The Revolution against Spain Begins, 1896

Gone are the days when trips to libraries are considered customary and visits to museums are anything but unusual. Nowadays, people would rather go to shopping hubs and commercial centers to splurge to no end, to lazily kill time, and to wait until the day ends. Critics would blame the country’s cultural decadence to the continuing advancements in technology.

Eclipsing cultural enrichment is fanaticism over commercialism, anything that does away with highfaluting scholastic pursuits, and everything that provides instant gratification. Some may argue; but let’s face it. The more global the Pinoy has become, the farther he is hurled away from the threads that bind him to his national identity.

Of course some would also say that the cultural sector hasn’t done enough to push through with programs that people of this generation, especially from the grassroots level, would deem interesting and interactive, programs that would harp on making them want to be at libraries, galleries, and museums at any time of the day just because, and programs that rekindle enthusiasm to go back to the historical past to understand and to contextualize the present.

At the Ayala Museum, re-introducing Philippine history, its impact, its significance, and its exactitude to Filipinos, both old and young, is on top of its priorities. A 35-year-old permanent exhibition of 60 dioramas at the museum representing key events in Philippine history done with the artistic interplay of color, light, and dimension is one example of the museum’s continuing efforts to give what is due to times gone by.

Located at the second floor gallery of the museum, the dioramas are chronologically arranged from pre-historic Philippines up to the recognition of Philippine independence by the Americans to ensure smooth continuity of historical events and to establish relationship between one diorama to another.

They are based on extensive and rigorous research and provide immediate milieus and sensibilities of each diverse period. Architectural themes, technology, costume, and topography of the life and times are presented in detail in each handmade diorama, making viewers feel of ‘being there as history happens.’

Enhancing the diorama experience is the production of audio guides to the exhibition that were made possible though the support of the Catawamteak Fund. Museum-goers may now listen to the narrations of broadcaster Mari Kaimo and voices of Jaime Fabregas, Roy Alvarez, Yan Yuzon, and Paolo Fabregas as they go through and view each milestone in Philippine history. Each audio guide runs roughly from one to two minutes and provides a brief background and information of each three-dimensional scale model.

Some of the spoken commentaries quote directly from notable historians such as Antonio Pigafetta; other recordings include a song from the zarzuela ‘Walang Sugat’ written in 1902 by Severino Reyes, an original sound-bite of Manuel Quezon’s ‘My Message to my People,’ live recording of U.S.

President Franklin Roosevelt’s ‘A Date Which Will Live in Infamy’ speech one day after the Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor, and portion of General Douglas MacArthur’s radio message after landing in Leyte in 1944.

The exhibition culminates with a multimedia presentation of the events that led to the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.

Asked when additional dioramas would be constructed, Duffie Hufana Osental of the Education Programs and Services of the museum said that it may take 15 to 20 years before the museum adds another collection following the 1986 EDSA Revolution, as times are still changing and evolving, noting that historians cannot fully analyze and interpret historical events that have not yet come full circle.

Visual artist Fernando Zobel was the brainchild of the dioramas while Enrique Zobel, Jaime Zobel de Ayala, and late National Artist Carlos Quirino, author and historian, were responsible on which historical events to portray. Comprehensive visual composition and studies were made first by artists before the dioramas were put to construction. Made from baticulin wood, the figurines were hand-carved by Paete artists in Laguna. Each diorama took anywhere between eight months to two years to complete depending on its complexity.

Fees for the use of audio guides are P100 for adults and P50 for students and senior citizens.