Sentro Rizal London Revisits Rizal’s Journey to Rewrite Philippine History

LONDON 22 May 2019 — The Philippine Embassy in London marks the launch of Sentro Rizal London with an exhibition on Filipino reformist Jose Rizal’s ten-month visit in London. 

The exhibit, “To Retrieve What Has Been Lost: Rizal as a Historian”, opens to the public from 27 May to 25 June 2019 at the Exhibition Hall of the chancery. This pioneering exhibition is a collaboration between Sentro Rizal London, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and Project Saysay.

The exhibition explores Jose Rizal’s stay in the English capital to rewrite the history of the Philippines and the Filipino people. After securing permission to work and study at the British Library, Dr. Rizal poured over Antonio de Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Events in the Philippine Islands), which he had first heard of when he was still in the Philippines. The Filipino national hero studied and copied de Morga’s book verbatim, and also annotated extensive passages of the book to correct de Morga’s misconceptions about the Philippines and the Filipinos.

Apart from de Morga’s book, Dr. Rizal also studied and read other books in the British library on the Philippines. It was during the course of his undertaking that the Filipino national hero began to conceive the idea of a truly national Filipino identity.

“Through this exhibition, we hope to inspire second generation Filipino-Britons and Filipino-Irish to reconnect with their Filipino roots and to rediscover their Filipino heritage,” said Ambassador to the Unted Kingdom Antonio M. Lagdameo. 

Research and the development of the exhibition panels was undertaken by Project Saysay, a Philippine-based volunteer-led organisation that aims to spread the ideals and values of great Filipinos. Last year, Project Saysay, together with Ibarra Watches, distributed posters bearing the words of Filipino heroes to all Sentros Rizal around the world.

“To Retrieve What Has Been Lost: Rizal as a Historian” is the first exhibition mounted by the Embassy under the Sentro Rizal programme. END

For more information, visit www.londonpe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/pg/PHLinUK or https://twitter.com/philippinesinuk