UST Museum of Arts and Sciences

UST Museum of Arts and Sciences

Established	early 17th Century
Location	University of Santo Tomas, Espana Boulevard, Sampaloc, Manila
Type	University Museum
Website	http://www.ustmuseum.com/

The UST Museum of Arts and Sciences is the oldest existing museum in the Philippines. Started as a “Gabinete de Fisica,” an observation room of mineral, botany and biology collections in the 17th century. Under the old Spanish educational law the collections were used as classroom materials for the courses in science especially in Medicine and Pharmacy.

The university is proud of the museum’s collections, meticulously gathered and preserved for over three hundred years in the Main Building, the collections then grew with the inclusion of significant objects of culture and arts, displayed in the way museums were conceived before: as a storage house.

History

The UST Museum of Arts and Sciences Historical Timeline.

• November 22, 1682

By the royal decree of the Spanish King Charles II, the Gabinete de Física was established to complement the classroom instruction given at the University level. The Spanish educational law required the University to provide a room where specimens of the three divisions of nature - flora, fauna, and mineral - could be studied in detail, before it could open the Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy.

• 1865

Museum-related activities officially became part of the regular curriculum. Specimen collection and classification formally began.

• 1807 through 1902

The Museum participated in local and international expositions:

• 1807 - Exposición Universal
• 1876 - International Exposition, Philadelphia
• 1883 - International Exposition, Amsterdam
• 1883 - Exposición Nacional, Madrid
• 1887 - Exposición General de las Filipinas
• 1895 - Exposición Regional de Filipinas
• 1902 - Exposición de Hanoi

• 1871

The foundation of the Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy marks the evolution of the Gabinete de Física from a mere observation room into a traditional museum.

• July 1936

Rev. Fr. Silvestre Sancho, OP, PIC ordered and directed the transfer of the Museum from the old building in Intramuros to the present location in the area of the Paraninfo of the Main Building at the Sampaloc campus. The collection began to grow with the addition of objects of archaeology, ethnography, numismatics, and the fine arts. Books and maps printed from the 15th to the 18th century were included in the display.

• July 25, 1940

The Museum’s Art Gallery was inaugurated.

Collections

Natural History

The section on Natural History is popular among the visitors to the Museum, especially the students. Here, scientifically presented, are specimens of Philippine fauna. The section’s highlight is the diorama containing stuffed specimens of animals indigenous to the Philippines. Many of the University’s specimens are either endangered or already extinct, rendering the collection very valuable not only to naturalists and students, but to anyone interested in the natural treasures of this country.

The University is in possession of an immense collection covering practically the entire world of shells, gathered through many years of field works. The internees of the UST Campus during the Japanese occupation were given access to the collection to recheck and complete its taxonomic classification. The system followed was very simple yet proved to be very efficient.

Visual Arts

Even before one enters the UST Museum in the Main Building of the University of Santo Tomas, one may have already seen some of the works in its visual art collection. In the lobby are four large murals by Antonio Garcia Llamas portraying the history of the University.

Philippine Religious Images

Christian religious imagery in the Philippines consists of a wide variety of objects which includes those brought into the country in the mid-16th century and a large number of those locally produced, up to the end of the 18th century. When Spain colonized the Philippines in the 16th century, missionaries, soldiers and sailors brought their Christian religious images with them. These were statues, paintings, picture books and prints meant for the spiritual well-being of the colonizers as well as for use in the conversion of the peoples they would encounter.

The whole collection of what began as religious works belongs to a unique form of art that shows not only artistic and technical skill, but more so, the enthusiasm and spirit with which the Christian Faith was accepted by the Filipinos.

Coins, Medals and Memorabilia

The permanent numismatic display contains just a sampling of coins with significant cultural value and is the product of a long-sustained interest in historical and cultural research. When the Museum participated in the Regional Exposition of the Philippines as far back as 1895, and in Hanoi, Philadelphia, Amsterdam, and Paris, the University earned outstanding awards, and some coins of the collection were considered meritorious. The medal collection in the UST Museum is a modest one, and may be informative in tracing memorable events in Philippine history and the life of the University, as it is given prominence in the display.

In the display you can still see the bell which called the students to or from the classroom, and the dry seal whose stamp testified to the official recognition of their qualifications; the maces that opened the procession during the day of their graduation or in the solemn inauguration of the school year; the silver tray where their grades were cast by the tribunal of examinations, and other silent witnesses to a life started over 300 years ago. Other examples of memorabilia around the campus are the Benavides Monument, created as a tribute to the University’s founder, Msgr. Fr. Miguel de Benavides, OP, third Archbishop of Manila]. There are also the statues on pedestals at the 4th floor of the Main Building. Made by the late Italian sculptor and former Head of the UST Department of Sculpture, Francesco Monti, the statues were erected during the rectoral term of Fr. Angel de Blas, OP (1949-1953) to symbolize the spiritual and intellectual aspirations of the University.

Non-Philippine Oriental Arts

The bulk of the oriental arts collection consists of Chinese wares. The collection also boasts of wares from Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. These artifacts attest to brisk pre-colonial trade activity between the Philippines and its Asian neighbors.

Ethnography

While the artifacts of ethnology are classified according to tribal divisions of the Mountain Province, Cagayan Valley, Bataan, Zambales, Sierra Madre, Mindoro, Zamboanga, etc., the visitor could as well view them according to objective groupings: weaponry, kitchen wares, religious paraphernalia, personal decors, and musical instruments.

Facilities

Library

The museum has a library housing a collection of books on visual arts, museology and history for research and appreciation is located at the third floor office. Researchers may look up the materials they need at the UST Central Library’s On-Line Public Access Catalogue (OPAC).

Museum Gallery

The gallery has an open area that may be booked for temporary thematic exhibitions, lectures, seminars, symposia, cultural performances, etc. throughout the year.

• Details of temporary exhibitions
• Policies on gallery reservation and use

Curio Shop

A range of souvenir items like t-shirts, mugs, keychains, pins, native crafts, postcards, prints and other products inspired by the Museum and the University are available at the Curio Shop.

Conservation Laboratory Conservation tasks are carried out by the Museum in cooperation with the UST Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics (CCCPET) in its own laboratory.