Anthropology 10 Kevin Mark F.

Rabida 2009-60541

Ive been always fascinated with museums since childhood. My first museum was the Museong Pambata, which in my opinion a good start for children at my age. Vargas Museum is also a must-go as it houses precious collections from national and emerging artists alike. But the most interesting museum that I have been to to-date is the National Museum and the Museum of the Filipino People. My mom and I went first to the Museum of the Filipino People, which is the main purpose of the trip. My initial reaction when I first entered the building was Wow! Its huge!. It really is huge, as it houses different galleries that tell of the history of the Filipino people. With the several galleries that weve entered, I would conclude that the pre-colonial Filipino is an expert craftsman in terms of his wood sculptures and pottery. Pottery must be the signature craft of the early Filipino. According to the signage posted, archaeological excavations in the Philippines yielded a vast amount of broken earthenware. The materials indicate that it extends beyond the recorded history of the Philippines. The presence of pottery suggests a complex technology abound here in our country even before the colonizers came. Most of the pottery excavated by the archaeologists are associated to religious events such as burials, funeral offerings, or rituals. Most prominent of these is the Manunggul Jar found in Palawan. It served as a secondary burial jar, which contained only bones and was not designed to be buried. The most prominent feature of the burial jar is the bodily representation of two men in a boat serving as the handle for the top cover. It represents the journey of a soul to the afterlife. One man may represent a ferryman and the other is the soul being transported on a body of water, as suggested by the wave pattern of the jar. The discovery of the Manunggul Jar as indeed significant as it reinforced the concept that Philippines has its own culture even before the colonizers. Aside from that, it also suggested a rich religious tradition of the pre-colonial Filipino and their belief with the afterlife. We may conclude that the pre-colonial Filipino has the concept of the soul. With this, we may also say that they have a sense of the individual body and the distinctions between its constituents such as

the mind, and the soul. Their concept of the soul is basically a spirit that stays after the body dies, which they view as a temporary container of the soul. Another are the Bulol sculptures, which are consecrated images that are again usually venerated during rituals. They are human representations usually in pairs of male and female, that are consecrated in religious ceremonies usually relating to harvest. The representation of Bulol is almost always male and female, thus, we can say that the pre-colonial Filipino has a notion of gender and the male and female are counterparts. What is also noticeable in the galleries are the jewelry of the pre-colonial Filipino. This includes bracelets and necklaces made from shells and precious stones that were rare during their time. This suggests the importance of body aesthetics for them, as they sought to decorate themselves with what they think as beautiful and pleasant for the eyes. It must have been a status symbol, to have bracelets and necklaces, and this may have paved the way for socialization. One can also see three recurring characteristics with the Philippines artifacts and these are: colorful, crowded and curvilinear. The aesthetics of the pre-colonial Filipino is often associated with lots of color. The clothes that they wear and the jewelry, bracelets and necklaces, are often bright with color. Aside from that, they use a lot of beads, suggesting a crowded order. And of course, curves are a recurring motif in their art, especially in pottery, as seen in our example, the Manunggul jar. With the arrival of the colonizers, these characteristics were mixed up and influenced by the West, thus a fusion of the two. Now that we are in the modern times, we tend to favor western aesthetics, as we view them as better than anything else. But still, we never let go of our traditions, such as our great respect for the dead and the belief of the soul and the afterlife. My trip to the museum was a memorable one. In my opinion, Filipinos should go to the National Museum to know more of their past and to appreciate it better than reading about it in books.