The Yuchengco Museum is the only museum in the country focused on developing the next generation of young curators. In partnership with the University of the Philippines Manila, a new exhibit focusing on Binondo is presently on exhibit, and is the end product of a special program of the museum.
Entitled Binondo: Pride of Place, the exhibit surveys Chinatown’s historic past and colorful present. The exhibit which runs until May 10, 2008, was put together by a group of Philippine Arts majors from the University of the Philippines – Manila. More than 40 maps, photographs, and prints of Binondo from the collection of the Lopez Museum are on view.
Once known as binundok, or the hills along the banks of the Pasig River, Binondo is known as Manila’s Chinatown. The “island” between two creeks provides an interesting glimpse of the culture of a small borough within the big city. With its labyrinth of narrow streets, storehouses, and shops, Binondo seems to have barely altered after centuries as the city’s melting pot of Filipino and Chinese cultures.
Organized by the Yuchengco Museum, UP Manila, and the Lopez Museum, the exhibit is the first culminating project under the Yuchengco Museum and UP Manila’s Young Curators Program. The annual program aims at uncovering developing a new breed of museum curators. The program is also a real-life laboratory for students who are learning the principles and approaches to managing arts projects, galleries, and museums in a Philippine setting. Through their classes at the university and guidance under the museum, the Young Curators learn the skills and procedures necessary for creating a museum exhibit, including designing the exhibit layout, researching and writing exhibit notes and captions, creating education programs, writing press releases, and installing the exhibit.
The Yuchengco Museum is located at RCBC Plaza, Corner Ayala & Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenues, Makati. Museum hours are Monday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. For more information, call 889.1234 or visit www.yuchengcomuseum.org.
