The Top Three Things I Learned from Ambeth Ocampo on the History Comes Alive Series

This Saturday at 3PM, Ambeth Ocampo will be giving his final talk on the History Comes Alive Series at the Ayala Museum. I've learned a great deal in three short sessions so I'm pretty excited to attend the fourth one. I can now relate with his pupils from the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo who adore his offbeat teaching style. So just to give a taste of tasty historical tidbits I picked up, I listed them down as some of the top things I picked up from Ambeth Ocampo:

1. In the images we have of our heroes, Jose Rizal is always portrayed as the writer, hunched over his desk with his quill.  Andres Bonifacio on the other is brawny and muscular complete with six-pack abs. But he said that it was actually the other way around, Rizal had a body builder's proportion with a perfectly v-shaped back. While Bonifacio was skinny to the point of being sickly.
2. Guillermo Tolentino, a Filipino National Artist for Sculpture, was also a founding member of the Union Espiritista Cristiana de Filipinas. He'd communicate with dead heroes through seances, ask them about themselves in order to get their busts to come out correctly. He even wrote a book, "Si Rizal" where Tolentino has a transcript of him talking to Rizal through a medium.
3. Thomas Edison, the man hailed for inventions like the lightbulb and the phonograph, was also quite the avid filmmaker. He was commissioned by the U.S. government to create propaganda films about the Philippine American War. He showed us some of the clips which were supposedly shot in the Philippines, but actually took place in generic looking jungles in the U.S. using an all-American cast with African Americans playing the Filipinos.

Mused this Weekend: Ambeth Ocampo Rocks Ayala Museum

History has gained an awful reputation for being boring and irrelevant but if you were at the Ayala Museum last Saturday for Ambeth Ocampo’s lecture on prehistorical Philippines, you’d think history was (gasp) cool.

I’ve never met Ambeth Ocampo but I’ve heard much about his passion for Philippine history and Jose Rizal in particular. So I dragged my sleepy self out on a Saturday morning despite a crummy tummy. He did not disappoint. Not a boring second in the lecture. I was impressed because despite being hailed as a “Rock Star Historian” with the ability to command reserved seating and a venue packed with almost 500 people, he was candid and dare I say it, even dorky. In one anecdote, he shared how in the British Library, he found the Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay book used by Jose Rizal. So in his everyday research, even when he didn’t need the book, he would put it by his side and caress it lovingly then touch his head hoping to be great someday too.

Well sir, I would have wanted to pat your head for greatness when I asked for a photo but I am not that bold. So, I just got my free book signed. (I read it in one sitting.)

I ran into a childhood friend from Saudi Arabia, Ate Kristine. She’s now a teacher based in Rhode Island, U.S.A. She enjoyed the talk a lot and I think it’s fed her patriotic spirit. Our meeting was serendipitous. The conversation gushed out over lunch and I couldn’t help but compare the feeling of catching up with an old friend to the talk Mr. Ocampo gave. He makes history intensely personal, almost like friends discussing the latest news regarding a common friend  (who just happens to be a historical figure.)

 

So yes, let's double the crowds the next time around.
His next lecture is on July 24, 2010. 3:00 pm. It's on the Philippine-American War.

Ambeth Ocampo Brings History Alive at the Ayala Museum

I'm really excited to attend tomorrow's talk at the Ayala Museum. History buff, Rizal fanatic, and all- around Filipino Idol: Ambeth Ocampo kicks off his new lecture series designed to take us through the nation's entire history in four short sessions.  I've heard a great deal about his work at the National Historical Institute and my friends have told me that he is a phenomenal great teacher. For those of you like me who have never had the opportunity to attend any of his classes, tomorrow is the day. The first session is pre-colonial Philippine society. It will be held at the Ground Floor Lobby of the Ayala Museum at 10:30 a.m. That's tomorrow! Come, let's go.

For details. please click: