Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
When the Marcos dictatorship was ousted after the 1986 EDSA
revolution
tthe Marcos family left the Philippines along with a lot of their prized
possessions, including Imelda's world-famous shoe stash
including Imelda's world-famous shoe stash
A huge portion of the former First Lady's 3,000-pair collection
was transferred to the National Museum in Manila for safekeeping
however
flooding, termites, and long years of storage have rendered the
possessions damaged. Fortunately, though,
a part of the legendary collection remains preserved in a museum
in the country's shoe town
--the Marikina Shoe Museum.
Not a lot of Filipinos are aware of the existence of this relatively young museum
The Shoe Museum
brainchild of then-Marikina Mayor Bayani F. Fernando, was completed
and opened to the public on February 16, 2001.
It was originally called the Footwear Museum of Marikina.
Marikina's prime industry began in 1887
through the ingenuity of Don Laureano Guevarra,
known locally as Kapitan Moy.
Kapitan Moy's old house served as his own tiny shoe factory, the first
in the country
It has now been turned into the Sentrong Pangkultura ng Marikina,
with a Filipino-themed restaurant named after the pioneer shoemaker.
The small, shoebox-like museum
features three collections:
winning designs in some of the city's shoe designing competitions,
shoes worn by prominent political and media personalities,
and 749 pairs of expensive and bedazzling footwear
straight from the wardrobe of the former First Lady and certified
shoeholic Imelda Marcos
Apart from the stunning shoe displays
the museum introduces visitors to the intricate art that catapulted Marikina into
worldwide fame.
Here, the legacy of Kapitan Moy's historic process of shoemaking
is immortalized along with olden tools,
molds, and different animal skins
used by the first Marikina shoemakers.
But beneath shelves after shelves
of cherished footwear
lies the core value of the Shoe Museum
it embodies the creativity and burning passion for craft-making
not only of Marikenos, but of all Filipinos.
Marikina's culture is embedded in every pair of shoes that it produces,
and they shouldn't be in peak can't get that of making sure you get co-chair theand the Shoe Museum takes care of the task of making sure this culture
will traverse more generations.
unfortunately
due to recent disasters such as typhoon Ondoy and Habagat,
maintenance of the museum in the highly flood-prone city has become
a more tedious task.
Moreover,
insufficient publicity has been hindering the gallery's break
into the elite ranks of the top cultural attractions in the metro.
The management noticed that while the museum enjoys a considerable number of
visitors annually, the figures do not go up.
The government of Marikina hopes
that more tourists,
especially Filipinos from other parts of the country,
get the chance to witness one of the oldest Filipino trades
that is continuously helping the country carve its own niche in the international scene.
The cultural "shoebox" of Marikina
is just waiting.