Friday, May 23, 2008 Culture advocates to open museums until midnight
TO revive the waning interest in museums, the management of five local museums will showcase Cebuano culture and heritage when they open their doors to the public up to midnight on May 31.
The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (Rafi) and the Visayan Association of Museums and Galleries, Inc. (VAMGI) will present the Second Gabii sa Kabilin (Night of Heritage).
From 6 p.m. on May 30 to midnight of May 31, the Basilica del Santo Niño Museum, Fort San Pedro, Casa Gorordo Museum, Yap-San Diego Ancestral Home and the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral Museum will be open to the public.
In a press conference held at Casa Gorordo yesterday, Dr. Jocelyn Gerra, executive director of the RAFI Cultural Heritage Program, said the activity will be a cultural presentation of sorts.
The organizers said they copied the concept from Germany where museums opened with fanfare.
“There is a waning interest in museum visits because museums were always projected as dark,” Gerra said.
Louela Alix, one of the curators of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral Museum, said the set-up of the museums will be reminiscent of the old Cebu, complete with horse-drawn carriages that will bring visitors from one museum to another.
The museums will also have people dressed in traditional dresses from the different periods of Philippine history. “People will see ancestral houses come alive,” Alix said.
The Cebu City police and the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) assured organizers of their support to ensure the success of the activity.
Policemen and mobile patrol cars will be deployed in the vicinity of the museums to ensure peace and order while Citom will provide assistance in traffic management.
The streets will not be closed but horse-drawn carriages will be guided to make sure that they will not cause traffic, said Cebu City Government public information officer and Citom board member Nagiel Bañacia. (Chloe Palang UP Masscom Intern)
