Dioramas Alive!! Augmented Reality at the Ayala Museum

I pass by the Ayala Museum at least 3x a week. I work and do my errands in Glorietta, Greenbelt and Landmark and the walkways pass by this beautiful structure. I always peek into the windows to see what new exhibit is up but I’ve always wondered about the dioramas.   I only had a chance to visit it once on a grade school field trip in it’s old location but I remember being fascinated by them.

So when we had a weekend staycation at New World, I grabbed the chance to take the kids to the museum. I built up the dioramas to David and compared them to Lego sets. He was intrigued for sure. I didn’t plan it too well though because it was Noah’s naptime when we went so the little dude spent 3/4 of the visit snoozing in his stroller 😛

The first thing we saw on the museum’s Open Space area was this huge exhibit of Toym Imao. The installation art was about the Toym’s experience of Martial Law when Voltex V was deemed too violent and so it was banned from the TV.

 

The Juan Luna exhibit was also open during that day but unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures. You know who we also saw in the museum? Another family with a bunso who, just like Noah also has Ds. They were about the same age and true enough both were knocked out mid-way into our tour of the museum and were both peacefully snoozing in their strollers hehe. After the Juan Luna exhibit, we headed straight to the dioramas. A feature that I was excited to try was the Augmented Reality guide. It’s taking the already 3D diorama and bringing them to life!

Here’s a sample (Youtube stabilized my video)

 

Ang cool no?! It was awesome and kuya totally enjoyed it!! He actually already loved the exhibits and listening to the audio guide but the AR really made the tour so much more enjoyable. It was a joy to watch kuya learn and absorb what he was seeing and hearing and I tried earnestly to answer his questions after each display.

 

It was also a refresher course in Pinoy history for me. I realized how much war, destruction and strife we Pinoys have endured for generations. We were international traders and our waters become important points for commerce. We were in such a strategic location that everyone wanted a piece of us and unfortunately this meant subjugation and monumental battles.  And when the time came naman for the Pinoys naman to rise to power, politics made everything ugly and divisive (I’m looking at you Aguinaldo, Marcos and all you crooks!)

We are still such a young sovereign nation and we’re all still trying to figure out our place and identity in the world’s history. Democracy is messy no? I realize now that Toym Imao’s installation art was a good way to begin the history lesson for that afternoon. From a huge reminder of the oppression of the Marcos regime to the small details of the battles our forefathers fought to ensure we will all be free.

Here’s hoping Pepe did not die in vain 😉 I guess the museum was as much for me as it was for David.

Before I end this post, can I just say THANK YOU to Ayala Museum for these movable risers. We did not have to worry about carrying kuya to see the dioramas up close. I pushed kuya to see each display, he used the audio guide to listen to what was going on at that specific moment in our history.

 

If you have the time bring your kids and the family to the Ayala Museum. Here are their rates. If you have a PWD ID, bring it too , ang laki ng discount!! Noah was free pa naman (admission is free for kids 3 years old and below) so we didn’t have to use his ID 🙂

Ayala Museum

Makati Avenue corner De La Rosa Street
Greenbelt Park, Makati City
1224 Philippines
Operating Hours:
Ground-Fourth Floor Galleries
Tuesdays-Sundays | 9am to 6pm

Trunkline: (632) 759 82 88
Email: hello@ayalamuseum.org
Facebook: http://facebook.com/theayalamuseum
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ayalamuseum