ILOILO City – October is the Museums and Galleries Month.
The Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art (ILOMOCA) at the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao district hosts today’s kick-off ceremony at 6 p.m.
The 2019 theme of the Museums and Galleries Month is “Building the Nation, One Exhibit at a Time.”
It acknowledges museums and galleries as “instruments in creating national consciousness for Filipinos,” said John Delan Robillos, head of the National Committee on Art Galleries that is coordinating with ILOMOCA for the staging of several activities related to this month’s celebration.
ILOMOCA is the first museum in the Visayas and Mindanao dedicated to modern and contemporary art. It aims to “enrich the community life of Iloilo by way of exhibitions and outbreak programs.”
The objectives of the Museums and Galleries Month observance are the following:
* to preserve, enrich and create a dynamic evolution of a Filipino national culture based on the principle of unity in diversity in a climate of free artistic and intellectual expression
* to arouse the national consciousness and pride in our rich culture and national identity, expressed in all media of art and culture, historical and religious artifacts
* to utilize exhibition spaces / venues as centers of historical and cultural consciousness and avenues for dialogues on resilience, peace and security
* to use exhibitions as expressions of unity and national identity
Robillos urged Ilonggos to take part in the Museums and Galleries Month celebration by visiting museums.
“Part of our advocacy is to make the community actively participate by also spending for museum entrance fees,” said Robillos.
The fees help in the maintenance and operation of museums, he explained.
But student tours are free; no entrance fees would be collected.
Iloilo City has several museums – ILOMOCA, Museo Iloilo, Western Visayas Regional Museum, and Museum of Philippine Economic History. Some universities and churches also have museums./PN
