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By ANNE GALLAGHER Chicagoans meeting in St. Louis in 1904 dis covered, in addition to everything else at the World Exposition, zoo-like displays of sensa tional objects and people from the first colony acquired by the United States. These exhibits came from the Philippines, the 7,000-island archipelago the size of Arizona that stretches into the Pacific Ocean southeast of mainland China that was awarded to the US after the Spanish-American War of 1898. It was customary at world’s fairs in those days to make a spectacle of colonial subjects, and probably neither the Filipino visitors nor their American viewers were uncomfortable with what they experienced. Nonetheless, it was inevitable that the parade would present a problem: thoughtful travelers soon realized that what they saw beyond the luxuriously costumed Bagobos and wild-eyed Bontics was a civilization too foreign and far away to be managed from the nation’s capital. Influential Chicagoans, therefore, convinced officials at Field Museum of Natural History to initiate a Philippine collection. Much of the material exhibited in St. Louis had already been promised to the Smithsonian institution, but a $20,000 pledge from grain merchant Robert F. Cummings funded four years of study in the Philippines by five Chicago an thropologists. By 1911, says associate curator of Asian archaeology and ethnology Bennet Bronson, Field museum could boast an unpar alleled collection of objects, photographs, re cordings and field notes LOOKING BACK, Field museum's acquisi tions were well-timed. By 1920, inexplicably according to Dr. Bronson, virtually all anthro pological activity had stopped. When it re sumed after 1950, the negative effects of World War II had added to previous de struction by Spanish missionizers, making the artifacts in Chicago one of the most valuable collections on this side of the Pacific Three years ago, Filipino experts at the Uni versity of Hawaii and University of California at Los Angeles began planning a Philippine heritage exhibit that would tour the States. Field museum material was taken into consid eration and — as the show “The People and Art of the Philippines” opened in final stop yesterday in Chicago — accounts for some 20 per cent of what is displayed. The 400 objects in the Philippine exhibit once more reflect the talents of museum de signer Cliff Abrams, formerly of Flossmoor. Dark walls, foliage and Filipino music serve as backdrops for two extended corridors of glass cases in Hall 26. Arrangements highlight such diverse Philippine treasures as the centuries-old solid Agusan Gold image and ex amples of brass, shell, glass and jade jewelry; the registered National Treasure Manunggul burial jar with other ancient ceramics; Ifugao wooden bulul statues nearby steel weapons and tightly-woven baskets; native, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian religious artistry, and an amazingly fashionable array of textiles, clothing and accessories. “The People and Art of the Philippines” will continue in exhibit at Field Museum of Nat ural History, Roosevelt road at Lake Shore drive, Chicago, through December 31. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and admission is included in the regular museum fee: $2 adults; $4 families; $1 children aged six to 17 years and students with IDs; free to children youn ger than six, teachers and uniformed military personnel. Admission is free of charge to ev eryone on Thursdays. “Philippine Afternoon” is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. at the museum today. Lakambini costumed dancers will perform at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. to depict the Indo-Malaysian, Muslim and Spanish influences found among the Phil ippines. Also stated are demonstrations of tra ditional Filipino cooking and textile man ufacture and a lecture, “The Philippine Con nection,” by Dr. Bronson. The famous Manunggu burial jar (top left), samples of intricate clothing styles such as an embroidered jacket and trou sers (above), a solid gold Buddhist god dess (top right) and carved wooden hat that doubles as a container for food and water are among the 400 objects dis played in the Philippine exhibit that opened yesterday at Field Museum of Natural History.
Newspaper Details
Orland Park Star Herald
Orland Park, Illinois, US
Sun, Jul 18, 1982
Page 29
Full Page
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USA 21 Aug 2025
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