Everything is hands-on at Museo Pambata’s ‘Skinteractives’

When you bring your kids to Museo Pambata to view its latest exhibition, Skinteractives, don’t shush them when they start touching things in the museum. For the first time in the Philippines, everything is hands-on at this show.

Skinteractives zooms in on the skin, the miracle garment that covers, protects and gives man his own individual identity. It is a unique, hands-on experience on skins and surfaces. Children are free to investigate, explore and discover, as they play with magnifying glasses, disappearing animals and different textures, so that they know more about the skin than they actually know.

Museo Pambata Foundation Inc. exhibits director Rinnah C. Sevilla says that since the whole show is premised on the skin, it follows that the sense of touch is involved in the whole endeavor.

"The skin is very close to the sense of touch," Sevilla says. "And, not only will the kids be using their sense of touch, but they will also be walking on different trails, so that they know how it feels to walk on a pebble floor and on grass."

Museo Pambata Foundation Inc. president and CEO Nina Lim-Yuson says the entire show is seen as the proper introduction to the whole concept of art.

"Painting is about texture, and there are different media in painting," says Lim-Yuson. "And children, they always like to smell or touch because they are naturally curious. If we look at our skin, even at our thumb marks, they are distinctive. So, children become more sensitive about texture, color, shapes and even smell. That’s the beginning probably of art appreciation. It comes at a time when more and more we see an integration of art appreciation at Museo Pambata."

For this show, Museo Pambata joins the consortium formed by Ateneo Art Gallery, Ayala Museum and Lopez Memorial Museum to present exhibits that revolve around a common theme. When the consortium started last year, exhibitions mounted were premised on the theme Zero In: Private Art, Public Lives. For this year’s collaboration, the theme Zero In: Skin Surface Essence explores the dynamics of the internal versus the external as manifested in art and architecture, individual and group identities, as well as introspection and interactive education.

Ayala Museum’s Paletada: Skin of the Church focuses on the exteriors of churches, while Lopez Memorial Museum’s Essence and Sympathies uses its collection for a showcase of expatriate Filipino artists who left to find work or study with the masters. Ateneo Art Gallery’s Nena Saguil: Landscapes and Inscapes is a retrospective on the late Paris-based modernist painter who developed a remarkable abstract-art expression of an introspective world, which she called "her inscapes."

Museo Pambata is envisioned to provide an interactive component to the consortium’s theme, something that will bring to children the ideas expounded in the three other exhibits.

Lim-Yuson says the Skinteractives modules are designed for children from two to 12 years old, although adults are not limited from experiencing the setups themselves. "The concept of hands-on exhibits sets apart children’s way of learning from the behind the glass cases, typical of traditional museums today," she explains. "Skinteractives makes use of simple everyday objects that help us understand complicated concepts and ideas about that outer covering, generally known as surfaces and skin."

She points out that in many art galleries and museums today, there are programs specially designed for children. At the George Pompidou Center in Paris, a quarter of the ground floor is devoted to modules on contemporary art to help children develop an appreciation of it. Similar activities are being followed in Haifa, Israel and at Russia’s St. Petersburg Museum.

This interactive kind of art exhibition happens at the right time for Museo Pambata.

"This is very exciting for us, because this is the first time something like this will happen in the Philippines," Lim-Yuson adds. "We are doing art appreciation at the level of children using high-end paintings. It’s really kinda new for us."

The exhibition is divided into three parts.

The first part, Skin and Surfaces, has three modules: "Fine Fingers," which introduces children to the different kinds of skin; "Touch, Guess and See," which demonstrates how the sense of touch works in identifying objects; and "Walk to Remember," which shows how the feet also recognizes touch.

The second part, The Art of Camouflage, tackles how some animals use their skin to hide from their predators or conceal themselves from their prey.

The third part, Identity: I Am Me, has two parts: "Personal Prints," which deals with fingerprints; and "Skin Shades," which enables children to see themselves in different skin colors.

There is also a trivia corner that details little-known facts about the skin.

Ten years after Museo Pambata was founded, it continues to provide children with a means for discovering the world around them. With Skinteractives, it brings this learning experience closer to home.

Museo Pambata’s Skinteractives runs from Sept. 24 to Jan. 5, 2004. Museo Pambata is at the corner of Roxas Blvd. and South Drive (T.M. Kalaw Ave.), Ermita, Manila. For inquiries, call 523-1797 or 523-1798, fax 522-1246, e-mail mpfi@museo pambata.org or log on to http://www.museopambata.org. Museum hours are: Tuesday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.