THAT TIME BACK IN BENCAB
2:34 PM
|Photo taken by: Justin Goyena|
Last December 30, 2015 my family and
traveled to Baguio, Philippines. It was one of those road trips where my
family and I wanted to visit the cold atmosphere just to feel the Christmas
spirit. That day, we headed to the
BenCab Museum. The place was so jam packed that lots of people were coming and
going, taking pictures inside and outside of the museum. It was that famous! I
didn’t know it’d be full of people because I expected the museum to be
quiet and only a few people looking at art, but I was wrong. Nonetheless, it
was still a great experience to appreciate various masterpieces.
Upon entering the front desk at the museum, we had to pay for tickets. The price for everyone, including children is Php 100.00, but if students and Senior Citizens brought their Valid ID with them, they get to pay Php 80.00. It was a good thing that I brought my ID all the time because you never know when things like this are going to happen. So if you're planning to visit the BenCab museum and you're a student, don't forget to bring your ID for a discount! Going inside the
museum, it was filled with Benedicto Reyes Cabrera’s collection of his own art –
hence the name of the museum BenCab – along with some other works from various
artists to showcase their technique and expertise. The museum was also very big because it had
different rooms and floors to group the paintings with themes in it. My siblings
and I were careful and took our time as we appreciated the artworks shown to
us. Most of the paintings were made with acrylic and oil and others were sculptures and wooden carvings of figurines.
One of the paintings in the BenCab Museum
|Photo taken by: Justin Goyena|
My older brother told me as we were looking at one of the
paintings, “Don’t touch it with your
hands. Touch it with your eyes.” He said that that’s one of the reasons of
coming to art galleries and museums. Looking closely at the paintings, I saw the
strokes of where the brush went, what colors the artist has used to blend in
order to form another color, and even what the artist felt as he made his
masterpiece. Exploring several areas, my siblings and I each had different
understandings in portraying the messages told by the paintings. And the others, I couldn't tell what the piece is about because some of them gave the idea of an illusion, making it hard what message the piece is portraying.
|Photo: Feral Garden|
My personal favorite
is the Feral Garden. I don’t know what it is that appealed to me, but it’s
really my favorite. Maybe it’s because of the way it was created, or the way
the eyes of the cat looks straight at you, but this is really at the top for
me. There’s just something about the woman who looks to be keeping the cat calm
and tamed when for me, it should be wild and untamed because of the word feral that was used. Just by looking at
the picture, the eyes of the animal specifically, it gives me a sense of being
calm. It might just be me but staring at the eyes of the cat gave me that hypnotizing
feeling. I can’t exactly put a distinct word to describe what I felt when I was
looking at the painting, but all I can say is that I was really really engrossed by it.
More paintings from the museum
|Photos taken by: Justin Goyena|
All in all, the money spent for entering the museum was worth it. I got to see a lot of amazing artworks made by local artists. The experience was very exhilarating, and because of that I got to see things in a different perspective. I even learned new things as I observed each and every artwork shown in the museum (and they were a lot!). I'd love to come back to Baguio just to see the museum again because it's that beautiful. I hope you guys would go there and see it for yourself so you can understand what I'm saying, and enjoy the place!
Until next time!
~ Denise
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