PH Embassy Celebrates PH-Japan Friendship Month with Photography Exhibition Merging Art and Science

Art merges with science at the “Faces and Flora - Philippines and Japan Native Plant Photography” special exhibition, which will run from 12 July to 09 November 2025 at the JP Tower Museum Intermediatheque, featuring Filipino photographer Jan Zoilo Rafael Mayo. (Tokyo PE photo)

TOKYO 21 July 2025 —  In celebration of Philippines-Japan Friendship Month, the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo partnered with the National Museum of the Philippines (NMT) and The University of Museum, The University of Tokyo (UMUT) in staging the “Faces and Flora - Philippines and Japan Native Plant Photography” special exhibition featuring Filipino photographer, Mr. Jan Zoilo Rafael Mayo, from 12 July to 09 November 2025 at the JP Tower Museum Intermediatheque. 

“The photography exhibition is a testament to the strong people-to-people connections and institutional ties that bind our two countries. It perfectly aligns with the Embassy’s objective to further promote Philippine art, culture and heritage to the Japanese audience, and reinforce the multidisciplinary exchanges between our two countries. As we look ahead to the 70th Anniversary of the Normalization of the Diplomatic Relations between the Philippines and Japan in 2026, this initiative between NMP and UMUT serves as a meaningful and timely kick-off to our milestone celebration,” said Chargé d’affaires Christian L. De Jesus, as he delivered remarks on behalf of Ambassador Mylene J. Garcia-Albano at the preview event on 11 July 2025 also at the JP Tower Museum Intermediatheque.  

The project, which is the outcome of the Memorandum of Understanding on Academic Research renewed in 2023 between NMP and UMUT, highlights selected native flora from the Philippines and Japan through a compelling fusion of art and science. Each featured plant is presented as an artistic facial portrait, where the flora is creatively arranged on the model's face, and a corresponding herbarium specimen, some dating as far back as the 1850s, displayed alongside the portrait.  Through this dual presentation, the project uses art as a powerful medium to raise awareness about the vital role of native plants in sustaining healthy ecosystems.

The preview event also featured remarks from photographer Jan Zoilo Rafael Mayo; Professor Kaori Hayashi, Executive Vice President of The University of Tokyo and Professor Yoshihiro Nishiaki, UMUT Director; Dr. Arvin Manuel R. Villalon, NMP Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Deputy Director-General for Museums; and Ms. Jhaydee Ann F. Pascual, OIC of the NMP Botany and National Herbarium, who curated the exhibition with Dr. Ayumi Terada of UMUT. Guests from the diplomatic corps, academe and civil society immersed in the unique photography exhibition, which was followed by a cocktail reception hosted by the Embassy featuring Filipino-Japanese fusion dishes. 

The Tokyo photography exhibition builds on a solo exhibition of the same title by Mr. Mayo, held in February 2024 at the National Museum of Natural History in Manila. That earlier exhibition focused on Philippine herbarium specimens and was mounted in collaboration with botanists from institutions such as the University of the Philippines – Institute of Biology and the Philippine Taxonomic Initiative. Mr. Mayo was also a recipient of the 2023 Regional Grant Award under the Fujifilm GFX Challenge Grant Program, and his work has been featured in Esquire, Tatler Philippines, and Vogue Philippines.

A lecture on the intersection of art and science through the “Faces and Flora Philippines and Japan Native Plant Photography” special exhibition was also held on 12 July.

The exhibition runs until 09 November 2025. END

Left photo: Philippine Embassy Chargé d’affaires, a.i. Christian L. De Jesus, delivered remarks on behalf of Ambassador Mylene J. Garcia-Albano at the preview event of the “Faces and Flora - Philippines and Japan Native Plant Photography” special exhibition on 11 July 2025. Right photo (from left to right): Dr. Ayumi Terada (The University Museum, The University of Tokyo-UMUT); Dr. Arvin Manuel R. Villalon, Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Deputy Director-General for Museums of the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP); Professor Kaori Hayashi, Executive Vice President of The University of Tokyo; Professor Yoshihiro Nishiaki, UMUT Director; featured Filipino photographer, Mr. Jan Zoilo Rafael Mayo; Philippine Embassy Chargé d’affaires, a.i. Christian L. De Jesus; and Ms. Jhaydee Ann F. Pascual, OIC of the NMP Botany and National Herbarium. (Tokyo PE photo)

Guests immerse in the merging of art and science during the preview event of the “Faces and Flora - Philippines and Japan Native Plant Photography” special exhibition on 11 July 2025. (Tokyo PE photo) 

Filipino photographer, Mr. Jan Zoilo Rafael Mayo, leads the discussion on the intersection of art and science through the “Faces and Flora - Philippines and Japan Native Plant Photography” special exhibition during the lecture on 12 July 2025 at the JP Tower Museum Intermediatheque. (Tokyo PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.tokyo.philembassy.net, or https://www.tokyope.dfa.gov.ph, or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinJapan/.