Zero In Art Exhibits Can Help Us Learn About Our Past

It’s less than six months to go and the whole Filipino nation will be electing leaders of our country who will shape the next six years of our country. One phrase I remember when I think about the May elections and the voting population is, “Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa paroroonan.” Translated in English, a person who doesn’t look back to where he came from will never get to his destination.

I say that if we desire to know how to choose the right leaders, we should know what has gone wrong, not just in the immediate past, but even a few decades and centuries ago. Many of the first time registered voters are not even aware of what has happened during the 70s and the 80s simply because they were not born yet during those times, more so about what happened a century or more ago.



I think this is where history books come in. But there is another way to learn about the past and that is through art. The Zero In exhibit, for example, features art works that express parts of the Philippine history that have not been taught in history books and classes. The exhibits are in different locations like Museo Pambata, the Ateneo Art Gallery and the Lopez Memorial Museum.

In these different exhibition locations can be found artworks like charcoal and ink expressions in canvas, like the one below.






There are also paintings...



There are also scenes from movies.



Sculptures from pottery and ceramics.



For more information you can visit www.zeroinmuseums.org. Credits to Azrael Coladilla and James bk Seet for the photos.