Less known that other religious buildings, mosques of the Philippines testify the importance of the Muslim community in the identity of the country. And they are worth to be visited as important historical heritage sites.
MANILA – While the Philippines have been well known for its beautiful churches, some of them being among the oldest in Asia, there is little exposure given to the Islamic heritage of the archipelago. In celebration of the Eid’l Fitr, the National Commission for Culture and private freal estate group SM Manila opened a unique architectural exhibition on Filipino mosques, entitled “Masjid/Mosque: Jewels of Philippine Islamic Faith”. The exhibition is on July 28, 2014. The exhibit is culled from the book of the same title authored by architect-historian Dr. Gerard Lico.
Though the masjid is an iconic landmark dominating the urban skyline of Mindanao, it is rarely visited by non-Muslims and in their eyes its architectural beauty remains an enigma. To foster a better understanding and appreciation of the mosque’s cultural and aesthetic values especially among non-Muslim Filipinos, the exhibition will trace the historical genesis of the Philippine mosque from its original multi-tiered form reminiscent of the Javanese temple to the more familiar contemporary edifice capped by an onion-shaped dome with tall minarets styled after Middle Eastern models.
The exhibition will decipher the anatomy a mosque as building type and reveal aesthetic and design principles behind its formal and spatial arrangement. More than thirty mosques will be showcased in large format to highlight the rich Filipino Islamic heritage expressed in the built-form. The exhibition will last for a month.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
