By Nancy T.Lu
Sunday Times Magazine, 28 Sept. 1968, p. 38-41
Experienced collectors with a discriminating eye for
genuine museum pieces are wont to spot them all over the archipelago whether be
in some isolated, weather-beaten ruins, or in some unexplored nooks of private
homes. Because many a Cagayan artifact was not meant to be kept unseen, a
number of these cultural treasures which can easily swell he Cagayan pride
recently left their forbidding enclaves to undergo maximum public exposure in
Lal-lo, the site of the Cagayan Provincial Fair.
The preliminaries involved in the ostentatious display of Cagayan’s cultural heritage demanded concerted efforts including no less the
governor’s personalized attempts in convincing the reluctant citizenry to loan
the valuable family heirlooms they have been hoarding all this while in the
privacy of their homes for the provincial exhibit. Which true-blooded Cagayano
dared refuse Governor Dupaya’s request when she made it a point to call on the
selected families personally? Repetitious assurances of security precautions
had to be made in many cases to assuage the concerned individuals’ anxiety over
the loss or damage that may befall their cherished properties.
Thus, the the cultural relics were brought in from all
over Cagayan. And thus began also the pressing problem of identifying, sorting
out, and classifying the numerable items comprising Cagayan’s cultural wealth.
While the mian responsibility was delegated to the committee on relics,
artifacts and antiques, a supervising authority was wanting. Invitation was
extended a museology expert and soon enough, Fr. Jesus Meriño, O.P., of the
U.S.T. Museum of Arts and Sciences flew in as the givernor’s special guest from
Manila.
The enthusiastic Dominican friar took one look at all the
collected objects laden with dust of the centuries and proceeded to single out
slowly the “real wonders of art”. Taking care to jot down the outstanding
features of the unique antiques as he went about rummaging for more of Cagayan’s
historical possessions, he decided to direct the obliging engineer and helpful architect
to classify and arrange the artifacts according to three general divisions: 1).
People. Life and History, 2). Home, 3). Church.
Grouped along with the first category were tablewares
imported from all over Eirope. There were eighteenth century chocolate cups of
Spanish make. Some porcelain plates were German-made as a sopera all the way
from Vienna. Certain chinawares had designs that connoisseurs would easily
detect as rough British imitations of the fine, delicate artistic Chinese
strokes. Gracing the opening of the Cagayan Fair with her very presence, the
First Lady was reported to have taken fancy to a platter with a dent for gravy.
An alert guard constantly kept close watch over one of
those contemporary glass showcases showing private collections of international
coins and currencies. For security reasons, these precious personal belongings
had to be locked away elsewhere every night. And for the same reason the owners
chose to remain unidentified by name throughout the duration of the cultural
exhibit.
Spanish Attires
Sweeping feminine attires of the Spanish era came in
different colors tha had faded unevenly with the times. Nineteenth century
camisas, panuelos and sayas that lay almost completely forgotten there in
dust-colored trunks and spider-webbed
chests that had seen better days were put out once more ahere a fairly strong
whiff of air caused that distinct smell of age to permeate the atmosphere. But
a real item for Ripley’s Believe it or Not was this sable-hued tapis with
romantic Castilian verses woven in white silk thread all over it. Father Meriño
obligingly translated the love poem as a love-stricken lovers’ reproach to
his loved one never to forget that he is unhappy if should forget him. The Spanish
priest volunteered a surmise that he
must have been jilted by the girl. Apparently, the boy must have asked his
sister to weave the chiding message into the tapis he later gave his girlfriend
as a sentimental gift immortalizing his affections for her. Father Meriño
further concluded from the numerous misspelled words that the poetic lover must
have been a native and not a Spaniard.
The first recorded museums of old found in Egypt and
Greece were reported to have been temples which held community treasures mainly
religious in nature. Even today, votive objects for propitiatory purposes
constitute a greater bulk of solicited artifacts in the traditional
repositories all over the world. By sheer coincidence or otherwise, the
recently tagged Artifacts Building found in the Tabacalera Compound in Lal-lo
was once a convent-chapel servicing the Lal-lo community. Surviving the earth
tremors of the seventeenth century, it had since been converted into some other
more mundane use. Nevertheless, the indisputable cracks effected by the
earthquake remain visible as the original concrete structure never really gave
way to complete renovation. The only incongruous touches contradicting its
otherwise incontrovertible claim to antiquity rest in the rust-free galvanized
iron roofings and the wooden additions
still fresh with paint. Furthermore, the dimly-lit interior was not
stripped of its sacrosanct air.
“I simply directed the architect and the engineer to give
a particular portion of the building a semblance of a chapel,” Father Meriño
said. “How they would go about it I left it to their discretion for what really
mattered was that they should project a suggestion of an improvised altar with
all the essential elements that should go with it. It was a pity, however, that
the 3-tiered altar could not be reconstructed as such because the ceiling did
not extend upward high enough.”
From Tuao, lying ion the boundary of Cagayan and Mountain
Province, had come the curious elements
of a once magnificent altar. For one
reason or another, the severely-damaged church of Tuao was neglected for a time
by the people and eventually, its gilded altar was exposed to the elements. It
took a prudent parish priest to go out of his way to salvage whatever was left
of a once beautiful place of worship. Dismantling the whole construction, he
proceeded to keep the columns and the
wings of the altar under his house where they would be safe.
Mishandled
Instances of mishandling of the high-priced artifacts
were not exactly unheard of. Father Meriño bewailed, for instance, how too much
cleaning of the wings of the altarby eager individuals caused the parts of the
altra to be deprived of the gold-plated designs of flowers and leaves. The
traces of gold sheen came off when the clay beneath got wet and gave way.
Of the twenty one columns chiseled along the
pseudo-classic artistic plan, three were not in pairs. Then, too, a number of
these elaborated designed columns were as there should be thirty six columns
all in all. Also nowhere to be found were the indispensable connecting beams of
the altar.
Each pillar was carved from the trunk of the sturdy narra
tree. Father Meriño concluded that the columns must have been carved by native
artists well-trained in the Spanish tradition. But who supervised these
artists? He asked. Could it have been the parish priest who was known to have
been an artist himself?
Just as attractive was the seventeenth century century
retablo from the Camalanlugan church where it served as a screen shielding the
interior of the church from the outsiders. Formed from nine enduring narra
trunks, the unique relief depicted Our Lady of the Rosary as an intercessor for
souls in purgatory. The curious thing about it, however, was in its representation
of souls as differentiated from angels flying about freely with wings. The penitent souls ascending into heaven all by themselves were without wings. In
had to look closely to see the striking difference.
As borne by the subdued tones of colorings and enamel,
artistry was prominent in this work of art. While the planning and drawing ,
the panorama and the general idea were unquestionably Spanish, the carving itself
was adjudged as Chinese,
However, on the whole, the wide array of displayed
objects could not boast of outstanding or fine artistry. In several instances,
the anonymous creators of these solid figures manifested an obvious lack of
artistic academic training. The feet either went out of line thus producing an
abnormal effect or the head suggested strongly a mournful absence of a sense of
proportion, In one case, the crucified Christ could have passed with fairly
good remarks from sharp critics except for the flaw that took the shape of an
oversized crown of thorns.
But that was not what really counted. In spite of it all,
these classified works of art
Do have a place in national repositories known as
museums. They make even more interesting subjects of study.
Trooping in
And so they trooped in—the people from the remote towns
all ver Cagayan valley and even the residents of the neighboring provinces. Artifacts
galore turned out to be part of Lal-lo’s treat for the day. Garbed in motley
attires, they took a close look at Cagayan’s treasured belongings vying for
attention: medium sized saints molded along the traditional poses whether it
was st. Peter portrayed as a penitent in a sixteenth century carving or St.
Thomas Aquinas crushing the malignant church heresies aptly represented by a
vicious serpent with seven venomous heads; from Tuao, a sixteenth century
pedestal highly suggestive of Kalinga art; round brass candlesticks belying Kalinga
influence also; the primitive-looking sitting figure of Our Lord of Patience—an
object of special devotion during the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries;
the priceless ivory images of the Blessed Virgn Mary and the crucified Redeemer
of mankind; priestly vestments from Valencia, Spain, such as the chasuble and
the dalmatic all sporting embroidered designs in silk and gold threads.
For objects closer to home , there were chairs from Vienna,
a dining table reportedly 265 years old; an antiquated creaking trunk, an
austere rattan and wooden bed; a harp and even a strange-looking escribania or
writing desk with several minute drawers.
The enterprising organizers who set about introducing a
pleasantly stimulating aura of culture consciousness not just to an exclusive
sophisticated clique but to the public at large had fanned the clamor for a permanent
repository of valuable artifacts. The idea then was for the government to
subsidize an aesthetic refuge—call it a
museum—where privately-held relics could be brought for safekeeping. Here, too,
experienced personnel, trained to engage in research, curatorial and library
work will know how to handle best the delicate works of art so that the artistic
heritage of a people may be preserved.
Meanwhile, Lal-lo’s Artifacts Building if converted permanently
into a veritable showcase of Cagayan treasures portends well for what may , in
the long run, emerge as a flourishing cultural institution for the Cagayan inhabitants.
It certainly has the prototype shapings of a provincial museum in the making.
And who could have thought of a more fitting place than Lal-lo, with its historical
background and interesting topography?
The millennium for complete recognition of the the
importance of a museum may not have arrived in the Philippines, but many a
Cagayano will certainly not object to Lal-lo, nce the provincial capital, as
the site where a sanctuary of Cagayan pride will find a lasting place.
