DAVAO CITY—The city government-run Museo Dabawenyo recently opened in a new and permanent location with an interim exhibit featuring 50 objects that represents the history of Davao City.
The exhibit titled: “A History of Davao City in 50 Objects” reopened at the newly built Museo Dabawenyo Events Center located along Mabini Street beside Davao City National High School. This however will be a temporary exhibition as the five-storey museum building is still being constructed.
Museo Dabawenyo first opened in 2008 at the former Court of First Instance Building along Pichon Street. In 2019, the museum relocated to the Folk Arts Museum of the Philippine Women’s College Davao when the previous building was repurposed as the City Engineer’s Office. The space though would be small to house the artifacts of the previous museum; the exhibit would be curated to encapsulate the city’s history in 50 objects.
PWC-Davao would be the home of Museo Dabawenyo for six years as the construction began for the new museum at Mabini Street.
According to Pamela Castrillo Museo Dabawenyo curator they have a new exhibition setup different from the previous layout in the PWC.
Aside from historical items the gallery will also display selected art works of internationally acclaimed designers such as Ann Pamintuan and Maricris Floirendo Brias. Also the exhibits will be complemented by videos shown on the LCD screens.
“We have a stronger sense of what is to be a Dabawenyo, we have more video stories that will help us understand objects and our city better,” Castrillo said.
Other new elements include a timeline of Davao City’s history, printed on certain wall sections of the museum, which will help educate museum visitors about the colorful history of the city. The timeline was researched and crafted by a team of Dabawenyo historians.
“Our exhibition space for now would be far from ideal, but we hope it will be a wonderful experience as you get to see our city in a new light,” Castrillo added.
Davao City Councilor Pilar Braga, the chairperson of City Council Committee on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Arts, says the museum’s new location reflects the city government’s unwavering commitment to cultural preservation and development, accessibility and lifelong learning.
The Museo Dabawenyo is open to the public Monday to Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. and entrance is free. (PIA/RGA)
