Visitors have more time to experience a unique intersection of history, art, and intellectual resistance, as the Constantino Foundation and Yuchengco Museum have officially extended the run of “Pasts Revisited: An Exhibit on a Usable History and the Romance of Renato Constantino and Letizia Roxas Constantino” until July 31, 2026.
Currently housed at the RCBC Plaza in Makati City, the exhibition highlights the celebrated husband-and-wife historian duo whose writings profoundly reshaped Filipino identity.
Due to popular demand and the vast nature of the collection, organizers are giving the public a prolonged opportunity to engage with these pieces of national heritage. The exhibit offers a look at the intellectual labor and lifelong romance of Renato and Letizia. For the first time, the public can view personal artifacts, rare art and photos, historical notes, and contemporary expressions.
On display are never-before-seen book manuscripts, personal letters, Renato’s writing desk, and his wood pipes, which were once so coveted that National Artist Vicente Manansala reportedly bartered a custom painting to acquire one.
Artworks gifted to the couple by Manansala and renowned painters Malang and Araceli Dans, alongside photos with close friends like Senators Claro M. Recto and Lorenzo Tañada, are also exhibited together with handwritten notes from esteemed historians such as William Henry Scott, Doreen Fernandez, and Edilberto Alegre.
In addition, there are new art pieces exploring a “usable history” created in collaboration with the advocacy group 350 Pilipinas, including the “Alas ng Bayan” project, which highlights five Filipino women who resisted national oppression.
The extension allows more time for the public to engage with the urgent message behind the exhibit. Renato Redentor Constantino, Managing Director of the foundation, emphasized the need for historical remembrance in modern times as he reflected on the nation’s current state.
He credited his parents, RC and Dudi Constantino, and the museum crew for helping bring the voluminous records together, while noting that the foundation still has “boxes and boxes and boxes we have yet to open.”
Co-curator Ninel Constantino shared that the exhibit, set in the museum’s circular space, avoids a chronological narrative. Instead, it serves as an open invitation to cultural advocates and other interested people looking to engage critically with the Filipino identity.
The museum is open from Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission fees apply, with substantial discounts available for students, teachers, senior citizens, and PWDs. Group visits can be scheduled by contacting info@constantinofoundation.org.
Visitors can also drop by the YSpace Museum Shop to purchase biographer Dr. Rosalinda Pineda-Ofreneo’s books, “Renato Constantino: A Life Revisited” and “Dahil ang Bukas ay Para sa Mapagkalinga,” to take a piece of this intellectual history home. —Seymour Sanchez
Started in 1927, the Philippines Graphic is the longest-running printed magazine of national circulation that provides relevant news and features and promotes Philippine literature.
