Reaction Paper for the National Museum
When I heard about you asking us to visit at least two museums and make a reaction paper out of it, I was so excited, not only because I know that you can travel back in time but of course there’s nothing feels like getting in touch with your roots but by having to experience or perhaps have a glimpse of how it was like.
To tell you honestly, I haven’t been in a museum in a while and to put it bluntly, I’ve never been to the National Museum since I was in Kindergarten wherein I can’t understand a thing. I didn’t realize that the National Museum is divided into three buildings, Anthropology, National History and the Arts. I was excited to see the Natural History because it is the one that is newly renovated and is famous for the “Tree of Life” which is the centerpiece of the said museum; unfortunately we were not able to see it due to the lack of time but I will definitely visit that one of these days.
I didn’t realize that the entrance in the museum is free; I wonder why not a lot of people enter it except those kiddos who were having their field trips. There are lots to see but there’s so limited time. It would have been better if there’s a guide or a curator to tour us around unfortunately they’re busy with the field trip of the kids. Here are some of my snapshots of the museum.
I don’t want to discuss anymore what I’ve seen inside because everybody who visited it knows about it. What I want to discuss is how the message of how rich our culture is has resonated on me so much. There were so many goose bumps moments when I was touring around the Museum especially seeing the Spoliarium in person. I caught myself staring at its magnificence for around 5 minutes. I was absolutely amazed and mesmerized by it.
I was in awe of it and the experience was really indescribable. I’m not sure if I was just emotional or over reacting or if it was really the feeling it creates for every nationalistic Filipino. I felt like having to experience the atrocities of the Spanish Regime. I can still remember way back in Grade School, I was really fascinated with the Philippine History. This piece showed the world how it was like to be a Filipino way back then.
A masterpiece that is comparable to Picassos’ Guernica in Spain. It was really moving as it showed the violence experienced by our ancestors. Surely it was used to incense the fire burned in the hearts of the Filipinos to fight against such cruelty. I wish someone will be commissioned soon to paint the effects of the Marawi siege, I’m sure it can be a great addition to the National treasury. On the other hand, I wonder why there were no paintings depicting the Marcos dictatorship.
I hope that the National Museum was designed according to time or era so it will feel like just travelling back in time, maybe they want to put it together according to pieces. I was wondering how it was like if every artifacts in all of the museums in the country just like the ones in the Rizal and Aguinaldo shrines will be placed in the National Museum, it could have been a surreal experience for me.
After everything I saw I can only conclude that we might be a third world country but our heritage and culture is undeniably rich and should be seen and appreciated by all Filipinos. After everything I’ve seen today, I can’t help but be prideful of how rich our culture is and we should celebrate it just how like our neighboring countries like Thailand and Indonesia have preserved their cultures. It surely is the key to the secrets of our past and certainly defines us as a nation full of great treasures that can rival the best museums in the world.
