Gold Rush
In this Philippine Tatler exclusive Bambina Olivares Wise writes on the exhibition of Philippine pre- Hispanic gold in New York which is set to change the way the world looks at Philippine culture and history
This exhibition features over 120 gold pieces on loan from The Ayala Museum and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gold Collection
THE NOVELIST CHIMAMANDA Ngozi Adiche warned against the tyranny of the single story. For decades, it would seem, the narrative of the Philippines was reduced to a single story: a country beset by poverty, natural disasters, hostage-happy militants, and thieving presidents. The splendour of our culture, the richness of our history, the surprising complexity of our cuisine—all these layered and nuanced threads that are woven into the tapestry of our nation and identity— were obliterated each time a typhoon of biblical proportions struck, an unwitting tourist kidnapped, or another corruption scandal broke out.
“The importance of this Gold Collection from the 10th to 13th century is what it tells us about ourselves as a people” —Fernando Zobel de Ayala
Fortunately, that single story itself is being obliterated. The conversation has deepened, and our image has definitely improved along with the economy. Landmark exhibitions such as this month’s Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms, which opens at the Asia Society in New York, do so immeasurably much to enlighten and educate a wider international audience about our magnificent heritage that owes very little to Spanish colonialism or American imperialism, and more to a flourishing, sophisticated, mercantile culture that existed in our islands long before European conquistadores claimed discovery of our shores.
This spectacular exhibition, which runs until 3 January 2016, features over 120 spectacular gold pieces dated between the 10th and 13th century, on loan from the Ayala Museum and the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gold Collection in the Philippines. They are supplemented with artefacts from the United States, including exquisite regalia, jewellery, functional and ritualistic objects, ceremonial weapons, and funerary masks.
Many of the objects, unearthed betw een 1960 to 1981, affirm the unprecedented creativity, prosperity, and sophisticated metalworking tradition of the pr e- colonial period. They also attest to flourishing cultural connections and maritime trade in Southeast Asia during what was a very early ( pre-16th century) Asian economic boom.
“Having Asia Society as the platform for mounting the Philippine Gold exhibition is a major coup,” acknowledges Doris Magsaysay-Ho, co-chairman of the Philippine Gold Gala Benefit Committee and Chairman of the Board of Asia Society Philippines.
“This exhibition has been about a y ear in the planning. We’re so happy Asia Society gave us this slot, because sometimes it takes five years before you can book a museum. We felt this year was key because of the APEC meeting in November, which the country is hosting.”
Magsaysay-Ho explained that while the Philippines has a lot of press coming out around APEC,
this is centred on economic and business issues. “And understandably so. The Philippines is doing really well now, everyone’s got their eye on the Philippines, more and more visitors are coming to see the opportunities,” she says. “However, the cultural aspect also needs to be highlighted.”
She adds that what is especially striking about this exhibition is that “these are artefacts that were made before the Spaniards came. This is also very littleknown scholarship-wise, which is why part of the schedule of activities planned around the exhibition in New York includes symposiums. It’s important to place it in the realm of historical scholarship of the Indo-Australasian civilisation that underpins many Southeast Asian cultures.”
In keeping with the mandate of the Asia Society, “the goal is really to promote an understanding of the Philippines, in the context of pre-colonial art history and culture.”
“The Philippines and Philippine culture tend to be perceived internationally in terms of our colonial history under Spain and under the US,” says Fernando Zobel de Ayala, another co-chair of the Gold Benefit Committee, and a scion of the family that established the Ayala Museum. “We Filipinos also tend to perceive our cultural heritage in terms of our Catholic, Hispanicised, and Americanised identities. This exhibition is of great importance because it demonstrates to the international community, and to everyone at home, that the Philippines had a sophisticated culture before contact with the West; that we had close ties with the Hindu-Buddhist cultures of Southeast Asia and the Asian mainland. Other Asians tend to perceive us as an anomaly because we are the only Catholic nation in Asia. The gold exhibit demonstrates that our pre-colonial culture was actually very similar to those of our Hindu-Buddhist neighbors before westernisation, and that we were actively engaged in international maritime trade with other Asians. The superior quality of the gold ornaments also dispels the Western stereotype of pre-colonial Filipinos as ignorant and primitive before Spanish and American intervention.”
Amando Tetangco, Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and in many ways honorary custodian of Philippine gold, past and present, agrees. “The Asia Society event in New York is an excellent opportunity to showcase our pre-colonial cultural heritage. This will be the first time that Philippine pr e-Hispanic gold will be seen in the US. This is an opportune time for other people to know more about the Philippines and Filipinos, and get to know the rich
“The Philippines is doing really well now, everyone’s got their eye on the Philippines. However, the cultural aspect also needs to be highlighted,”—Doris Magsaysay-Ho
cultural heritage of our country, because the Philippines is now considered one of the most exciting among the top-ranked emerging market economies.”
It’s not the first time that the Bangko Sentral’s extensive gold collection has been shown abroad. “The first one was in the 1990s, at a special festival in Paris,” he says, “and the second was in the Musee du Quai Branly, also in Paris, in 2013. Both exhibitions were very well-received. So we thought, here’s another opportunity, and we always value opportunities to showcase our cultural heritage.”
One can describe the collections that comprise the Philippine Gold exhibition, Tetangco continues, “as a result, the fusion between the indigenous and diverse foreign influences [Chinese, Indian, Indo-Malay, etc] on a flourishing economy with active domestic and international trade at the time. The fact is, the pieces show the artistry and the technical ingenuity of our ancestors, who came up with magnificent and complex gold objects.”
Nina Capistrano-Baker, international consultant of the Ayala Museum and co-curator of the Treasures of Forgotten Kingdom of the Asia Society New York, believes that the exhibition sheds light on the ancient kingdoms of the regions where the gold artefacts were discovered in Visayas and Mindanao, including Butuan, Mindoro, and Surigao. Many of the pieces from the Ayala Museum, she explains, actually originated from the private collection of Leandro and Cecilia Locsin.
She relates the story of what became known as the Surigao Treasure, the 1981 discovery of a significant hoard unearthed during a construction dig in Surigao del Sur. Apparently, a machine operator named Berto saw the glint of gold in the earth, chased away his co-workers, retrieved and saved gold belts, crowns, and other gold objects. The route travelled by the gold discovered in the grounds and caves to private collections is fascinating.
“None of these treasures would ever have come
to light if not for the efforts of people like former Bangko Sentral Governor Jaime Laya and Cecilia Locsin,” says Magsaysay-Ho. “They actually saved these artefacts. People were digging up these things. They would find a belt, for instance, and say, listen, let’s split this among the five of us, and they would cut it up, sell the gold or melt it, with no real consciousness of its value.
“Jimmy Laya was telling me about how people would come to him at Bangko Sentral and offer him, say, a belt. If he found the price too high, they would then go to Cecilia Locsin and sell it to her for less! But at the end of the day, they helped safeguard this important and rich heritage.”
Among the treasures on display are a beautiful scallop-edged gold goblet from Surigao, circa 10th13th century; an intricately detailed ear ornament dating from the same period, possibly from the Eastern Visayas or Northern Mindanao; and a magnificent Kinnari, the mythical creature that was half-bird, half-human, with exquisite feather detailing, also from Surigao.
According to Asia Society President and CEO Josette Sheeran, “Asia Society is thrilled to showcase these stunning gold treasures from the Philippines that are not only historically significant, but demonstrate a rich cultural heritage and point of pride for Filipinos. The Philippine Gold exhibition showcases the great history of a little-known but captivating era.”
In the process of putting the exhibition together, Magsaysay-Ho adds, “I realised how very few people know about this. A lot of Filipinos don’t, and it’s such a significant part of our history.”
So little in fact is known of pre-colonial Philippines, what our ancestors looked like, what they wore, why they ornamented themselves in gold. The Boxer Codex, which dates back to around 1590, is perhaps one of the few existing documents that provide descriptions and illustrations of that time in our history. An existing copy of the Codex belongs to the Lilly Library in the University of Indiana in Bloomington, which is on view at the exhibition. From the Codex we can glean that both men and women wore gold rings on their ears, neck, arms and legs. Gold often was an indicator of the person’s stature in a community, and indicative of their social class.
Adds Zobel de Ayala, “More than its weight in gold, the importance of this Gold Collection from the 10th to 13th century is what it tells us about ourselves as