U.P. Jorge B. Vargas Museum & Filipiniana Research Center
Library and Archives
UPVM Mission Vision and Strategic Plans, Objectives, Aims, Purposes, and Guidelines to Museum Policy Statement
Mission
The mission of the UP Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center (UPVM) is to make the collection bequeathed by Hon. Jorge B. Vargas accessible to the University of the Philippines community and other audiences. It is a non-profit quasi-nongovernmental institution, for the primary benefit of scholars and students of the Philippines and Asia. Through exhibitions, research, museum development projects, publications and education programs the UPVM advances awareness of Philippine history and art.
​
​
Vision
The projects of the UP Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center enliven the spirit in which Jorge Vargas carried out his collection of art and Filipiniana from the late 19th century to the 1960s. Jorge Vargas’s legacy is imbued with a stronger commitment to the museum’s primary audience, the university and its larger community of scholars and intellectuals. This will be realized through collaborative projects and the forging of stronger ties with institutions and audiences as well as sustained dialogue between the museum’s permanent collection, archives, and contemporary artists.
Strategic Plans
The UPVM is one of the non-teaching research centers of the College of Arts and Letters. Besides supporting the basic functions of the College, namely instruction, research and extension work, the UPVM is an ally in “achieving the highest standards of academic integrity and excellence in arts and culture; and to foster a creative, critical and innovative culture with nationalist and humanist orientations.”
The UPVM is unique, being one of the few research institutions in the country that houses a museum, archives, and library devoted to the study of Philippine history from the Commonwealth to post-World War II periods. It will continue to be an important center of research focusing on the Philippines and it Asian neighbors. In five years’ time, the UPVM hopes to develop a professional staff that has gained further education to enable them to carry out its charter as a research facility on Filipiniana or Philippine studies. It also hopes to be financially independent in ten years’ time with its own foundation, trust fund, endowments, and revenues while still being part of the University of the Philippines system.
The UPVM’s current public programs focus on exhibitions that deal with Philippine and Asian history, modern and contemporary art as well as on other disciplines that may interest the University of the Philippines’ community. It lives up to the donor’s, former Commonwealth Executive Secretary Jorge B. Vargas, humanist and nationalist ideals in which Filipinos and people are placed first. The UPVM continues to honor his wishes to keep his collection intact by caring for, doing research on them, and exhibiting them to the public. These include his personal and public papers, Philippine art, photographs, memorabilia, art, stamps, coins and rare books.
UPVM also continues to provide venue grants to contemporary artists for solo and group exhibitions, especially for, but not exclusive to, graduates of the UP College of Fine Arts. The building’s spaces are also ideal venues for forums and symposia on topics related to art cultures such as intellectual property and artist’s copyright and film literacy. Partnerships with other entities or organizations are being explored to formalize the Museum’s commitment to raising cultural awareness and providing alternative venues for art education.
Objectives, Aims, Purposes, and Guidelines to Museum Policy
1. To arouse interest and appreciation of Philippine history, culture and the arts;
2. To promote, encourage and support Filipino scholarship and research in the fields of study;
3. To maintain, conserve and develop a systematic collection of the material evidence of Philippine history, Filipino achievements in the arts, culture, and contributions to national development;
4. To undertake activities that will foster a sense of Filipino cultural heritage through research, exhibitions, lectures, symposia, publications and other means of information dissemination;
5. To supplement and reinforce teaching and research activities of the University, and complement government and non-governmental cultural institutions and agencies in these endeavors;
6. To provide a venue conducive to creativity, to imaginative and intellectual work, for an informal and enjoyable study of the artistic and cultural achievements of the Filipino people;
7. To undertake a systematic acquisition program to augment the Museum collection to make it more reflective of the variety, range, and complexity of the culture and development of the Filipino people;
8. To raise funds and mobilize public support, concern, and sense of civic responsibility for the stewardship of our cultural heritage.