Photo / Ayala Museum
After soft opening in December 2021, Ayala Museum is now in full swing with the opening of the fourth floor, which houses the museum’s revamped permanent exhibitions on Philippine pre-colonial gold, indigenous textiles, and Southeast Asian trade ware ceramics.
The three exhibitions jointly tell the story of the ‘Crossroads of Civilizations’ – how the country’s identity, imagery, and ingenuity were shaped by a millennium of interactions within the flourishing networks of exchange within Asia and beyond. Additionally, a Visible Storage is now added to the 4th floor where guests can view a portion of the archaeological, ethnographic, fine arts, and historical objects in Ayala Museum’s vast collection.
The new exhibitions
Skeins of Knowledge, Threads of Wisdom
Photo / Ayala Museum
Indigenous textile arts in the Philippines demonstrate the ingenuity, creativity, adaptability, and sophistication of the early Filipinos. This exhibition makes today’s Filipinos aware that among our indigenous communities are living examples of how we might be able to restore some balance in our lives, in our country, and among global communities. Skeins of Knowledge, Threads of Wisdom will place the textiles in the context of community, environment, culture, tradition, spirit, and matter.
Ceramics and Cultural Currency: Exchanges of Pottery and Prestige
Photo / Ayala Museum
Large quantities of Chinese and Southeast Asian trade ceramics found in the Philippine archipelago indicate the active participation of our forefathers in a wide network of inland and inter-island trade and cultural exchange in the region as early as the ninth century. What made these ceramics so valuable that people traveled far and wide to obtain such vessels? Ceramics and Cultural Currency: Exchanges of Pottery and Prestige examines the practical, social, economic, and spiritual values that Filipinos ascribed to these trade wares over a millennium of exchange.
Gold of Ancestors: Pre-colonial Treasures in the Philippines
Photo / Ayala Museum
Originally opened in 2008, the Gold of Ancestors exhibition has been refreshed for a new generation. This exhibition of more than one thousand archaeological gold objects celebrates the cultures that flourished before the Spanish colonization of the islands. The precious objects in this exhibition were recovered in the Philippines in various archaeological contexts, often in association with tenth to twelfth-century Chinese export ceramics.
Exhibitions still on view
With the opening of the 4th floor, Ayala Museum now completes its onsite museum experiences. Still on view are Intertwined: Transpacific, Transcultural Philippines, Landscape into Painting: Fernando Zobel Serie Blanca, Dioramas of Philippine History, Filipinas Heritage Library’s Liberation: War & Hope, Ayala Museum: In Microcosm, and the Globe Digital Gallery.
To ensure guests continue to feel both inspired and safe when visiting the museum, operational adjustments and safety protocols remain part of the museum experience. Prebooked admissions, timed entries, and limited capacity on admissions will still be practiced at Ayala Museum.
Tickets and visitor guidelines are available through www.ayalamuseum.org.
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