By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
Museums have always fascinated me since my high school days in Quezon city. That is to see say that am also interested in libraries and history in general.
I see museums as a walk-thru of history; to know and understand the past so we could understand the present and allow us to create an appropriate path for a brighter future.
Such thought made me visit museums wherever I set my feet on, with ample time, here and abroad. I really love museums. Add to that, heritage sites-under UNESCO or otherwise, historical monuments, places, objects, and others.
Whenever I enter a museum, I can feel that the past comes alive giving me the spontaneity of visualizing what people were doing before. It is like being transported in time but only with the non-moving artifacts in front of me as the vehicle.
Had the good opportunity to visit some of the museums outside the country. These include the Deutsche Museum in Munich, Germany for its sheer hugeness that one can not fully appreciate its content in just 2 days of visit, the Chiang Kai Shek in Taiwan for its sleekness and compactness without being “over packed”, the Village museum in Hasselt, Belgium detailing that it is in that town where the industrial revolution started and not in England.
Got also to visit the Finger Lakes in New York which could be considered as a village museum because it is in one of those inland lakes, the Seneca (174 sq. km, 188m deep), where new American submarine was secretly developed and tested the second world war.
The visit to the Mozart museum and the ruins of Salzburg castle (serving like a museum) in Salzburg, Austria was also memorable. The city was a former capital of the powerful Habsburg dynasty (empire) that started in 1273 which ruled much of Europe.
There are other museums that I visited, especially in Belgium and Germany which filled by curiosity for history. They are good learning experiences to set us up for better adapting to the changing times.
Clearly, we need museums as we need technologies in our society today.
That is why the holding of the Philippine Museum Congress in Baguio city from Oct 7-10, 2025 is so relevant. It is only the 2nd iteration of the Congress. Hosted by the Baguio Museum headed by Mr. Peter Ng, it was held at the Supreme Hotel and attended by more than 120 participants from throughout the country.
The 1st Museum Congress was held 3 years earlier in Makati.
It is noted that there is a dwindling number of people visiting museums. Realizing this, Mayor Benjie Magalong in his message to the participants, thinks that the Baguio Museum and the city itself could serve as a model for sustainability. This jibes well with the idea that a museum is for all ages. Thus, the true strength of the museum is the value that it imparts to the people.
Peter Ng himself believes that museums can be used as center of innovations, empowerment, etc.; they bridge the heritage from generation to generation.
Kidlat Tahimik (Eric De Guia), the revered national artist for indie films, was the Guest of Honor during the opening day. He took the stage by storm by his unique way of delivering his message. He showed clips of two of his acclaimed films, emphasized his points by changing his attire and indulging in a “mono-skit”. It was a powerful presentation.
He paid tribute to one of his mentors, Lopez Namuyac, who had a hard time correctly pronouncing the word indigenous, making it indi-genius. To which Tatay Kidlat, as he is fondly called, twisted it a bit to make it indio-genius.
He emphasized the relevance of listening to the elders as he listened to his mentor. This is to say, “listen to the museum”, so you will be bestowed with the gift of wisdom from the past to deal with the uncertainties of the future.
At the end, Tatay kid intoned, “Let’s go back to our indio-genius ways because the world is waiting for us.”
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