The division plans, organizes, and maintain exhibitions on all disciplines covered by the National Museum in coordination with other divisions concerned.

Permanent Exhibitions
 

1. Filipino Masters Hall - features various paintings by Filipino masters since 19th century, like Juan Luna, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, Fernando Amorsolo, Simon Flores, Carlos "Botong" Francisco, Vicente Manansala, etc. Its main attraction is the huge painting of the "Spoliarium" by Juan Luna that won one of the two gold medals in the National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid, Spain in 1884. A recent bequest to the Filipino people from the Far East Bank & Trust Company has augmented the national art collection with 73 paintings by Juan Luna and one F.R. Hidalgo. A portion of the galllery also exhibits contemporary paintings relevant to the evolution of art in the Philippines. Selected work of Diosdado Lorenzo, Jose Joya, Hernando Ocampo, Cesar Legaspi, Ricarte Puruganan and other Filipino artists are on display in this hall.

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2. Botany Exhibit - displays plaster models of edible fruits and vegetables and specimens of Philippine economic plants used as condiments, beverages, clothing and building materials. Some dioramas feature different types of vegetation in the Philippines namely, marine, beach, coastal, mangrove, grassland and forests.

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3. Geology Exhibit - shows the geographical features of the Philippine archipelago millions of years ago, specimens of fossilized remains of animals and plants that were recovered from the Pleistocene sites in the different parts of the Philippines, and samples of rocks and minerals with maps showing their distribution in the different localities of the country. The volcanoes exhibit focuses on their structure, development, importance and dangers to the people as well as their geographical on a map of the Philippines.

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4. Vanishing Natural Heritage Exhibit - features selected Philippine fauna that are endemic, and are becoming rare and endangered, but which are now protected and conserved under Philippine laws. These include among others, the mouse deer, pawikan, tarsier the pygmy goby (the smallest fish in the world), other birds. The tamaraw and the Philippine eagle which are also considered rare and endangered, are exhibited in the renovated sections of the Philippine Fauna Exhibits.

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5. Zoology Exhibit - presents mounted specimens of Philippine terrestrial and marine animals shown with backgrounds simulating their natural habitat. These are reptiles, crustaceans, echinoderms, shells, and polychaetes. The newly renovated Philippine Fauna Exhibition has four sections:  (1) The Game Fishes of the Philippines features huge Lapu-Lapu (Kugtong), Tanigue, Yellow Fin Tuna, Malasugue and Barracuda;  (2) The Wonderful World of Insects displays rare and common butterflies, moths, beetles, and other insects;

(3) The Rare Birds and Mammals showcase the Philippine Eagle and other rare birds, the adult tamaraws grazing in an early sunrise scenario and a dolphin;

(4) Deep Sea animals  features rare deep sea animals such as lobster, shrimp, sponge and a rare fish exhibited for the first time.
 

6. The Filipino Architectural Heritage - an exhibition of photographs and architectural drawings and floor plans of Spanish-built churches, historical landmarks, towns and structures during the 16th century to the 19th century.

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B. Finance Bldg., Valencia Circle, Rizal Park, Manila

1. The San Diego Treasures Exhibitions
 

There are two galleries depicting the richness of the artefactual materials recovered from the shipwreck "San Diego".  Gallery I  Presents the overview of the condition in Manila in the early 1600 where some religious materials loaned from the San Agustin and the Casa Manila Museums are displayed along the respective art works depicting the early route of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon, the astrolobe, the circular ring, cannons and metal cannon balls, some Japanese artifacts retrieved from the shipwreck are on display. The history of the San Diego ship is likewise featured in these gallery.  Gallery II  Showcases the rare and significant treasures recovered from the ship composed of different types of jars, porcelains, ceramics plateas, bowls and jarlets, earthenware potteries, metal and religious artifacts. The gold seal of Antonio de Morga, the ship's Captain, and his book "Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas", are likewise displayed.

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2. Five Centuries of Maritime Trade before the Arrival of the West
 

This exhibition designed in a different technique is another attraction at this newly renovated building. the display tehcnique is the modern concept of an storage exhibition, meaning that while the artifact are stored, they can still be viewed by museum quests, researchers and specialists. Some museum collections are exhibited in their "in situ" condition where they actually recover from their discovery site, while other artifacts are exhibited in storage cases, thus the exhibition is also called a storage exhibition.  The artifacts exhibited composed of rare and significant pieces retrieved from the five (5) shipwrecks or junks earlier worked by the

National Museum in different archaeological sites, such as the Junk Breaker which is dated to 11th,  early 12th century, the Junk Investigator dated late 13th century, Pandanan wreck dated early 15th century, the Junk Lena dated 15th century and the Junk San isidro dated mid-16th century.

The discovery of these merchant vessels also reaffirms the active interchange that already existed among the people of the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, India and the Arab nations since the prehistoric times.

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3. Story of the Filipino People

This exhibition features the material cultures of the ethnolinguistic communities in the different parts of the Philippines from Luzon to Mindanao such as household utensils, fishing and farming equipment, weapons, musical intruments, personal ornaments including their act.

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Changing Exhibitions

1. Multi-Purpose Hall - this hall is used for changing exhibits of one-man or group art shows, travelling exhibits from other countries, and other special themes mounted for a brief period of two weeks to one month. It is also the venue of occasional lectures, demonstrations, seminar-workshops, slide shows and cultural presentations.
 
 
 

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