A museum’s redirection at 20
Our youth, so fluent in social media, must be inspired to root and anchor their content in depth and substance — the very things that culture, history and art represent.
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Daily TribuneOur youth, so fluent in social media, must be inspired to root and anchor their content in depth and substance — the very things that culture, history and art represent.
The economic difficulty of these times is not felt by farmers and small producers alone. In the world I move in — where culture and sustainability meet — I see the same struggle among our artists, designers, indigenous weavers and craftspeople. As the world competes on an increasingly global stage and our local markets shrink, many of these artists and designers are crossing over into the commercial space, building steadier financial ground simply to survive.
Meanwhile, after 20 years wearing my director/curator’s hat at the Yuchengco Museum, I reflect on how blessed I have been — given the creative freedom to launch exhibitions and programs within such a beautiful space. But for the past two years, one question has churned quietly in my mind: How do we keep this space relevant amid the shifting economic dynamics of our time? To draw in a younger audience, a space today must do more than house culture — it must engage, immerse, include. My answer: Turn everything around. Leave behind the quiet preservation and reflection that defined the last 20 years, and move instead toward active engagement — one that funds and fuels the creative minds from whom today’s culture is being born.
First was restructuring the four-leveled space by creating a division of commercial events space at the first and second floor. Today, this houses the YSpace and the Yshop (retail) maximizing the high ceiling, circular design ground floor for public engagement, multi-industry and multi-art event collaborations, workshops, exhibitions. These two floors now allow for innovation, for events and pop-ups that can be both commercially viable yet beautifully curated.
The Yuchengco Museum is now at the third and fourth floor housing both changing exhibits and permanent galleries. Three newly curated galleries showcase the legacy left by the museum’s patron, industrialist Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco. His personal collection of National Artist Fernando Amorsolo is now on view, alongside his memorabilia gallery. The small Rizal Gallery represents his idolization of our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal on whose nationalist values he lived from.
Today, the institutional focus is to support the local creative economy. I thought of adding even more depth with the concept of “bridging worlds,” the title of this column. I am excited to see what collaboration can do if we bring in such different creative industries all together to create new things. This is what sets my own creative juices and imagination going. How can we give creative fire to collaborators in the field of animation, literature, visual arts, design, crafts, architecture, film, music, cuisine and dance even…. To story tell together history, vision, contemporary and indigenous expression plus social relevance.
Meanwhile, I continue to watch with dismay the quality of content coming out online, and I know that institutions like museums — which offer informal cultural education — must work even harder to remain relevant. Our youth, so fluent in social media, must be inspired to root and anchor their content in depth and substance — the very things that culture, history and art represent.
Then I heard this troubling news: that the Commission on Higher Education was moving to revise the general education units in a way that would remove many arts, culture and humanities courses — ethics, philosophy among them. I see this, personally, as a fight for our value systems, for consciousness itself. I have always believed that culture carries the spirit of our people — a spirit that is alive, and continually evolving. Just as that spirit comes alive in the collaborations and innovations of our creative minds, so too must it ignite our youth. It is consciousness, then, that we are actively forming in our young — as we move toward this new direction.
In the shadows of my professional past, when I did consultancy work at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Commission spun off the Institute of Culture and Arts Management, where I had the honor of serving as inaugural director. There, we built programs for cultural education that extended even into cultural tourism. Today, I find myself circling back — this same thread now weaving through my own work, an unfinished conversation I am returning to answer. The need has only grown clearer: to step in actively and address the real gaps in our arts and cultural education landscape. And so I look forward — to continuing this institutional direction, to championing cultural education and discourse, one program, one collaboration, at a time.
