Manila-Acapulco Galleon items take centerstage in Mexican museum

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora, Philippine News Agency

Chief Curator Abrahan Villavicencio shows Ambassador Deapera an ivory crucifix from the Philippines (Photo: Philippine Embassy in Mexico)

MANILA – Manila-Acapulco Galleon objects are taking centerstage at the Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City, emphasizing the shared history and enduring relations between the Philippines and the Latin American nation.

The collection, made available for viewing in November 2020, showcases a myriad of pieces from nautical and cartographic instruments, ceramics, and furniture.

A Spanish colonial-period Manton de Manila (Manila shawl) will be the newest addition to the permanent exhibit, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

Its installation in January 2025 will add to the growing number of Galleon trade-related objects in the museum, which already includes Philippine wooden trunks, ivory crucifix, and Chinese porcelain.

Philippine Ambassador to Mexico Lilybeth Deapera earlier toured the museum and delivered a talk on the Manton de Manila and the Galleon trade as part of the parallel activities in support of the installation of the shawl.

The Galleon talk is among the many collaborations the Philippine Embassy in Mexico and the museum committed to realize in the coming months.

The museum is known for housing Latin America’s largest collection of decorative arts and primarily holds the collection of the German-born collector Franz Mayer whose interests in furniture, porcelain and objects of the Galleon trade are prominently displayed in its permanent exhibits.

The museum also houses other collections from well-known personalities that add diversity to the museum´s overall collection.

Franz Mayer Museum loaned objects in the Manila Galleon Exhibition held at the Asian Civilizations Museum in Singapore from November 2023 to March 17, 2024.

On top of trade ties, the Philippines and Mexico are linked through shared faiths. In 1593, the Mexican saint San Felipe de Jesús entered the convent of the Franciscan fathers in Manila, and has embarked to be ordained in Mexico after three years.

Earlier, Deapera spoke of similarities regarding the Filipino and Mexican language as well as gastronomy, both of which have generated what she referred to as a “solid and natural” brotherhood between both nations.