The Secret is Out: “Open Secret” at the Premier Museo Ni Emilio Aguinaldo
The exhibit “Open Secret: Glimpses of Folklore in Resistance and Revolution” is currently on display at the premier Museo ni Emilio Aguinaldo, also known as the Cavite El Viejo Shrine, in Kawit, Cavite until February 2024. The exhibit is molded from a partnership between the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc (RAFI) through its Casa Gorordo Museum, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and the Local Historical Committees Network.
Lending support are the Municipality of Kawit, Kawit Tourism and the Department of Public Works and Highways – National Capital Region.
The exhibit highlights the influence of folklore on the participation of the masses in the revolution against the Spaniards towards the end of the 20th century. It is a unique view of the formation of the 1898 Philippine Republic which was established upon the victory of Aguinaldo’s troops in the Kawit Revolt and installed him as the first Philippine President.
The exhibit is a black light show – darkened spaces serve as galleries for paintings rendered in neon acrylic, the artworks glowing against the black lighting.
It was first staged as a highlight of last year’s holding of the RAFI-spearheaded “Gabii sa Kabilin” in May, and had a subsequent run in June at the North Wing Atrium of SM City Cebu that was staged in line with last year’s Independence Day celebrations. It was also brought to San Juan City last year as part of the 92nd celebration of National Heroes’ Day in Philippines.
The exhibit is drawn to form by parallelisms from the 1979-published book “Pasyon and Revolution” by historian Reynaldo Ileto.
The book largely upturned previous readings of the Philippine Revolution, as it provoked a generation of academics and culture afficionados to seriously look into the mystical dimensions that are entwined with the revolutionary movements that took place in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Equal parts conceptual and practical, the exhibit plies on the notion of inscrutability as a weapon, as it has been found and observed in narratives and symbolisms involving revolutionary figures and events.
It proposes to trace the many ways folkloric symbols and imagery were held to contend with societal shifts and upheavals, as well as document how folklore and mythology “conversed and connected” with real-life revolutionaries of the past.
On display are various images from Cebuano folklore and culture produced by young and budding Cebuano artists Ezra Carillo, Lexi Velasquez, Anne Beatrice Aparicio, Valerie Demecillo, Godfrey Sigamata, Clea Louel Laurel, Stephanie Jan Bacallo, Michael John Gedy, Raili Ann Kapuno Reshney Marie Arcillas from the Cebu Institute of Technology-University CAMVAS (Creative Alliance of Multimedia and Visual Arts Students) and Aljun Alvarez, Mea Surigao, Gabriel Rupert Panim, Jean Mansueto from the University of the Philippines – Cebu FASO (Fine Arts Student Organization).
The Aguinaldo Shrine is the ancestral home of Emilio Aguinaldo. It is distinctly prominent in Philippine history as the Declaration of Philippine Independence from Spain was read by its author, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista from the window of the grand hall on June 12, 1898.
When he became president, Aguinaldo enlarged the house and constructed an elaborate “independence balcony” which was used for Independence Day celebrations. Aguinaldo donated the property to the government on June 12, 1963.