Imagining a children’s museum

By Nickky F. P. de Guzman, Reporter
June 27, 2018 | 12:09 am (BusinessWorld Online)

ENGAGING and fun — these are how CANVAS, or the Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development, conceptualizes how a children’s museum should feel like. And the group has put its idea to the test in its ongoing public exhibition, Tumba Tumba Children’s Museum of Philippine Art.

“This is our proof-of-concept show,” said Gigo Alampay, executive director of CANVAS, which is a nonprofit organization that promotes children’s literacy and appreciation for Philippine art, culture, and environment.

Tumba Tumba, which does not cater to kids alone but also to the kids-at-heart, as well, is on view for free at UP Diliman’s Vargas Museum until July 27.

“The instruction to the artists is to make it memorable and interactive,” Mr. Alampay told BusinessWorld during the show’s opening on June 19.

“It’s a step towards the type of museum we want to see in a children’s museum. Besides, it’s a dream for us to share the work and the art that we are slowly putting together since we’ve been around for 13 years,” he added.

In line with the group’s advocacy, the show promotes Philippine literature and Philippine art, and then combines these to create one engaging and energizing show through group or solo activities.

The show occupies two floors of the Vargas Museum that have sections dedicated to CANVAS’ three newest books. Two of the stories won CANVAS’ Romeo Forbes Children’s Story Writing Competition, namely Ipapasyal Namin si Lolo by Genaro Gojo Cruz with art by Arvi Fetalvero, and Aklatang Pusa by Eugene Evasco with art by Jared Yokte.

Ipapasyal Namin si Lolo is a story of a family that goes on a rare and bittersweet trip to their hometown of San Rafael. The ride is peppered with grandfather’s stories of his youth and the war. This section of the exhibit encourages the audience to come sit down and create origami.

Aklatang Pusa, on the other hand, is the story of a retired librarian who catalogues cats instead of books, but she does it unintentionally after she finds stray cats in the backyard. But like books and their stories, she learns that cats are also meant to be shared. Peppered with cat figurines, this section of the exhibit invites the audience to play board games and read books.

The third book, Renato Barja’s Children’s Stories, is a special project that features Mr. Barja’s art and stories as told by Daniel Palma Tayona and Mr. Alampay.

The book is written in vignettes and tells the personal and sometimes heartbreaking stories of the children who Mr. Barja, a painter and sculptor, encountered on his trips to and from his studio and elsewhere. This section of the exhibit has a table dedicated to playing toys, drawing, and coloring.

The show not only promotes play, but it also has special nooks with interactive installations by artists Elmer Borlongan, Pam Yan Santos, and Daniel dela Cruz, and two murals by Archie Oclos, a 2018 Thirteen Artists Awardee.

The show is jam packed with things to see and play with. In addition, it has, in partnership with Resurrection Furniture, a special side show called Abubot, which demonstrates that art can be anything: quirky cabinets and shelves repurposed from old wood and materials, or yarn made into lamp. As Resurrection Furniture is known for resurrecting old furniture and knick-knacks, Abubot is an exhibition of found-objects-turned-art.

“We are trying to learn how to put up a museum, what to put in it,” said Mr. Alampay.

CANVAS’ vision, after all, does not end after the show’s run later this month. Although without concrete plans yet because of budget constraints, it is part of the CANVAS project to put up a permanent Children’s Museum of Philippine Art in Ibaan, Batangas.

The architectural firm Arkisens has come up with a scale model of the future museum, which will contain all that is currently on view at Tumba Tumba, and more, including multipurpose hall, galleries, a studio for resident artists, a museum shop, an amphitheater, and a cafeteria.

The Tumba-Tumba Children’s Museum of Philippine Art proof-of-concept show runs until July 27 at the Vargas Museum in UP Diliman, Quezon City. For more information, e-mail info@canvas.ph or visit its Facebook page: CANVAS — The Center for Art, New Ventures and Sustainable Development.