A Museum Collections Study of the Local Church Based Museum in Manaoag, Pangasinan

Abstract

Manaoag, a town 4 00 years old, is truly a place wealthy with the arts, culture and tradition. The town is a destination for religious pilgrimage. Our Lady of Manaoag Museum is the only ecclesiastical museum under the supervision and care of the Dominicans in the whole town and in the entire Pangasinan. The Manaoag church has succeeded in putting up a museum for their collections.

The collections of the museum consist of religious objects that were used in early times during celebrations and functions by priests, and al so objects given by devotees of the Blessed Virgin of Manaoag as their way of showing their love for Her. Some of the objects, most especially the instruments used by the priests and their assistants in masses, benediction, Holy Sacrament, baptism, etc., such as the priests' vestments, a re four centuries old. Part of the recent collections like the per fumes, and accessories such as jewelry and rosaries of the Blessed Mother are greater in number than the religious objects of the church. This study is on the Manaoag museum collections, focusing on the policies and pr act ices of Our Lady of Manaoaq Museum. There are no written policies for the museum, especially for their collections. Collections management policy is very essential for the collections to be well preserved and maintained. Policies on collecting, documenting and research should be made by the museum for its development, and co guide them when the opportunity comes for museum expansion. Due to the fact that the Our Lady of Manaoag museum lacks collections management policies, the researcher proposed one for them. The proposal will consist of the purpose or the objective of the museum, its goals, and will also serve as a guide for them in performing the aspects and functions of collections management acquiring, documenting, research, conservation, security, and exhibit ion. It will best describe the museum and help them perform these functions well. Now as the museum turns two in May 2002, the church should feel the need to be systematic in managing the museum, most especially with regards to its collections.