“For us, Filipinos, history or kasaysayan, is not just a remembrance of things in the past but is a story with sense, a shared narrative, a story with meaning,” historian Prof. Ambeth Ocampo said in his keynote speech during the exhibition opening.

Indeed the exhibition was curated to show the “parallel growth and development of Philippine art and of BPI as a financial institution,” as said by Mariles Gustilo, Senior Director of Ayala Museum. “This perspective provides a richer and deeper understanding of the wider environment that shaped and inspired BPI and BPI Foundation, and how the BPI art collection was formed.”

The 19th-century maps and prints included in the exhibition were created and published during the Spanish colonial period in the 18th and 19th centuries. The imperial gaze of Spanish colonizers and other European travellers reveal Manila as an entrepôt for commerce and trade, as well as for scientific exploration. Before the invention of photography, these prints were visual records and popular souvenirs to illustrate and supplement such expeditions. 

Meanwhile, Juan Luna’s paintings of 19th-century urban life in Europe widened the horizon of the local industry by illustrating social inequities, in stark contrast to the ideal representations in the traditional Romantic tradition in his earlier work. The intimate studies portraying various classes of people manifested a social realist perspective. The landscape scenes show Impressionistic touches and indicate a desire for the plein-air style of painting away from the indoor studio and bustling city.

Another iconic master in BPI’s collection, Fernando Amorsolo, reveals a romantic nationalism with landscapes and genre scenes of a sunlit pastoral Eden with beautiful maidens and hardworking farmers. HISTORIA will feature two masterpieces, The Galleon Trade and Spolarium (After Luna), which presented Amorsolo’s quiet vocation to give Filipinos their identity and dignity during the American colonial period. 

The largest section, “Philippine Modern Art,” includes works portrayed figuratively, and range from representational to stylized or non-naturalistic. With the exception of Juan Luna and Fernando Amorsolo, as well as Demetrio Diego and Romeo Tabuena, who belong to the Thirteen Moderns and NeoRealist groups respectively in the first half of the 20th century, most artists in the BPI collection have emerged in the later decades. Iconic images in Philippine art such as mother-and-child, farmers, fishermen, landscape, and cityscape are rendered in bright color, semi-abstract figuration, and noble stature. These paintings show the enduring influence and inspiration of NeoRealism but are also multiple voices with fresh perspectives and techniques that have enriched Philippine visual expression. 

From pure philanthropy to social innovation

Founded in 1978, the BPI Foundation has a rich history of development efforts in the form of grants, easy access to loans for non-governmental organisations and cooperatives, scholarship programs for underprivileged youth, disaster response, volunteerism, and numerous other projects that highlight BPI’s commitment building an empowered and socially responsible community. 

As the social development arm of BPI, the foundation actively pursue programs in education, livelihood, environment, basic and health services, and value enhancement. It has SINAG Accelerate and SINAG University which aim to discover, equip, and empower social entrepreneurs; Show Me, Teach Me which is a capacity building program for micro entrepreneurs; Manny and Me which provides a pedagogically sound platform for young elementary school-aged children to learn the basics of financial management; BPI Senior High Acceleration Program for Employment and Entrepreneurship (SHAPE) that offers modular programs on values-driven skills development, entrepreneurship and financial management for Senior High School students; and many more that are envisioned to create innovative ways of solving development challenges and have a deep understanding with the current needs of communities.

“Recognizing our unique place in history, BPI and BPI Foundation have embraced a calling to serve as stewards of what the country values, both the tangible and intangible,” said Maricris San Diego, executive director of BPI Foundation. “Each masterpiece in HISTORIA is fashioned to express these values and as a whole, pays tribute to the enduring resilience of the Filipino spirit.”