Secret no more, as black light art exhibit opens at  Museo ni Emilio Aguinaldo

KAWIT, Cavite: A serious take on the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community during revolution and independence on a highly instagrammable medium – black light, is the latest feature of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines’ Museo ni Emilio Aguinaldo (MEA) in Kawit, Cavite.

Open Secret, a project of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) through its Cultural and Heritage Unit (CHU), which offers glimpses of folklore during revolution and resistance, runs at MEA until February of 2024.

The exhibit which was originally designed as a pocket exhibit “set up in a re-purposed container van for Gabii ng Kabilin or Night of Heritage,” shared Marthel Jay Ubas, RAFI-CHU’s Museum Specialist who spearheaded the exhibit opening on behalf of Program Director Florencio Moreńo last November 11.

Of the collection and art pieces, Ubas shared  that RAFI-CHU – through its flagship projects namely Casa Gorordo, Research and Publication, and Gabii sa Kabilin;  wanted an exhibit that would engage an audience whose hopes and visions of themselves and of their country have been warped by a crippling and disheartening pandemic.

“Our objective was to nudge young people to dream again – to pick up extant cultural symbols that could give them inspiration not just to build back but to build better,” adds Ubas.

A seriously thought-of project, the exhibit is a combination of small objects and a meaningful storytelling.  Combine these with black light, one is sure to have an unforgettable cultural experience.

Now a traveling exhibit – after securing a partnership with NHCP, MEA is “Open Secret’s” 2^nd leg outside the province of Cebu, after its initial run at San Juan’s El Deposito Museum last month.  The Kawit holding is made possible through the strong support of its local government and local tourism office.

MEA, dubbed as the “House of History” is also one of the most active museums known for offering fresh, new approaches as it collects, preserves, interprets, and display objects of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the study and education of the public.