Most works of art find their homes at grand museums and galleries such as The Louvre in France. But how do artifacts find themselves in their current home?

In most cases, we might find that a museum gathered its artifacts by way of archaeology. Imagine the likes of Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones and Brendan Fraser’s Rick O’Connell from The Mummy franchise going on all sorts of adventures to find treasures beyond our imagination.

IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM Museums gathered artifacts by means of archaeologists visiting dig sites such as those seen in the Indiana Jones franchise

At the time, it was viewed as an advancement of science, digging up old bones and remnants from the past to learn about our ancestors before bringing them back to be put on display. Nowadays, there has been a shift toward this notion, as many believe most of these excavations were done by colonizers taking cultural artifacts from their original owners for their benefit, sometimes by force.

Worldwide many have started petitions calling on museums such as the British Museum to return these artifacts to their rightful owners. Even iconic paintings such as the Mona Lisa have been subject to such petitions seeking to have them returned to their supposed home—in the case of Mona Lisa, to Florence, Italy, where Da Vinci started it, although he did finish it in France and sold it to King Francis I.

HOMECOMING Thought to have been missing for years, Juan Luna’s Hymen, O Hyménée! is now displayed for all to enjoy at the Ayala Museum (Photo Leon Gallery)

Locally, much comes to mind with returned artifacts and artworks finding their new home. The most recent homecoming was that of the Juan Luna painting, Hymen, Oh Hyménée!, which had simply been hidden away in some aristocrat’s home for so many years. There are also the Balangiga bells, which the US Army stole from the Church of San Lorenzo de Martir in Eastern Samar during the Philippine-American War. The bells were returned to us in 2018, 117 years after they were taken from us.

Another story that comes to mind when it comes to artworks finding their home is that of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP). The AAP goes all the way back in 1948 as a social group founded by Purita Kalaw Ledesma. It remains one of the biggest and oldest umbrella national artists organizations with over 12,000 members. Notable members in its roster include the likes of Vicente Manansala, Jose Joya, Ang Kiukok, Jerry Navarro, Frederico Aguilar Alcuaz, Botong Francisco, and living legend BenCab.

From 2002 to 2014, the AAP found its home at the Kanlungan ng Sining (Art Haven) in Luneta, where it would give one painting per month to the National Parks Development Committee (NPDC) in place of rent. This went on until Kanlungan was padlocked in 2014 by the NPDC’s new chief for office purposes. “And as fate would have it, a few months later, a huge tree fell on its roof, blocked its entrance, and made the building useless,” laments AAP president Fidel Sarmiento. He later vowed to build a permanent home for the AAP “to avoid being at the mercy of revolving government officials.”

ARTHOUSE Art Association of the Philippines (AAP) president Fidel Sarmiento speaks during a press conference at the Happy Garden Cafe in Makati City

With nowhere to go, the AAP found itself homeless from 2015 to 2018, with most officers taking turns holding meetings in their homes. It wasn’t until October 2019 that the AAP officers resolved to start a fundraising drive for a project, which would help build the AAP’s new home.

Much of the AAP’s efforts for finding a new home are funded through donations in kind by groups like Security Bank and the SM group and contributions by fellow artists, who believe in its cause. After all, aside from being just an art collective, the AAP does much to spread the love of art to others. There are programs such as the outreach programs Alay Lakbay, Alay Sining, and Alay Kulay, which help bring the beauty of art to children and those interested in the arts through workshops, live demos, and lectures. The AAP has also provided relief for victims of natural calamities such as Typhoon Yolanda and Odette by having its members donate paintings that were auctioned off to raise relief funds. The AAP’s search for a home was not easy, with Covid-19 taking quite a hit on its progress, yet it persisted in finding ways to raise funds.

A FUTURE HOME FOR ART The Tahanan ng Sining is a two-story 200-square-meter lot located in Silang, Cavite, which will now serve as the permanent home of the AAP

Finally after 75 years, with all the hard work and fundraising, a two-story building now finds itself on a 200-square-meter lot. Soon, countless artworks from established artists and future works by yet-to-be-discovered artists will find their way to the AAP’s new home, fittingly named Tahanan ng Sining in Silang, Cavite.