Just when I thought our book club couldn’t get any geekier, we did, spending half a day touring, in rapt fascination, an exhibit about — yup, you guessed it — books!
It was the morning of our End of the Affair book discussion and we had agreed to meet, at an hour that most of us aren’t even awake yet on a regular Saturday morning, at the University of Santo Tomas Library to view the Lumina Pandit exhibit. Curiosity (and okay, geekiness) won over sleep and so I blearily got into a cab to meet the rest of the Flippers.
I don’t know what the others were expecting, but I was picturing a hall, some artifacts encased in glass, and a cursory viewing of the items on display, so I sure wasn’t prepared for this:
Lumina Pandit is an extensive (and magnificently curated) exhibition of the university’s 400 year old library, tracing the arrival of the Dominican order in the Philippines, the development of printing technology, the proliferation of the written word, the spread of globalization through increasing literacy, and literature as a tool for developing national identity.
We pretty much spent the whole morning ooh-ing and aah-ing over the treasures we came across:
Threshold 400: Books from four centuries ago!
The Realm of Print: Michelle got to try the printing press!
Spheres of Change: information and education
(and that’s a genuine Copernicus book, bottom and center!)
Routes of Globalization: literacy for transformation
Nascent Nation: National Identity in Literature
Curve of Nationalism: Being Filipino curves into new trajectories
It was a heady experience, being that close to all those library treasures. I love how un-standoffish this exhibit is — it really allows close examination (short of touching, of course) and appreciation of the artifacts, and even photography (yes, without flash, of course).
There was a guide for each section of the exhibit, so we were able to listen in on the important facts, but there were other groups behind us so we couldn’t really linger on any part of the exhibit. I imagine how enriching it would be, though, to go back and spend hours just taking in everything at a leisurely pace.
I’m glad I made time to view Lumina Pandit — it’s really a must-see for all bibliophiles and culture vultures, and it’s a fantastic celebration of 400 years of the oldest library in the Philippines.
The Lumina Pandit Exhibit will be on view at the ground floor of the UST Miguel de Benavides Library until January 30, 2011, Tues to Saturday, 8 am to 12 nn and 1-5pm. Go see it while you still can!
You can also take the virtual tour here.
*exhibit map from Lumina Pandit brochure
I like that you used an image of the exhibt map as intro to the blog post. Bagay na bagay. We had to navigate different sections of the exhibit representing different eras of enlightenment until we reach the latest era, the 21st century. We were like explorers, only we explore through books.
and I had to wade through hundreds of photos afterwards, too!
I wish the Lumina Pandit book wasn’t priced at P5000. I’d have loved to own one!
I really want to see this. Will definitely go one day soon, when I can. Do they just allow walk-ins?
PS – For a bunch of book nerds, I think we’re all pretty cool :)
Yup Iya, you can just walk in (except on Mondays, Sundays and university holidays). The brochure says there’s a P50 entrance free for non-UST students but when we went there we weren’t asked to pay entrance, just a voluntary donation at the end.
And yes, we are a pretty cool bunch of book nerds :D
Wow! I love Old Books (especially the ones that can be classified as a collector’s item and has only one copy in the whole world).. Hehe.. Too bad I don’t have any books like that.. :'(
I do have some first editions, mostly from bargain bookstores. There are a lot to be found at Book Sale, Sem, and they may not be of much value now, but who knows, maybe in the next decade or so they’ll be valuable :D
Yep – we’ll never know the future. :)
i hope you guys can visit the exhibit..its a one time opportunity and those books are worth it to see!!…we are still open until March 12 2011.
It’s such a lovely exhibit. I hope more people go to see it.