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| The Ayala Museum |
One may think the Ayala Museum is too formal a place for young children. Cameras are strictly prohibited. The Gold Exhibit on the fourth floor has deterring gates with prison-like steel bars. Most of the rare items on display are encased in glass and cannot be touched. There are guards at every turn. The dignified ambience commands a respectful decorum. Parents with very young children may deem it inappropriate to bring their tiny tots to the Ayala Museum - but we did just that on a lazy Sunday morning, and we had a great time. While it is not a children's museum, and isn't designed specifically for a young audience the way Museo Pambata is, there are a number of ways in which Ayala Museum is kid-friendly.
To begin with, kids below 3 get in for free. Then there's the Annual Family Membership Pass that allows unlimited access to the museum for parents and all their children under 18 years old for an annual fee of 2,000 pesos - this is a good idea for large families with school-age kids. Oliver and I decided to go for individual membership since our kids are below 3 years old and can still get in for free. Adults only need to pay a very reasonable 500 pesos, while students pay only 300 for a year's worth of museum visits per person. Membership perks include invitations to exhibit openings; curator-led tours; discounts for workshops, lectures, symposia, and family activities organized by the museum; and discounts at the Museum Cafe.
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| My pre-museum energy booster: coffee at M Cafe. |
Before going to the museum, we started out with breakfast at M Cafe. Oliver and I read the newspaper and had coffee while our kids took a stroll with their Yaya Ruby at the garden nearby. There are koi ponds, and sculptures, and wide open spaces and many shady spots for the kids to enjoy. We decided to dine al fresco. While smokers usually sit outdoors, one can sit strategically to avoid smoke. The outdoor seating area is located on a "wind tunnel" of some sort, and wind blows in one direction, so we had our kids seated in a smoke free corner. We ordered M Cafe's breakfast with all of Oliver's faves in one plate: tapa, bangus, longganiza, eggs, with garlic rice. I like taking our kids here on a lazy Sunday morning when there aren't too many people. It's all so pleasant. The breeze, the foliage, and ample space for strolling and running around. After our leisurely satisfying breakfast, we headed off to the museum.
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| M Cafe's Breakfast plate with all the faves. |
It was our great fortune that the current exhibit on the first floor of the museum showcases the works of member artists of INK (Ilustrador Ng Kabataan or Illustrators for Children's Books) in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the organization. On the walls were framed fanciful illustrations. There were whimsical scale models of scenes from children's stories, some were displayed on pedestals, others "floated" in surreal fashion, suspended from the ceiling with near-invisible strings. I felt as fascinated and in awe as my 2 year old Narra, and 4 month old Guijo. We were all staring dreamily at the colorful images contained artfully in the vast, white exhibit space.
From the first floor, we proceeded to the 4th floor to see the Gold exhibit. Our strollers were comfortably accommodated in the elevator, and throughout the museum, there was ample space for maneuvering and parking them. A short movie clip on the importance of gold in pre-hispanic Philippine society is shown on a huge concave screen to introduce the collection of rare gold artifacts. We were impressed with the innovative glass displays on the floor! Emphasizing how gold comes from the earth, and how the archaeological finds were dug from the ground. Having them displayed under our feet was a delightfully disorienting experience. It also meant it was easy for Narra to view them - she squatted on the ground to look at various pieces of gold.
On the 3rd floor were paintings. The official website of the Ayala Museum has a section giving advise to parents on how to discuss art with children. I'll have to wait until my kids are older before I discuss art with them, but for now, I will encourage certain habits of viewing and touring - I hope to expose them to the "choreography" of museum-going - to imprint on their young minds the postures of walking, watching, looking, and pondering in a museum-ish pace and rhythm. I dream of taking them to more museums all over the world. The Ayala Museum, with its compact size, is a manageable place to start. Imagine when it's time to take them to the Smithsonian! The Louvre! Museo del Prado! or even to view endless walls depicting ancient history at the many temples of Angkor Wat! I wish by then, they've developed enough physical and mental fortitude to do justice to such grand cultural institutions.
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| With Guijo just outside the Museum entrance. |
Finally, on the 2nd floor, is the perennial favorite, the dioramas! I've seen this exhibit many times since my childhood, but I never tire of it. Narra found it very fascinating - which proves how appealing the dioramas are. If only the museum built kid-friendly ledges to accommodate child-height patrons. I had to lift Narra each time she wanted to take a closer look, and that hurt my back! We took our yaya Ruby with us, and I asked her what she thought of the exhibits, and she told me "Totoo pala yung sa Amaya!" referring to the costumes seen on a daily period drama entitled Amaya set in pre-Hispanic times. Yaya Ruby is an avid fan of the show, and by extension, so is my daughter Narra. When she saw the exhibit on gold and it's importance in displaying stature in a hierarchical society, and saw the battle scenes in the dioramas, she whispered to my daughter "Narra, parang sa Amaya!".
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| Narra choosing her Filipino publications for children. She doesn't read yet, she's just choosing based on illustrations. |
After our trip to the museum, we took a short walk to Powerbooks nearby. We saw exhibits of INK both at Museo Pambata and at Ayala Museum and we promised ourselves we'd buy Narra more Filipino publications for children. We made good on our promise and bought her several books. How affordable they were! Most titles were priced at 70 pesos, and had text both in Filipino and English.
Oliver and I want to expose our children to Philippine history, art, and culture, and taking them to museums is also good for us as a couple. It intensifies our pride in our country, and nurtures our spirit, allowing us to take a step back from our everyday lives so we can indulge in loftier thoughts. Even before we were married, Oliver and I would go on dates to museums, and I love the good conversations that follow. We want to share a lot of moments like these with Narra and Guijo. With our Ayala Museum Membership, we'll surely have more museum visits for the rest of 2012.
Ayala Museum Website:
http://www.ayalamuseum.org/
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