When In Manila, its time to make a date with the cult hero Jose Rizal: the cool patriot, the Gandhi of Philippines. Yuchengco Museum, Makati is celebrating 150 years of Rizal’s influence on the Filipino art and 100 years of its own inception. On June 3rd the launch party of the twin birthdays really rocked!
Rizal was a cool hero. Nerdy, foreign educated, short statured he had plenty of women friends,each inspiring him towards love for Filipina: his homeland. Though there was nothing notable in Rizal’s personality except being OC about asserting pride in Filipino identity… only an X-factor can explain how he has left his mark on the popular culture of Philippines! His aviator shades have inspired a whole series of paintings in technicolor. If they had ‘FILIPINO IDOL’ show a century ago, he’d have won votes from all genders, ages and interest groups, diba.
There are bags, tees, oil on canvas that seem to tilt a head in salute to this man who wore many hats; educator, patriot, linguist, literateur, historian, psychoanalyst, alchemist, thinker…….
The works displayed on this occasion at Yuchengco Museum are a mix of RIzal’s own sculptures and manuscripts, and of the paintings and crafts by artists inspired by his cult status in the Philippines.
The exhibiting style at the museum is also very futuristic: elevator, walls, statues,decor pieces……the museum itself is worthy of a trip When In Manila!
Entrance fee for adults : P100
Students with ID: P50
Children, Seniors: P25
Booked groups of 10: 10% discount
(National heroes dont sell like Indies’ heroes and heroines ) But cool art inspired by them is still expensive. He He.
So Jose Rizal might just be your muse When In Manila. His bust is smiling, and the old man somehow made these artists create very sensual pieces.
No visitor will miss the sculpture in wood showing Rizal and Josephine in bed: with him penning down an idea on a notepad even as he pins her down.
Then there is the extremely awesome sculpting by Rizal himself called A Mother’s Revenge (in wood). It was inspired by an actual event in young man’s life while he was out with the boys. This is displayed in front of the 2009 oil paint by Froilan Calayag: an interpretation of the original.
The sketches caught me by surprise too: see pictures to catch what I saw in them.
And how can anyone miss that tantalizing big novel NOLI ME TANGERE ! Yes….I saw it!!
Published secretly (well not even his parents knew he was writing this satirical novel that was gonna redefine how Filipinos will perceive themselves years later:) Noli Me Tangere must’ve been the ultimate love of his illustrious love-life.
See portraits of all the lovely women that made his brief and busy life worth some fun.
When a visitor pointed out to his companion the hat that Rizal wore for the presentation of Noli, almost a Sherlock Holmes kind of image popped up in my mind…..Gawd what was he?
Gandhian non-violence-ist (unless as last resort to gain self-governance) ? A thriller hero who fell to the bullets of a firing squad in Dec 1896 at the prime age of just 35 ? Or a pre-scient philosopher who warned his compatriots :
“…why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow?”. Was he already hearing the foot falls of the Marcos?
How do people manage to move a whole culture in just the number of years in which I learnt to shake a cocktail and apply mascara? Maybe we shouldn’t miss checking out this guy When In Manila.
RIZALizing the Future is on view until October 29 2011 at the Yuchengco Museum. Located at RCBC Plaza; corner of Ayala and Sen. Gil Puyat Avenues, Makati City. Museum hours are Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, call 889-1234 or e-mail info@yuchengcomuseum.org.
Philippine National Hero Jose Rizal Birthday Party at the Yuchengco Museum: Rizalizing the Future