Turning Tides exhibition revisits Mactan, La Naval through maritime lens.—KAIZZER MANUBA
AYALA Museum’s newest exhibition, Turning Tides: Maritime Encounters and Exchanges of Power, reexamines the Battle of Mactan and the Battles of La Naval de Manila as part of broader networks of trade, faith, diplomacy, and conflict that shaped Philippine history.
Running from July 16, 2026 to Feb. 14, 2027 at the museum’s 3F Main Gallery, the exhibition brings together historical artifacts, paintings, devotional objects, multimedia installations, and interactive experiences that explore how the archipelago’s maritime connections influenced Filipino identity.
The exhibition grew from curator Jei Ente’s interest in examining Filipinos’ relationship with the sea and the role of maritime activity in shaping the country’s history.
“I had an idea for an exhibition in 2023 about how, as a people whose culture is built on maritime activity, Filipinos have a relationship to water which appear in ways that we don’t always notice or realize,” Ms. Ente said in an interview.
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