MEGAWORLD’S ILOILO BUSINESS PARK ADDS ART TO THE MIX WITH NEW MUSEUM
It was Megaworld that pioneered the “township” concept of urban planning in the Philippines, creating a “work-life-play” synergy within its colorful development projects. Now, you can add “art” to that mix. Megaworld Commercial SVP Kevin Tan was on hand last Saturday night to launch the Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art (ILOMOCA) inside Megaworld’s 72-hectare Business Park in Iloilo City.
It’s not only the first museum venture for Megaworld, the P110 million building is also the first contemporary art museum in the Visayas-Mindanao region devoted mostly to Filipino and Ilonggo artists.
“It’s a very important milestone for Megaworld,” Tan noted during opening remarks in the lobby of the modern, three-story, 3,000-sqm. museum housed inside the Casa De Emperador complex. “It’s the company’s first museum, and there’s no better place to have it than Iloilo Business Park.”
Why Iloilo, some might ask? Initially, when Tan discovered Iloilo’s thriving art scene, he learned that quite a lot of Filipino artists who are now residing abroad come from Iloilo. “We said we’ve got make this place a center of culture and arts. Of course, it’s a business district as well — you know, you have your offices here, your shopping mall. But the city has to have its soul. We put the Marriott Hotel and Richmonde Hotel, but the museum has to be the centerpiece of the development.”
We stop in front of a large mural by Norberto “Peewee” Roldan called “Litany 2A” made up of vintage religious estampitas, flattened softdrink crowns and fabrics arranged in a series of boxes. It’s almost cheeky, with its tiny shrines containing framed Mother Marys and anting-anting sprigs. Tan calls it one of his favorites, along with several Nelfa Querubin Zenith stoneware pieces from 2006.
Much of the initial collection, over 200 works, was loaned by local artist Edwin Valencia, with many by established Ilonggo artists such as Rock Drilon, Ed Defensor and Jose Tence (“Bogie”) Ruiz, but also including works by Salvador Dali, Joan Miro and Marc Chagall, as well as up-and-coming local artists such as Clairelyn Uy, Toti Cerda and Moreen Austria, a young
Metrobank Artist awardee whose mixed-metal sculpture graces the museum entrance.
Tan says the primary motivation was highlighting young local talent. “When we started, I said it will have to focus on Ilonggo artists, and really promote them on a bigger scale. I felt, by putting their works beside those of other artists from all over the world, it would bring up their stature in a sense.”
It fell to UP Visayas vice chancellor and ILOMOCA curator Martin Genodepa to curate much of the museum. He framed it around Valencia’s loaned pieces, exploring the identity of artists who trace their roots to Iloilo and Western Visayas. In future quarterly exhibits, ILOMOCA will include more Ilonggo artists, though they’ll prioritize art awardees and those who have some standing already. “The process of selection will be pretty stringent, otherwise we’ll be exhibiting everybody,” says Genodepa. Exhibiting artists are expected to “give back” by holding at least one lecture inside the museum and one for local schools and universities.
Downstairs in the museum lobby on opening night, where a hundred or so local media, artists, DOT officials and Megaworld reps mingle over raclette and cocktails, a back space — Hulot — currently features Filipino-themed works by Spanish sculptor Gines Serran-Pagan, who flew in for the event and was commissioned to make the bronze statue of Panay island liberator Gen. Martin Delgado in the plaza fronting the museum.
It’s an interesting combination: a contemporary art museum inside Casa De Emperador, a Spanish-themed building that will eventually house a brandy museum celebrating the spirit’s history as well as Megaworld’s top-selling brand — all resting at the head of Festive Parade Walk, a three-kilometer strip offering condo residences (One Madison Place, Saint Honore, The Palladium) as well as regional business headquarters (Metrobank and others hold office here); an international convention center flanked by Richmonde and Marriott hotels; numerous BPOs, restaurants and street-food options; as well as the massive Festive Mall to open this April. It’s all part of what Megaworld calls “future-proofing” its townships: keeping them modern, up-to-date, attractive to a young market, and tied in with local interests — art being one of them.
A youthful outlook is important to Tan. “Definitely, we try to raise the youthfulness of our brands. Whether it’s Megaworld, or Emperador, or McDonald’s, the one common denominator is these are all consumer brands that target the young. Predominantly, the people who live in our townships are emerging or upper middle class, and these are all young people. They find the township concept and living attractive.”
Tan reveals that ILOMOCA is just step one in Megaworld’s new commitment to art spaces. Also planned in the next two years are a Chinese heritage museum in Binondo (Lucky Chinatown Museum) honoring the Chinese community in the Philippines over the past 400 years; a museum in Mactan exploring Magellan and Lapu-Lapu that will “pay homage to our heroes”; and possibly a Pampanga museum honoring the sugar industry and its impact on the Philippines.
“It just adds to the historical value,” says Tan of Megaworld’s new focus on museums. “When we go into a development, going into a place, we always feel that we have to add value to the place. We felt that creating jobs is one thing, but putting in the culture and history, that really then transforms the place. And it’s something that transcends generations: the youth of tomorrow, you’re kind of reminding them of their history.”
ILOMOCA also offers a souvenir shop, a “Hulot” space at the lobby that’s free to the public, and a theater space at the second level called The Box available for live performances and screenings.
The museum is open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with tickets at P100 for regular admission and P50 for students.
Visit www.facebook.com/ILOMOCA for more information.