Philippine Gold: The Curator Talk (Complete)
NEW YORK, September 15, 2015 — In companion to the just-launched Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms exhibition, Florina H. Capistrano-Baker, Consulting Curator of the Ayala Museum, discussed the exhibition in a curator talk given at Asia Society New York Tuesday night.

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When Filipino worker Berto Morales was digging on a government irrigation project in 1981, he literally struck gold. But what he found that day was worth more than its weight—he had uncovered evidence of a lost civilization.

Asia Society New York unveiled its exhibition Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms, displaying more than 100 gold artifacts on loan from the Ayala Museum and the Central Bank of the Philippines in Manila. Most objects trace back to the Kingdom of Butuan — a still scarcely understood civilization centered on the island of Mindanao that rose to prominence in the 10th century before mysteriously declining in the 13th. But it took more than seven centuries for the objects to be found, and once they were, they wouldn’t be seen in the West for another several decades.

Gold has always factored into the history of the Philippines, a country still estimated to have as much as $1 trillion worth of untapped deposits beneath its surface. And despite what little is known about Butuan some aspects of its society clearly revolved around the precious metal.

Many artifacts were first unearthed in the 1970s during the construction of a network of drainage canals. Among them were ceramics from around Southeast Asia and China, as well as boats that were apparently used as trade vessels. These details were corroborated by records from China’s Song Dynasty, whose officials had contact with Butuan from the early 11th century. In 1011, a flamboyant Butuan ambassador reportedly even presented China’s emperor with an engraved gold tablet, sparking interest within China about the kingdom. Evidence shows that an educated and wealthy seafaring civilization existed in the Philippines centuries before explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521 and kicked off the Spanish colonial period.

However, it was on that construction site on the southern island of Mindanao in 1981 that the most valuable Butuan cache would be found, bringing ancient Philippine treasures into contact with the modern world.

When Berto Morales was digging with his heavy machinery scraper, a coworker warned him that there was something hard and shiny on the ground that could damage the equipment. Realizing that it could be something valuable, Morales shooed the coworker away and pulled up the obstruction: a gold bowl. As he continued digging, he found gold bracelets, vessels, necklaces, and other ornaments. By the end of the day he had an armful of artifacts.

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This video is credited to the Asia Society Museum.

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