Pieces of Stolen History

I always look forward to reading Ambeth Ocampo's column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Looking Back. I read it to gain snippets of knowledge about our past. But, it also leaves me exasperated and sad when he writes about instances where people who are supposed to be protectors of our history end up being its enemies. The following is a portion of Ambeth's column printed today:

"We have heard horror stories of the odyssey of our archives half a century ago. Whatever survived the Battle for Manila in 1945 was stored in Bilibid prison where it was ravaged by floods, rodents and humidity. Cockroaches and ants ate the gum and glue in bindings, while termites and silverfish feasted on the parchment and paper. Foxing, acid, insects can be cleared with patience and chemicals, but the truly irreversible damage is that inflicted by humans. Old-timers remember how an enterprising employee sold bundles of ancient Spanish documents as scrap paper, with the sturdy paper that survived centuries ending up as “supot” [bags] in Manila markets. Today with the help of a modernization grant from the Kingdom of Spain, our documents are being cleaned, conserved and scanned for greater access."

By no means is this a Filipino phenomenon, read excerpts of the article, To Catch a Thief in the Smithsonian Magazine which touched on how E. Forbes Smiley III, an art dealer, went on a "shopping" spree ripping out maps from archives of several schools and museums.

"Smiley stole at least 97 maps from six distinguished institutions and sold them the old-fashioned way, privately, without eBay. A simple mistake stopped his spree: on June 8, 2005, a staff member found an X-Acto blade on the floor of Yale University's rare book and manuscript library. Told of the find, a supervisor noticed a man at a table examining rare maps and, using visitor logs, identified him as Smiley. Through an Internet search, the supervisor discovered that Smiley was a map dealer. A police officer found several Yale maps in Smiley's briefcase. After his arrest, five other libraries realized that Smiley had robbed them, too."

"The 97 maps were worth $3 million. But street value does not begin to capture the role of rare manuscripts, books and maps in illuminating a culture's milestones and missteps. When a car is stolen, its owner suffers alone. When a Civil War document disappears from an archive, everyone is diminished, even if just a little. It is no longer there to educate..."

(Caption: Early 18th-century map of New Jersey that is still missing from the New York Public Library)

Before you proceed any further, Know your past!

Today, June 19, is the 147th birth anniversary of Philippine national hero, Jose Rizal. Recently, I've started reading Rizal. I also found out that Malaysian opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, is an avid reader of Rizal's work. If a foreigner has taken so much interest in our national hero, shouldn't we Filipinos show more interest in our national hero and our history?

This goes to my next point, let's say you have mustered enough spirit to read Rizaliana. Where do you go from here?

The good news is that an enterprising publisher, Gaspar Vibal of Vibal Foundation has decided to digitize and make available for free his vast collection of Rizaliana that he has collected over the years. In addition, he has also placed entire books on the Philippines up on his website, Filipiniana.net.

The site is a wet dream for Philippine Studies enthusiasts. In fact its tag line is "Philippine Studies at your fingertips." Most of these books and documents available on the site are rare and perhaps unique. What would have been books bought and kept in private collections for the pleasure of a few people are now available to all who care to click and read. What is significant is that this allows Filipinos all over the world to know a little more about our country's history.

Currently, featured on the site is the unfinished novel of Rizal, Makamisa which has the following description:

The Makamisa is the unfinished novel of Dr. Jose Rizal written in the Tagalog language. It starts with a mass supervised by Fr. Agaton in the small town of Tulig where the rest of the story focuses. Among the characters named in the novel are Capitan Lucas, Marcela, Capitan Tibo, Don Segundo, Teniente Tato and Aleng Anday. Unlike Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, the Makamisa was written in a rather comical way.

So visit the site, read, and know your history.

Caption on the picture: Dr. Jose Rizal (a student in Manila) 1879
Source: http://hawaii.indymedia.org/uploads/2005/12/rizal.jpg

Museum of the Filipino People

I knew that there was something exciting going on at the National Museum. Although I have not visited the museum ever in my life (not exactly proud of this), I've heard my fair share of horror stories about dark halls and cramped rooms of the old National Museum (which squatted in the old Senate Building).

Therefore, it was a surprise when a few months back, someone told me that they attended a wedding at the museum. The wedding guest raved about the reception and the ambience of the place. Is this the same National Museum I had in mind?

Recently, an e-flyer found its way to my inbox which talked about "finding beauty in our own" culture and art. It was a museum tour by John Silva, a senior consultant of the National Museum.

Fast forward to Saturday, June 7, I found myself at the appointed meeting place. I overheard that usually he had around 30 to 35 people but that Saturday it ballooned to 60 guests, which was a good thing for Philippine art but no so good when you want to catch every word uttered by the guide.

A few realizations during the tour:

1521 wasn't Year 1
History for us Filipinos started way before 1521 when Magellan came to our shore. This is the big misconception that John wants to dispel. We had a rich culture and presumably equally rich history before the Spaniards conquered these islands. Aside from the National Museum, readers may want to check out the Gold Exhibit at the Ayala Museum.

Use it or Lose it
It is bittersweet for John to be able to collect, salvage, and maintain a treasure trove of instruments, traditional clothes, tapestries, jewelry, and everyday tools. One thing that is beyond his control is the ability to revive some of the lost art. He talked about how musicians who are able to play our indigenous musical instruments are slowly disappearing with their knowledge and skills going to the grave with them. Some of the intricate weaving cannot be replicated even by tribesmen whose forebears have created the pieces. Even the original language written in alibata has been lost to most except for two tribes in Mindoro and one tribe in Palawan.

Philippines is more than just Manila
When you realize that Filipinos speak 87 dialects and 11 major languages, you come to the conclusion that no region, city, town has monopoly on being Filipino.

Wanderlust in our blood
Archeological finds all over the archipelago point to a rich trading history that from all over Asia.

Juan Luna's Spoliarium is much better when viewed in person
Well, first of all it's not Spolarium (maybe you knew that) but the more tongue-twisting Spoliarium. The painting is huge!! It depicts the aftermath of an event at the Coliseum (not Araneta!!). The losing gladiators (losing usually means dying as well) are dragged away for disposal. Even if we just leave it at the imagery and drama of the colors (dark sombre with splashes of bright red), the painting would already have done its job of evoking powerful emotions. But, John also talks about how this painting started the seeds of the Philippine revolution and also Rizal's participation in it. Apparently, Rizal saw parallelism in the painting and the cruelty being unleashed by the Spaniards in the Philippines.

Less is More
In Juan Luna's painting Bulakena, we see an exquisite painting of a Filipina lady posing demurely with a fan in her hand. Silva explains that in the olden times, ladies would signal their availability or non-availability without uttering a single word. A fan that is closed meant the woman is engaged or married. A half-opened fan meant she is open to suitors and a fully opened fan was as vulgar as a prostitute on Sunset Boulevard. So what is the Bulakena....you need to go to the museum to find out for yourself.


Let us protect our national treasure by visiting our museums, supporting innovative programs that cultivate Philippine culture, introducing Philippine history to our kids.



(The first stop, a Cordillera hut)



(Anthropomorphic Jar Cover found in Ayub Cave, Pinol, Maitum, Saranggani)



(The Spoliarium lecture)