RATIONALE

The Museums and Galleries Month (MGM) is observed every month of October by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 798, s. 1991. It underscores the importance of arousing national consciousness and pride in our rich Filipino culture and heritage embodying the aspirations of the nation, expressed in all media of art as well as historical and religious artifacts. This rich Filipino cultural heritage embodies the aspiration of the nation. The observance recognizes that these cultural and art forms are necessary for nation-building and shaping national destiny.

THEME

In 2021, we are celebrating MGM with the theme “Showcasing the Nation, Shaping the Filipino ImagiNation” to highlight the complex and challenging role of museums and galleries in presenting the national narrative and in shaping the minds of those who shape this ongoing narrative.

As spaces that recount stories and rekindle imagination freely, museums and galleries are major influences on how our nation perceives itself. They are institutions that narrate our country’s history from our perspective; how our culture and identity evolved through struggles and victories reflecting our core values born from those circumstances.

This year, we encourage every institution to bring out new stories or reinvent presenting old ones of figures and events accentuating humanity, heroism, and progress that represent these as inherent Filipino traits.

Museums and galleries not only present and preserve collections, but they also serve the public by being avenues of promoting and implementing educational programs that cater to the public’s interest, knowledge, and improvement. Juan is Feeling Yellow is an online webinar about art as a form of therapy led by Dr. Dinah Nadera, along with participating artists, Angelica Jacoba and Asaliah Reiiel Reyes, who will be talking about mental health during the pandemic and using art-making and the creative process for self expression. The webinar was held last July 24, 2021. 

This is an activity in line with the NCCA Gallery exhibit entitled BORDERLINE: Conscious & Sub-conscious by the Block Y, Group Exhibition which happened last July 06 – 31, 2021.

Speakers: 

• Dr. Dinah Palmera Nadera. Resident psychiatrist at University of Health Office, UP Diliman Founding President of Foundation Advancing Wellness, Instruction and Talents, Inc. (Foundation AWIT)
• Angelica Jacoba. BFA Painting, UPCFA, Participating Artist
• Asaliah Reyes. BFA Painting, UPCFA, Participating Artist 

The activity shall give the public an interactive learning experience through a guided 360-virtual tour of the NCCA Gallery exhibit led by the artist and curator themselves. It aims to spark innovativeness by providing new means of viewing art exhibitions virtually and spreading awareness of the importance of art institutions, educational programs, and other initiatives of museums and galleries in preserving our culture, especially during this time of a pandemic.

Speakers: 

• John Dellan Robillos. Curator / Former Vice-Head, Subcommission on Cultural Heritage / Former Head,National Committee on Art Galleries / Member, Technical Working Group of the NCCA’s “Cultural Mapping Toolkit: A Guide for Participatory Cultural Mapping in Local Communities”
• Kristoffer George Brasileno. Visual Artist and Individual Studio Artist / Art Educator and Instructor, Central Philippine University

Moderator: 

• John Carlo Santos. Art Educator, University of the Philippines Los Banos

MGM K N B? is the Museums and Galleries Month’s flagship webinar series which started in 2020.

In reference to the popular television game show “game ka na ba?” the phrase “MGM K N B?” was coined to fit the celebration as a form of rhetorical question to the nation if they are ready to celebrate MGM and to encourage them to do so by participating in the webinar series.

This webinar episode focuses on the basics of setting up a virtual exhibit and how to manage the types of software programs used for such activities. It also aims to tackle how the exhibit’s concepts are effectively presented in an interactive level in order to capture interest of the viewers and reach the audience’s understanding. 

Speakers: 

• Gio Abcede. Research and Development Officer, Digiscript Philippines, Inc. / Vice President for Externals, Heritage Conservation Society / Associate Member, ICOMOS Philippines

Moderator: 

• John Carlo Santos. Art Educator, University of the Philippines Los Banos

MGM K N B? is the Museums and Galleries Month’s flagship webinar series which started in 2020.

In reference to the popular television game show “game ka na ba?” the phrase “MGM K N B?” was coined to fit the celebration as a form of rhetorical question to the nation if they are ready to celebrate MGM and to encourage them to do so by participating in the webinar series.

This webinar episode aims to tackle what digital curation is and how it has helped museums and galleries’ audience reach in an increasingly digitized environment.

Speakers: 

• Carla Gamalinda. Awardee, 2021 Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prize for the Philippine Star / Visual Artist, Researcher, Art Educator, Curator
• Ricky Francisco. Director, Fundacion Sanso / Museum Worker, Curator, Art Educator

Moderator: 

• John Carlo Santos. Art Educator, University of the Philippines Los Banos

One of the annual activities for the celebration is the MGM Art Banner Exhibition, wherein tarpaulins are displayed in public areas for the whole month of October as an outdoor exhibition to strengthen people’s awareness of the MGM celebration. This year, we established partnerships with various transportation agencies and public sites including MRT-3, Philippine Ports Authority, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, and the Intramuros Administration to feature the winning artworks from the Quincentennial Art Competition initiated by the National Quincentennial Committee from March 2020 to June 2021

Reamillo seeks to parody the musicality around people and things and history. Parody! Thus, in Pharmasika 633@ Calle Heneral Luna, exhibited at the NCCA Gallery, the treatment of Luna both as a pharmacist (pharma) and artist (musika) presents the positive note of Luna’s real presence as a counterpoint to the negative note of the dissonant as well as silent products of noisy mythmaking and lies and quiet history-less-ness (memory-less-ness). 

Reamillo’s artmaking around our national heroes (who also happen to be artists) also becomes a paean/salute to their choice of a treatment for the Philippine social cancer of their time: not merely science or ilustrado knowledge, of which they were stalwart holders, but cultural art as well, whether through the novel, the poem, or music, or through the musicality of dark satire as tonal medicines to forgetfulness.

This October, in celebration of Museums and Galleries Month and National Indigenous Peoples Month, Antique-based RAHMAG group of artists mounts “IRAYA: Beyond Limits.” 

The exhibition is the group’s attempt to present what the province has been and what it is now — the union of the traditional and contemporary Antique, and finding its cultural relevance amid the province’s urbanization and modernization programs.

Participating artists are Rey Aurelio, Ramon “Monet” De Los Santos, Jr., Christine Marie Delgado, Raz Laude, Morris Alfred Lavega, Bryan Lao, Kwesi Pearl Faith Magdato, Cezar Gregorio “Saru” Ramales, Jr., Ramuel Vego, Evan “Tibong” Veñegas, and Marienell Veñegas.

On their 3rd art fair since 2019, Mindanao Art Fair and Exhibit with the theme Art In Between: Mindanao Art in Iliminal space will be an on-site event throughout the month of October. In accordance with the current social distancing measures, Mindanao Art requires visitors to register online and make a reservation on their website: http://mindanaoart.org/ prior to attending the event.

The first and longest-running art fair in the Philippines is back! A project brought by the Bonafide Art Galleries Organization, Inc. and  co-presented by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, ManilART’s vision is to make the Philippines a premier art hub in Asia. The art fair will take place at the SMX Convention Center, SM Aura Premier in Taguig City from Oct 13 to 17, 2021. 

TIAF 11: The Grand Canao… A Thanksgiving for the Gift of Culture and the Arts brought by the Chanum Foundation, Inc. with the support of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts happens this October. Visit their Facebook page for more information!