PenCities

Top Sights

• A-11 Gallery
  A-11 Gallery is run by entrepreneur-furniture designer Eric Paras who has transformed a charming two-storey wooden house at the end of an acacia-lined street into a space showcasing his limited-edition line of furniture and lifestyle pieces. Absent is the stiffness associated with most commercial spaces, instead one has the freedom to explore two floors’ worth of furniture and art arranged as one would place them in a home or office. Nothing is contrived or too inaccessible or intimidating for one’s appreciation.
  
  A-11, 2680 F.B. Harrison Street, Pasay City
  Tel: (63-2) 833 8357
• Avellana Art Gallery
  Avellana Art Gallery is what other museums and art spaces aspire to be. It is housed in a leafy residential place where artworks become organic to the art space. It breathes new life into a place imbued with heritage. It boasts an extensive collection, not only of works by the best and the brightest in Philippine art, but also of provocative, avant-garde and folk pieces by upcoming and newly discovered talent. Owner and curator Albert Avellana says of his gallery: “My aim is to create a house for art and the artist.”
  
  House A-19, 2680 F.B. Harrison Street, Pasay City
  Tel: (63-2) 833 8357
• Ayala Museum
  Envisioned in the 1950s by Fernando Zobel de Ayala y Montojo, the Ayala Museum became a reality in 1967 as a project of the Ayala Foundation, Inc. Through exhibitions and programs, the Ayala Museum fulfills its threefold mission of preserving, interpreting and promoting awareness, understanding and appreciation of the cultural history of the Philippines.
  
  Makati Avenue, corner of De la Rosa Street, Greenbelt Park, Ayala Center, Makati City
  Tel: (63-2) 757 7117-21
• Casa Manila (Intramuros)
  A lifestyle museum housed in a reconstructed complex of urban dwellings, the main exhibit hall of Casa Manila is a replica of a townhouse of the mid-19th Century.
  
  General Luna Street, Manila
  Tel: (63-2) 527 4084
• Cultural Center of The Philippines
  The Cultural Center of The Philippines (CCP) is the country’s premier institution for music, theatre and the visual arts. It has a resident dance company and theatre group. The government-run center also hosts internationally-known artists and musicians, sometimes in cooperation with the cultural arms of foreign embassies. The center’s two art galleries display both contemporary and traditional art.
  
  Roxas Boulevard (facing Pablo Ocampo Sr. Street), Manila
  Tel: (63-2) 832 1125 / 832 3702
• Finale Art File
  Finale is a leading light in modern and contemporary Philippine art. For over two decades, it has promoted the best in painting, sculpture and print and has supported cutting-edge installation art, photography and new media.
  
  Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound (Gate 1), 2241 Pasong Tamo, Makati City
  Tel: (63-2) 813 2310 and 812 5034
  
• Galleria Duemila
  Run by Silvana Diaz, this gallery is dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art from the Philippines.
  
  210 Loring Street, Pasay City, Metro Manila
  Tel: (63-2) 831 9990 / 833 9815
• National Museum and the National Gallery of Philippine Art
  Also known as the Museum of the Filipino People, the National Museum houses Filipino cultural, historical and natural artifacts and documents. It is well worth a visit. In a short time you will acquire an excellent overview of the life and culture of the Philippines.
  
  Rizal Park at Padre Burgos Street, Manila
  Tel: (63-2) 527 1209 / 527 1174
• San Agustin Church
  Constructed between 1587 and 1604, and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this is the oldest surviving church in the Philippines, and the only building left standing after the walled city of Intramuros was reduced to rubble in the 1945 Liberation of Manila. An extensive collection of Ecclesiastical art and artifacts are housed in the historic cloister of San Agustin Monastery.
  
  General Luna and Real Streets, Manila
  Tel: (63-2) 527 4060 / 527 4061
• The Drawing Room
  Established in 1998, The Drawing Room specialises in works on paper by contemporary Filipino artists.
  
  Ground Floor, Metrostar Building, 1007 Metropolitan Avenue, Makati
  Tel (63-2) 897 6990 / 897 7877