St Paul Museum - Pilgrimage Site (1995 - 2010)
Dr Abe V Rotor
Former Faculty Curator
Living with Nature - School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid?with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evning class Monday to Friday?
Another?manifestation?of your success is viewers identifying themselves with the things they see in your museum - culture, livelihood, art, etc. They feel it were their museum. This is the key parameter of the former St Paul Museum. ?Students, parents, guests, conference participants felt "at home." They held high trust and confidence in what the museum offered them to see, enjoy and learn. ?There was a variety of events, a diversity of collections. Thousands - countless in fact, came with many coming back. Testimonies of pilgrims getting their wishes come true are not uncommon; so with reported cases of healing. On rare occasions there were friends and guests who paid their final visit before they died. I saw how peaceful they sat alone contemplating in some corner. On rising they would grip my hand and whisper a tearful goodbye. ?This was too much but I learned what it means to be a curator. How I wish I can have the same opportunity to say goodbye to the museum I lived with for the best 15 years of my life. ?I just don't know whose hand I shall grip - except the invisible hand of St Paul, the same hand that guided me in all those 15 years I was with him, his disciple and son. ? ? ? ? ? ?
Face of Christ in the Woods?(AVR)
World War II Memorial at St. Paul University QC stands in front of the museum--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spirits to me are guiding signals that sometimes take the form of humans. They carry messages that lead us to the theme of our art such as in these particular cases. The denominator is goodness ? they help us seek goodness, and goodness leads us to truth ? truth that is built by strong faith other than reason.
Can we decipher messages the same way we receive communications in daily life? I say no, not always. For the message with deep meaning are not readily evident. One has to labor in order to understand it, and capture the essence of that message.
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At a corner inside the former St Paul University Museum in Quezon City, where once stood an altar many years ago when the Japanese invaders converted the campus into a concentration camp, a small group of visitors bowed in deep thoughts and prayers. For a moment these pilgrims transformed the museum into a holy place.
It was like turning back the hands of time into the Second World War. Now there is peace. There was hatred, but that too, has given way to forgiveness. Despair, and now hope, pride into humility. These contrasting scenarios provide very valuable lessons of man. For man is tempered by war and mellowed by the peace that follows it. All these took place for half a century or so.
The SPUQ museum stands as a witness of the history that shaped the school. The events are the lifeblood of the museum - its walls originally the immaculate walls once stained with blood speak of peace, its pillars the original pillars that withstood the atrocities of war and the tests of the elements and time attest to endurance and posterity.
The museum is not only a repository of history; it is the abode of history. It is like Fort Santiago or the Paco Cemetery. Or the great Pyramids of Egypt, the City of the Dead of the Aztecs, Jerusalem and Rome. These museums have one thing in common: they are part of history. They are living relics that chronicle past events,? stirring nationalism while promoting brotherhood in men. They strengthen universal values and rekindle the spirit. They bring the relationship of man with his Creator closer and harmonious.
Since its opening in late 1994, many pilgrims, old and young, parents and students, city and rural folk, have brought significance to the museum. Other than being an educational institution, it has somehow earned respect for pilgrimage.
School in Ruins (8 ft x 8 ft, AVR)
The building is a early American architecture bearing the basic designs of Greco-Roman style ? high ceiling, prominent, bare and square pillars, solid walls with small grilled windows. The entrance is unassuming, yet there is an aura of dignity that engulfs one on opening the door. For a panoramic view meets the eye, with virtually all four corners optically converging. The scene is accentuated by the massive murals depicting some chapters of the life of St. Paul, and widened by the transparency of the glass cabinets allowing the eye to roam freely.
All these no doubt contribute to the pilgrimage atmosphere. But what is revealing is the gathered information of the place coming from no less than the sisters, many of them in their seniors and living at the nearby Vigil House then. Some of the informants have already died, but the memory of the place lives. .
The senior sisters recall the place as a prayer house. ?There was an altar which was slightly located towards the left corner of the room adjacent to the backdoor.? And they would point out the place in the museum. The backdoor leads to the basement, which was used as clinic during the Japanese occupation. The wounded and the sick were led to the prayer house and to spend time meditating, praying, or just to let time pass by. On several occasions the dead were brought for the wake.
Imagine that for a period of four years, SPUQ then a novitiate and a school for elementary and high school, was made into a garrison and concentration camp, the same way the Japanese did to UST during the same period. And also to De La Salle University in Pasay. We do not know how many died but many Filipino, American and Japanese soldiers died. There were residents, foreigners, women and children who also died.
My students would ask me whenever I tell them the story if there are ghosts on the campus ? or spirits of the dead. ?Have you seen or felt their presence?? I would counter. And the conversation lengthens, creating a world of the supernatural in the process.
Anyone would believe in spirits that may make their presence felt in one way too many, depending on who is telling the story and who are listening. I for one sensed their presence on a number of occasions. The question with believing in the supernatural though is that the mind cannot decipher reality from imagination. But it is this aspect from which we build our stories and beliefs. Take this experience as an example.
In 1994 I was painting Saul on Damascus Road into the night alone. The museum was dead silent. What a conducive time to paint! Then suddenly the arm of Saul ?moved? an inch or two downward. My brush missed the outline. I made the necessary correction but this time the arm had moved upward and now I have two errors to correct. I told myself I was too tired, and left the museum for home. That night I dreamed of Saul? holding a?red robe, which he was to use to clothe the dying Christ. Early that morning I went to the museum and continued painting the arm. I fixed Saul?s right hand and put on the red robe on it. Where did the idea of the red robe come? Was it a dream or a message I got? What made his arm move? Or was it a way of getting a message across?
Saul on Damascus Road (8ft x 8ft, AVR)
I remember at one time in the early part of the painting I received visitors while I was painting the sky on makeshift scaffolding. Causally they would come and take a look at my work. Sometimes they would ask me a question or two and I would obligingly give an answer without breaking my concentration. One evening a kind sister visited the museum. She stood for sometime looking at what I was doing on the scaffolding. Anyone at the top could not see well the person below. And not know when she came and had gone. What I remember was her large hat, but that crossed my mind only days later. Who was she? Where did she come from at 9 in the evening?
At one time I was painting Paradise After Rome. This time I did it at home at our front yard. It took me till dusk. A silhouette figure kept passing at the corner of my eye. I would have dismissed it but it came twice, thrice, not saying a word and not pausing. But there is semblance of the figure I was painting with the silhouette ? a bearded man and heavily built, clothed in flowing robes. The big difference though is that the man I was painting was about to be beheaded while the silhouette was roaming free, with an air of dignity and command.
The following day I changed the man on my painting. Yes, death, I realized is resurrection. So I painted Paul, the resurrected, on the day of his execution when Rome was?being?razed by Nero?s torch.
Spirits to me are guiding signals that sometimes take the form of humans. They carry messages that lead us to the theme of our art such as in these particular cases. The denominator is goodness ? they help us seek goodness, and goodness leads us to truth ? truth that is built by strong faith other than reason.
Can we decipher messages the same way we receive communications in daily life? I say no, not always. For? the message with deep meaning are not readily evident. One has to labor in order to understand it, and capture the essence of that message.
For example on the painting, The School in Ruins, which I entitled in an accompanying verse, Grow and Bloom, Grow and Bloom, an outline of a young devil cast a shadow on the burnt building. This was discovered while I was working on the dying smoke emanating from the fresh ruins. Someone almost shouted at me, Stop, stop! and then he explained. He was seeing a devil in outstretched hand hovering over the ruins. I preserved the outline. Anyone who comes to the museum today experiences the same thing the discoverer made twelve years ago. Yes, the war, the killing, the burning, the looting are works of the devil. His imprint makes us aware not to submit ourselves to evil, but rather fight it at all cost.
The community takes pride in having a museum accredited by the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and the museum curator sits in one of the Commission?s sub-committees. The SPUQ Museum is also a member of the Association of Museums in the Philippines. Because of these, the school has the opportunity to take part in various national programs in health, environment, historical events, food and nutrition, and community development, to name the major events. In return, the museum is recognized for its effort. It is one of the very few school museums given such distinction.
Our own students, faculty and the whole community recognize that here in a not far, far land is a little Smithsonian, a little Gethsemane, a little Lourdes, and a little Sistine. And the same Goodness we find there is? also found here ? here at the SPUQ Museum.
x x x
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Author?s Note: Prominent pilgrims to the SPCQ Museum include high government officials, leaders in the business, university professors, journalists, personalities in the entertainment world, Filipino balikbayan and their families. The Mother Superior of SPC visited the museum on her visit to the Philippines. Officials from the United Nations, ASEAN and EU on their mission to the Philippines included in their itenerary a visit to the museum. The identities of many of them are kept to give due respect to their person and privacy. The museum celebrated its 15th year in 2010 - its last year as conceived and made fifteen years ago (1995 to 2010).
These murals shown in this article, together with three others, have been removed from their original home for 15 years soon after I left the school as professor and curator due to old age. These murals were transferred to an open area in 2011, and are now exposed to uncontrolled environmental conditions. They can be viewed near the school canteen.?The school's modernization program included a total renovation of the original museum.?
The modernization program in the last ten years displaced the priceless botanical garden, a natural gene bank of more than 200 species of plants which were studied and?documented?by one of the country's leading biologists, Dr Anselmo S Cabigan. ?The garden had two large greenhouses modern even with today's standard. In the late nineties the garden evolved into an Ecological Sanctuary. ?Semblance of wildlife took shape with?resident?and?transient?organisms forming food chains that linked up into food webs and natural cycles ?which are indicators of a functioning ecosystem.
A series of articles in the Paulinews became a valuable reference of the then College.
In the years that followed with a boom in infrastructures, especially the school's modern buildings blocking the sun, eating out every inch of open space, the EcoSanctuary became a minuscule park of benches and?potted?plants and kiosk. ?
Which leads us to inquire that is really the intent of modernization. ? ?
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A?pilgrim took notice of Saul talking with Christ on Damascus road. Did Christ really appear to him? But look again at the painting. That is why those who come to the museum stay longer than to visit. They pray. They wish.
Students facing the trials of defending their thesis come to the museum. They come from UST, Pamantasan ng Maynila. Students seeking entry in medicine proper, reviewers in bar and board exams ? they come and wish. There are those who come back, others have not. Well, the story of the ten lepers ? not all came back to thank. But more are come. Many for the nth time. Our own students, faculty and staff ? they are the first pilgrims. They are pilgrim to recognize that here in a not far, far land is a little Gethsemane, a little Lourdes, or a little Sistine.? And the same God we find there is also found here ? here at the SPCQ Museum.
Prominent pilgrims to the SPCQ Museum include a former senator, a former cabinet member, a former commissioner, university professors, journalists, personalities in the business and entertainment world, Filipino balikbayan and their families. Their identities are kept to give due respect to their person and privacy.
History of the SPCQ Museum
(and Participation in Major Events)
1994 - Presentation and approval of the museum plan
1995 - Opening of the museum
- Celebration of World Youth Day and visitation of the
Holy Father to the Philippines
1995-96 - Golden Jubilee of SPCQ
- Tri-centennial celebration of St. Paul of Chartres
1997 - PAASCU accreditation (college)
1998 - Bicentennial celebration of Philippine Independence
1999 - Launching of Center for Community Development?(CCD) Program
2000 - Earthday ? Ecology Week
2001 - Exhibit on tie-up between SPCQ and Red River College (Canada)
2001 - PAASCU accreditation (college, 1evel 3)
2002 - PAASCU accreditation (High School)
2004 - Exhibit on Biodiversity (w/ Haribon Society)
2005 - Summer Art Workshop Exhibits; Drama Skits (Humanities students)
2006 - Photo exhibits on environment; Linggo ng Wika, Health Week?
2007 - Environment in Photographs (MASS COM Students)
2008 - Ist National Conference on Environmental Advocacy Exhibit
PAASCU Accreditation
2009 Fifteen Years in Retrospect
Note: The Museum also participates in national celebrations such as Education Week, Science Week, Linggo ng Wika, Dental Health Week, Nutrition Week, Environment Week and the like through exhibits, poster making and symposia.
Special features of the SPCQ Museum
1. Seven Sisters ? first Paulinian mission to the Philippines in sculpture by Julie Lluch
2. Mural paintings by AV Rotor
? St. Paul on Damascus Road (8ft x 8ft)
? Shipwreck at the Mediterranean (4ft x 9 ft)
? The Burning of Rome and St. Paul?s Martyrdom
? Lilies of the Pond (SPCQ in Ruins, 1945) (8ft x 8 ft)
? Ruins of Colonialism (8ft x 8ft)
? Light in the Woods (30? x 46?)
3. Miniature Dioramas of Biomes and Major Ecosystems
4. Madonna and Child Collection
5. Story of St. Paul of Chartres Series
6. Photographic Study of the Pieta by Michelangelo
7. Illustrated Life of St. Paul
8. Historical Photographs of SPCQ in pre-war and post-war years
9. Philippine culture
10. Endangered animal specimens
11. Philippine Music Collection by Filipino composers
12. Memorabilia from the Paulinian community
Source: http://avrotor.blogspot.com/2012/10/st-paul-museum-pilgrimage-site-1995-2010_21.html
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