'Truths' in PH's Martial Law regime featured in mobile gallery
While the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines happened 53 years ago, the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission (HRVVMC) does not want Filipinos to forget what really took place during that moment in the country’s history.
Thus, the HRVVMC launched two new iterations of the "Martial Law Mobile Gallery: The Ten Essential Truths" which aims to educate the public on the historical realities of the Martial Law era in the Philippines.
The mobile gallery will be featured in two key locations this September and October. The first leg of the exhibition opened last Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the AS Lobby, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) of the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City.
The HRVVMC partnered with several institutions in UP to showcase its mobile gallery, including the UP Center for Women’s and Gender Studies (CWGS), the UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP), the UP Department of History, and the UP Diliman Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (OICA).
The exhibit's illustrations were conceptualized by Martial Law survivor and the late Filipino Social-Realist Artist Edgar “Egai” Talusan Fernandez in collaboration with artist collective Ang Gerilya.
The illustrations not only promote historical awareness but also foster a deeper understanding of human rights and democracy, the HRVVMC said.
It also said that students will even be able to engage in a hands-on activity, and create prints that symbolize the essential truths about the 1972-1986 Martial Law period.
After the first leg of the exhibition from Sept. 23 to 25, starting from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the HRVVMC will bring the mobile gallery to the CIIT College of Arts and Technology on Kamuning Road, Quezon City from Oct. 2 to 3, 2025.
The HRVVMC said the second leg will coincide with the celebration of Museums and Galleries Month in October which carries the theme "Resilient Museums and Galleries Educating for Preparedness and Recovery."
Martial Law in the Philippines was declared on Sept. 21, 1972 and was formally lifted on Jan. 17, 1981.