The University of the Philippine Visayas formally opened the “Panapton Gallery” at the Iloilo City campus Main Building and Museum Complex on June 27, 2022. The gallery contains a collection of locally produced textiles.
Panapton was ceremonially opened by UPV Chancellor Clement C. Camposano, Office of Initiatives for Culture (OICA) Director Martin Genodepa, and donor of collection pieces Mario Yang, They were joined by UPV Vice Chancellors Philip Ian Padilla and Rhodella Ibabao and the members of the curatorial team – Professor Emeritus Alicia Magos, Center for West Visayan Studies Director Randy Madrid, and Project Development Assistant of the Office of the Chancellor Anna Razel L. Ramirez.
Panapton Gallery highlights clothing – baro (dresses), camisa (undergarments), pañuelo (scarf), barong, traje de mestiza (mestiza gowns), panyal (baptism garments), and saypang (panay-bukidnon clothing). The clothes are mostly with embroidery, using materials such as the patadyong, hablon, sinamay, cotton and piña.
The gallery showcases the various textiles and fabrics that have shaped how people of Panay Island cover themselves not only for protection but also for identity and expression.
Panapton is one of the galleries in the UPV Museum Complex managed by OICA. The other galleries that are now open to the public are the Ed Defensor Gallery, Nelfa Querubin Gallery, Lantip Gallery (Changing Exhibit Gallery that now features the work of contemporary women artists from Iloilo), and Hanas Gallery on the 2nd Floor where works of national artists from the UPV collection are displayed.
The UPV Museum Complex is the pre-war Iloilo City Hall, inaugurated in 1936, and stands on a lot donated by Doña Juliana Melliza of Molo, Iloilo. The whole property was donated by the Iloilo Council led by Mayor Fernando Lopez to the University of the Philippines to establish a Junior College in Iloilo. The famed Filipino Architect Juan Arellano conceptualized the building design, while sculptural decorations were executed by the famous Italian sculptor Francesco Monti, assisted by local artisans.
In 2017, the building was renovated through a grant from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines through the initiatives of the Sen. Franklin Drilon and Sen. Loren Legarda. In 2019, a grant from the Commission on Higher Education made possible the uplift of the building to host various museum and galleries.
The Curatorial Team for the gallery is headed Prof. Martin Genodepa with Dr. Alicia Magos, Dr. Randy Madrid, Anna Razel Ramirez, Prof. Jose Taton, and Sashah Dioso. The team is ably assisted by Ofelia Balogo, Noemi Grace Palmares, Josie Jane Tambirao, John Niño Sacmar, Jhunne Harold Mana-ay, Junel Tallas, and Dana Alfuerte. (With sources from OICA)
