Graveyard of Culture

Someone told me about a biodiversity exhibit at the National Museum partly supported by the French Embassy and suggested I see it if I want to see how the French Government supports science cooperation projects here in the Philippines.


I did go but I was a little disappointed to see that when I got there, there was hardly anyone apart from me viewing the said exhibit. Not that the exhibit was really worth a special visit especially with an entrance price of P100.00 to the museum. Actually it was a free day when I went since it was a Sunday but even so the free entrance could not make the people come in.



While walking alone inside the deathly quiet corridors of the museum leading to the exhibit, it occurred to me that in our country, the National Museum serves more like a graveyard of our culture instead of a venue of mental enrichment.

I don't think people are to blame. In our country Culture has mostly been the preserve of the privileged and the rich. The ordinary people have far pressing problems to attend to and maybe they simply refuse to become props for the privileged few's illusion and social self pleasuring.

I can imagine how the organizers have gathered during the launch of this exhibit, agreeing about the importance and relevance of the exhibit's subject, toasting to their accomplishment and forgetting everything as soon as the ribbon is cut.