ILOILO City – The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) – Iloilo has opened the 2025 Museums and Galleries Month with a creative hands-on experience that reconnected Ilonggos to the earth — quite literally.
Through its launch program titled “Duta: Let’s Play with Clay (Bead-making Lecture-Workshop),” the museum invited children and adults alike to get their hands dirty and rediscover the joy of creating with nature’s most basic material — soil.
The event drew around 180 participants, including home-schooled learners, students and teachers from the Iloilo River Plains Integrated School in Barangay Lanit, Jaro district led by School Principal III Raymond Peter Tolentino, as well as Day Care pupils from the city’s seven districts — Arevalo, City Proper, Jaro I, Jaro II, La Paz, Lapuz, Mandurriao, and Molo — accompanied by their parents and guardians.
Spearheading the workshop was visual artist Gregorio “Boy” Masculino together with his team from Pugad — Darwin Haro, John Evelio Haro, Rey Buenaventura, Dan Yunsay, and Jodel Encio — who guided participants in bead-making and clay sculpting sessions designed to foster creativity and appreciation for the natural world.
Emphasizing the month’s theme of unity and connection through art, the workshop highlighted the cultural and environmental value of “duta” or soil — a substance often dismissed as dirt yet essential to human life and artistic creation.
In an age where children are more familiar with gadgets than mud, the NMP’s initiative stood out as a refreshing call to slow down and reconnect with nature. Laughter and excitement filled the air as families and children molded clay beads and miniature sculptures, sharing moments of creativity that bridged generations.
The NMP-Iloilo said the event encapsulates the spirit of this year’s Museums and Galleries Month — to celebrate art, heritage, and the enduring bond between creativity and community.
As the celebration continues throughout October, more exhibitions and activities are scheduled across Iloilo to encourage deeper engagement with the region’s artistic and cultural heritage.
Beyond exhibitions, the NMP-Iloilo underscored that museums and galleries are “not just spaces filled with objects but sanctuaries for creativity and innovation,” serving as meeting grounds for learning, dialogue, and shared appreciation of Filipino artistry and identity./PN
