Foundation launches P1-billion science museum in Taguig

MANILA, Philippines - The Bonifacio Art Foundation Inc. (BAFI) launched on Thursday a P1-billion interactive science museum and park in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City aimed at improving math and science education in the country.

Maria Isabel Garcia, curator of The Mind Museum, said the 12,500-square-meter facility is the first world-class science museum in the Philippines that was fully funded by private donations from corporate sponsors and family and individual donors “who share the passion of making science come alive.”

The Mind Museum is an enthralling learning facility for Filipinos aged six to 96, Garcia said.

“March (2012) is the grand opening. We are still having refinements but we want to show everyone, especially our donors who are here, and the scientists and artists who joined us what we have done so far because this is an idea (hatched) five years ago,” Garcia told The STAR during the launch of the museum attended by Vice President Jejomar Binay and Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano.

“It is purely private and non-profit and is the first in the country, I think,” she said.

Garcia writes a weekly column, “De Rerum Natura,” in the Science and Technology Section of The Philippine STAR.

The museum, located at the JY Campos Park along 3rd Avenue in Bonifacio Global City, has 250 interactive exhibits.

It is divided into five main galleries, namely the Atom Gallery, Earth Gallery, Life Gallery, Universe Gallery, and Technology Gallery.

The Atom Gallery shows the strange world of the very small in terms of forces and particles.

The Earth Gallery tells the story of the planet and the archipelago. It includes a three-dimensional animated film made by an all-Filipino team, featuring 4.6 billion years of the planet’s history and evolution in 12 minutes.

Garcia described the Life Gallery as “a dive into a deeper understanding of how life surrounds and inhabits us – from microbes to large animals and from DNA, cells to a giant human brain model.”

The Universe Gallery contains a unique planetarium that simulates stargazing from the point of view of literally lying down on a bed beneath the stars.

Lastly, the Technology Gallery shows different inventions and innovations.

The Mind Museum also has an outdoor Science-in-the-Park where visitors can experience playful science through four-themed pockets: Music, Math, Living, and Water.

The museum was designed by Ed Calma. International experts like Jack Rouse and Associates and the Science Center Singapore were involved in planning The Mind Museum.

“What makes The Mind Museum proudly unique is that the people who conceptualized it and brought it to life are actually a team of Filipinos. The exhibits are largely original and not off-the-shelf types found in other science museums,” Garcia said.

She said 90 percent of the exhibits were done by local fabricators who also work for science museums abroad.

The museum also offers other facilities such as an auditorium, laboratory, and classrooms for educational workshops.

“We wanted to spread the appreciation of science not just for students but for the public as well,” Garcia said.

“If you are not in the sciences, you are not an exception. There is always science in whatever you do, whether you are an accountant, a messenger. Science is not just a subject, it’s not something that you only learn in school, it exists out there, it is a way of knowing, it is understanding,” she said.

Garcia said they have yet to determine the entrance fee for visitors.

“Don’t know that yet. We are still planning but rest assured that the public schools and teachers will be subsidized so it will be greatly reduced for them,” Garcia said.

The BAFI is composed of individuals from Ayala Land Inc., the Campos Group of Companies, and Bases Conversion Development Corp.

“The Mind Museum will not be a substitute for schools, but rather a way to help breed scientific literacy that will help everyone be inspired to understand nature and support the sciences, whatever they do in life,” the BAFI said.