Museums have been stuck in the same stereotypical brand of boring. Take Phoebe, Rachel… the rest of the FRIENDS cast, except for Ross, as proof. You know how they lose interest as soon as Ross talks about his job in the museum? That kind of boring. The kind that makes you lose interest.
Recently, however, museums have surprisingly been tagged differently from what we’re used to: fun and a great place to incite curiosity. These exhibitions are slowly being isolated from the mark of being boring as it has subjected its pieces into more interesting stuff like ice cream or celebrity doppelgangers. One particular museum even took ‘it’ a step higher as they added a new piece of recreation for everyone to enjoy and learn from to their roster of interesting vaults of historical and art pieces.
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Ayala Museum has always come up with new things to be interested about. Sections of their museums are dedicated to intricately made dioramas that picture a piece of Philippine history. The museum also displays replicas of vessels that used to roam our waters, even a selection of some of our National Artists’ works— how cool is that? If it feels like Ayala has done enough thought-provoking museum pieces and interesting takes on our history, think again.
Imagine being brought more than a century back to Rizal’s time. For a while, it might have taken you a hard time imagining the setting; but with this new installation in Ayala Museum, time-traveling is not so crazy anymore. With the virtual reality installation, users get more than just a glimpse of the scene as the technology stir many of the user’s senses. In our case, we time-travelled to December 30, 1896, Rizal’s execution in Bagumbayan, or Luneta as we know it today.
In reliving the last moments of Rizal, I played a role of a bystander, the Filipino soldier who shot Rizal, and Rizal himself— dividing the whole experience into three ‘parts’. The 3 key roles played out differently, despite it circling under one scene, because of the freedom given to the user—should the user turn around, listen to the people around him or her, or simply stick to the script.
How often does a general put VR goggles on you?
The life-like VR installation will definitely stir many of your senses, making the whole experience one for the books. Every element put into making the scene makes for more realistic story-telling. From the setting to the actors down to the dog who made the cut to one of the most iconic historical events. You’ll notice the labor from research, how each detail is carefully plotted to not just present a perfectly narrated historical fact but to make the audience think and more importantly self-evaluate— what the masters of this VR experience truly wanted to take effect.
Here is Prof. Ambeth Ocampo, gracing the event as the resident historian to fact check the details in the installation.
Undoubtedly, you’ll go home wiser from quenching your curious mind of facts; but most of all, you’d be wiser from the fresh new outlook on a story we’ve all been too familiar with.
Ayala Museum
Makati Ave. corner De la Rosa St., Greenbelt Park, Makati
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