The UST Museum unveiled this year’s “Christmaseum” exhibit, mounted in collaboration with the College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD), on Nov. 27.
The exhibit featured handmade parol or star-shaped Christmas lanterns made by CFAD students, using the star imagery to reflect the “enduring spirit and values of the Filipino people.”
The theme was also in line with the Jubilee-inspired Paskuhan 2025 theme, “Light Among Us, Hope Through Us.”
Mary Ann Joy Lampano, chair of the Department of Interior Design, said this year’s Christmaseum theme drew inspiration from the Pampanga residents who continued to celebrate the province’s annual Parol Festival despite being calamity victims of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption.
“[The parol] stands as a beacon of courage and faith … [It] embodies the very foundation of [the] Filipino heart, the unwavering belief that light will always overcome darkness,” Lampano said during her opening remarks.
Lampano said the designs of the parol radiate the message and symbolism of hope shining brightest in times of hardship, which was very “timely” amid corruption issues hounding the government.
CFAD students, mostly from the Department of Interior Design, started handcrafting the lanterns in mid-November, giving them two weeks to finish their pieces.
The UST museum also held a Concert on Dec. 4 and 5, featuring the UST Junior High School Glee Club and the UST Conservatory of Music Brass Quintet.
Christmaseum’s roots can be traced to the UST Museum’s Christmas design contest “At the Threshold of the Millennium, the Philippine Christmas Decor” in 1999.
The contest was the museum’s first partnership with the Department of Interior Design under the now-defunct College of Architecture and Fine Arts.
The exhibition ran from Nov. 27 to Dec.19.
