Culturally infused

Let me be honest… it is not everyday that I feel good, even if I know all the ways to live well from the inside out.

I got up late this morning with a burning desire to get out and do something enriching. The friend with whom I had planned to visit Ayala Museum couldn’t make it, and I decided to go anyway, to make good use of the morning mood.

The visit turned me on, really. I felt alive and vibrant! And by what, whom? By an unlikely combination of culture.

As I passed the M Café at Ayala Museum the Sunday morning brunch was in full swing, flavored with crisp sax sounds by Vince Lahorra. I found out his name in passing when I asked a waitress who he was. I listened for a few spell-bound moments, and then decided to continue what I had set out to do. I walked the few more steps to the museum entrance.

The Ayala Museum is seen from top to bottom, literally. You travel up by lift to the fourth floor of the stylishly designed modern building, and it’s all downstairs from there. Except when the exhibits are so good that you linger on each floor. As is usually the case. And although I had visited several times before, today it felt as new.

I was mesmerized by the exhibition on Chinese Diaspora – Art Streams from the Mainland. The Peranakan Legacy display of art objects, clothes, jewellery, and others from Southeast Asian countries allowed me a fresh peek inside the lives of the overseas Chinese who have made this corner of the world their home since they started migrating there from the mainland in the 15th century or earlier.

The beauty and creativity of each piece struck me, as did the humor in assuming the reasons why some pieces had less diamonds than in the original design, hinting that paying off gambling debts might have been to blame. In one case, a beautiful silver and golden belt had additional panels added over the years, presumably to accommodate an increasing waistline as years went by.

Most of all, I was touched that the beauty of the art and the intent of their creators and owners transcended time and place to meet me this morning. As always, there were some sad tinges too, like the wartime story of a family in Penang who plucked a diamond each week from their heirlooms to buy food. A remarkable case how art allowed them to make ends meet. They were lucky to have enough of it.

Another fascinating story was the evolution of clothes worn by overseas Chinese women. From long pants and conservative long-sleeve shirts (baju panjang) into the voluptuous sarong and kebaya introduced in the 1940s. The sarong sensually hugging a woman’s hips. The kebaya intricately designed to show ever more of the woman’s beauty through sheer material that retained traditional form only as a transparent whiff.

One century later, and after spending a week in Bali for my rebirth at 50, I admired the batik garments on show with a realization how they continue to adorn women today with a timeless sexy attraction.

And then there were the spended colors and designs of the batik designs, and of the porcelain. A feast for the eyes, in bright colors that merged the cultural origins from China with those of the Southeast Asian locale, in particular Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

I also learned that Damian Domingo, the first great Filipino painter who established the first Philippine art academy in 1823, was a Chinese Mestizo rather than from Spanish origin as had been assumed. China Gaze by Valeria Cavestany proved to be an enchanting collection of light boxes in a darkened room, with mixed media works depicting Chinese identity in foreign settings.

After more than an hour of feasting my eyes and imagination on the Chinese Diaspora exhibition, and dipping into a few other exhibits as well, I left with a promise to return soon for more.


Descending further and exiting the doors, I was greeted once again by the jazzy sound of Vince Lahorra at the M Café, and I enjoyed his musical hospitality over cappuccino and a pandan sans rival cake. After he finished his gig, we met and chatted, and he invited me to jam with him next time. I felt as if the Universe sent me a nudge to practise more on my sax.

Life without music would be a mistake, a store sign in Singapore said last year.

Today, I got a vivid reminder how much art, culture and music can do to invigorate my life and introduce new friends, connecting more dots. Neglecting that would indeed be a mistake.

Photographs: Ayala Museum Café (top), Chinese Diaspora exhibition (middle), and Vince Lahorra on sax (bottom).