Maps at Met Museum

“Mapping the Philippine Seas” exhibit is on view until April 29 at Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

It showcases antique Philippine maps and sea charts—an informative and nostalgic throwback to centuries past, when the aspiration was to map the Philippine shores to help foreign voyagers navigate the wide open waters in their quests to discover, conquest and establish political and economic relations in the country.

Exhibit features 168 original maps and sea charts, loaned for the exhibit by members of the Philippine Map Collectors Society, GSIS Museum and private collectors.

Dating from the early 16th century to the late 19th century, these valuable maps and nautical charts emphasize the Philippines’ crucial position in the history of maritime trade in the Asian region, and its importance in the European colonial conquests and trade explorations.

Metropolitan Museum of Manila is at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Manila. E-mail [email protected].

‘Almost There’ at UP Vargas

The international group exhibition “Almost There” is running at Vargas Museum until May 6, at University of the Philippines’ Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center. It is co-curated by Patrick Flores (Vargas Museum) and Kyongfa Che (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo).

Show is presented as part of the Japan Foundation Asia Center’s “Condition Report,” a collaborative art project with emerging young curators from Japan and Southeast Asia.

UP Vargas Museum is along Roxas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City.