Celebrating Moro through interactive art installation at Ayala Museum Plaza

Have you tried passing Ayala Museum Plaza, Makati Avenue cor Dela Rosa St.? Don’t miss it until the end of May. The interactive art installation to celebrate Moro culture through Manara, a project of Ayala Foundation. Manara means the Arabic word for “minaret” – is the result of the creative collaboration between internationally acclaimed sculptor and painter Toym lmao and industrial designer and installation artist Lilianna Manahan. I was very fortunate to meet personally the two acclaimed Filipino Artists.

Toym Imao

Lilianna Manahan

Featuring 23 minarets and lanterns, the Manara interactive art installation features Moro textiles, wood and metal work, music, and indigenous patterns. Traditionally, minarets served as lighthouses, providing light to people and vessels that needed to find their way. Minarets, which are also important architectural features of mosques, are also where calls to prayer are made.

Similarly, the Manéra art installation hopes to shed light on the richness and diversity of Moro culture, and in the process inspire a deeper understanding of Muslim Filipinos. At the same time, the interactive art installation serves as a call for unity—for Filipinos, even though they come from diverse backgrounds, to become more open to dialogue and cooperation.

"In an increasingly digital environment, art continues to be a powerful expression of today’s realities and an important medium to convey messages of enlightenment, action, and community. We see this interactive exhibit as an opportunity to promote awareness and further educate people about the rich and inspiring culture of Mindanao communities and the significant role the Moro culture plays in our country’s history and heritage,” Ayala Foundation Co-Chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala said.

with Mr. Ruel Maranan

“The spirit of collaboration, mutual respect, and creativity shown in Manéra is the exact same spirit that we live by at Ayala Foundation. Through our various initiatives in education, youth leadership, sustainable livelihood, and arts and culture, we make sure that we are aligned with the needs of our stakeholders, and focus on programs that make an impact in the lives of the people we serve, which include our conglomerate, our communities, and the rest of the country” says Ruel Maranan, president of Ayala Foundation.

For over 50 years, Ayala Foundation has been implementing community development initiatives in Mindanao. One of the foundation's first projects was the Sumiiao Cattle Research Project at Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro in the 19603. At present, the foundation has been nurturing its partnership with the Autonomous Region of Muslim ~ Mindanao for its youth leadership program Leadership Communities, and its education program Training Institute.

Ayala Foundation has also partnered with the City Government of  Marawi for the community-based Siyapen Drug Rehabilitation Center, which was started earlier this year. Guests are welcome to explore and interact with Manara at the Ayala Museum Plaza. The installation will then be brought to key sites in Visayas and Mindanao later this year.

For more information, visit www.a ayalafoundationor ,or “Like” facebook.com/ayalafoundation.

Ayala Foundation’s Initiatives in Mindanao

As the social development arm of the Ayala group, Ayala Foundation envisions communities where people are productive, creative, self-reliant, and proud to be Filipino,

Founded in 1961 as Filipinas Foundation, the foundation’s first program was, in fact, implemented in Mindanao: the Sumilao Cattle Research Project, which sought to upgrade the quality of livestock in Bukidnon.

In the 1970s  the foundation also undertook several studies on Muslim Mindanao, looking at migration patterns, culture, public policy, and economic opportunities. Projects in Mindanao continued in the 19803 and 19905, until Filipinas Foundation was renamed Ayala Foundation in 1990, signaling the Ayala group’s renewed commitment to improving lives and contributing to national development.

Ayala Foundation’s operations in Mindanao are based in Cagayan de Oro City.

At present, Ayala Foundation’s initiatives in Mindanao focus on two program areas—youth leadership and education, the bulk of which are done in partnership with the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

• Leadership Communities, a program which strengthens the leadership potential of community-based youth as they identify urgent challenges faced by their own communities, and to conceptualize and implement projects to address these challenges. LeadCom has reached the youth in Cagayan de Oro, Davao City, and Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte.
• Basilan Young Leaders Program-LeadCom, where 28 young Muslim leaders underwent an immersion and exposure programs, enabling them to appreciate best practices in health, education, livelihood, peace and synergy in key cities around the country. This was done in partnership with RG Mujiv Hataman and the ARMM and the Eisenhower Fellows Association of the Philippines (EFAP). These 28 young leaders either partnered with each other or put up their own groups to implement projects. These resulted in 10 youth projects that had 628 direct beneficiaries benefited through the efforts of youth leaders; 167 youth volunteers all over Basilan were involved in the implementation of the projects.
• Bangsamoro Young Leaders Program-LeadCom was initiated to build on the success of the Basilan Young Leaders Program, this time reaching out to the entire ARMM. Ongoing is the project conceptualization phase, where 35 Bangsamoro youth are participating.
• Training Institute is a teacher training program focusing on four major elements, namely classroom pedagogy, development of critical thinking skills, values clarification and use of technology in the classroom. Ongoing are two-year training sessions in both Lamitan and Lantawan in Basilan where 41 teachers and school heads learn new techniques in improving the classroom experience. In Cagayan de Oro, AFl has trained 64 teachers, most of whom will also become trainers for TI initiatives in other parts of Mindanao.
• Global Filipino Schools, a partnership program between Ayala Foundation, Globe Telecom, Mitsubishi, and the City Government‘of Cagayan de Oro, provides internet connectivity and teacher training in the use of technology in the classroom. GFS reached 2,710 pupils and 62 teachers from Fr. Masterson Elementary School and lndahag Elementary School, both in Cagayan de Oro.
• The Siyapen Drug Rehabilitation Center is a partnership project with the City Government of Marawi, and hopes to provide a community-based approach to drug rehabilitation. It Will be opened in 2017.

Since I’m here already at the Ayala Museum I’m as well visit the second floor gallery of the Ayala Museum. It was my first time to enter here although I always pass here going to the malls. Once again I’m one of the lucky to see the library exhibition for the two revolutionaries.

One was a Katipunero and a musician, the other the most celebrated Filipino writer of the 20th century. Both played key roles in the formation of the nation, and helped us understand what it means to be Filipino and to commemorate the 150th Math anniversary of Julio Nakpil and the 100th birth anniversary of Nick Joaquin, the Filipinas Heritage Library is hosting a series of events in sup- port of “Joaquin and Nakpil: Reveiuiicnary," an exhibition that honors two truly revolutionary Filipinos.

Starting on May 20 at the second floor gallery of the Ayala Museum, “Joaquin and Nakpil: Revolutionary" presents the life and work of Nakpil and Joaquin as a conversation. Although there is no account of these two remarkable individuals meeting, they shared common passions, which inspired their work. Highlighting Joaquin’s nonfiction and Nakpil’s musical compositions, this multisensory exhibition presents their love for the city of their birth, Manila; their thoughts on the Philippine Revolution and the birth of the nation and their views on key people that shaped our nation’s history.

During the exhibition’s run, “Joaquin and Nakpil: Revolutionary” will be supported by a series of lectures, film screenings, and public performances:

1) June 3 - music professors Felipe de Leon Jr. and Alexandra lnigo-Chua will deliver talks on the music and milieu of Nakpil.

2) June 16 - In a world premiere, Nakpil’s music will be performed by the Manila Symphony Orchestra, with the special participation of Dr. Raul Sunico, at the Ayala Museum lobby.

3) June 17 - Sari Dalena’s film Dahling Nick, which offers a glimpse of the man behind some of the most enduring works in Philippine literature and journalism, will be screened and will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and other resource speakers.

4) July - The family of  Nick Joaquin will also stage a musical adaptation of Joaquin’s well-loved children’s story “How Love Came to Juan Tamad" sometime in July.

5) July 15 - As a culminating activity, film scholar and filmmaker Nick Deocampo will talk about Joaquin in the context of  the 100th year of Philippine cinema.

The exhibit, “Joaquin and Nak pil: Revolutionary” runs from May 20 to July 23, and may be viewed for free. “Joaquin and Nakpil: Revolutionary" is presented by the Filipinas Heritage Library and the Ayala Museum in partnership with the Bahay NakpiI-Bautista Foundation and the Estate of  Nick Joaquin.

For more information (such as ticket prices and schedule updates) on the supporting events, call (02) 759-8281 or e-mail asklibrarian fili inaslibra .or . h. lnterested audi- ences may also pre-register at www.tinyurl.com/revolutionaryzo17.