Philippines
ROOM – 23
The Philippines and its three religions
The Philippines lies at the northern edge of insular Southeast Asia and consist of approximately 7,000 islands. Most of the 175 indigenous languages spoken in the Philippines belong to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family. The ancestors of this ethnolinguistic group had arrived in the present-day Philippines from Taiwan by boat.
The maritime routes not only brought trade but also different ideas, technologies and religions. Two centuries before the arrival of Christianity, Islam spread from Brunei to settlements in the Sulu archipelago and Mindanao Island of the South Philippines. Although most of the Filipino population has adopted Christianity or Islam, traditional religions, spirits and veneration of the ancestors, still plays a role in contemporary society.
The Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521) led the first circumnavigation of the world. Sponsored by Spain, his fleet arrived on the island of Cebu in 1521. Magellan convinced the ruler and 800 followers to convert to Catholicism before his murder in the same year. Spain founded its first settlement on Cebu in 1565, and subdued Manila in 1571, and soon the Manila galleon trade linked the Philippines with Mexico and Europe, until the 19th century.
Figure of Infant Christ as Salvator Mundi
Ivory, silver, pigments Philippines, 17th c. Inv. CFC.94
Moro Armour
Copper, metal alloys, silver Mindanao Island 19th c. Inv. CA-CFC.1106
Ritual box (Punamham)
Wood, black patina North Luzon Island Kankanai , 19th c.
