum of Natiral History) are laid out with the line of symmetry along the east-west axis of the Agrifina Rotunda (or Agrifina Circle) in Luneta. The two buildings face each other in mirror image, an ensemble of neoclassic-inspired buildings designed by Antonio Mañalac Toledo.
There are many outstanding permanent exhibitions in the museum that shows the Philippines’ rich history and culture. These include the San Diego shipwreck, the Baybayin scripts, the ivory trade in the country, Philippine textiles, ancient burial jars, the Marble Hall and many others that is worth your visit.
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