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UP hosts Belgian embassy exhibit celebrating PH-Belgium relations

| Written by Philip Jamilla

Front, left to right: Assistant Secretary Raquel Solano of the DFA Office of Economic and Cultural Diplomacy, UP President Angelo Jimenez, Belgian Ambassador Vladislava Iordanova, and UP Diliman Chancellor Edgardo Carlo Vistan II lead the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.

 

The University of the Philippines and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium opened an exhibit at the lobby of UP Diliman’s historic Palma Hall to celebrate eight decades of Philippine-Belgian diplomatic relations.

 

UP President Angelo Jimenez and Belgian Ambassador Vladislava Iordanova led the opening of the exhibit “L’Archipel et le Plat Pays” (“The Archipelago and the Flat Country”) Monday morning, Sept. 14.

 

They were joined by UPD Chancellor Edgardo Carlo Vistan II; Professor Ruth Lusterio-Rico, dean of the UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy; Associate Professor Ruel Pagunsan, chair of the UPD CSSP’s Department of History; and Assistant Secretary Raquel Solano of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Office of Economic and Cultural Diplomacy.

 

UP officials together with Belgian Ambassador Vladislava Iordanova (second from left) sing the Philippine National Anthem during the exhibit opening.
Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
Left to right: Belgian Ambassador Vladislava Iordanova and UP President Angelo Jimenez are guided by Professor Kerby Alvarez of the UP Department of History through the exhibit, as UP Diliman Chancellor Edgardo Carlo Vistan II reads an exhibit panel.
Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.

 

“Eighty years later, we are able to look back on that history not simply as something that belongs to the past, but as a foundation for an evolving partnership — one sustained by development cooperation, cultural exchange, scholarship, and most importantly, connections between our countries,” Jimenez stated.

 

While Belgium and the Philippines established formal diplomatic relations in 1946, the two countries’ connection dates back to the 16th century.

 

The exhibit — directed by Professor Isabelle Parmentier of Belgium’s Université de Namur in collaboration with Julie Duchêne and UPD Professor Kerby Alvarez — showcases Belgium and the Philippines’ historical links in their relations with the Spanish Crown and through events such as José Rizal’s stay in the Belgian cities of Brussels and Ghent, where he completed and eventually published his second novel “El filibusterismo” in 1891, and the 1913 Ghent International Exposition.

 

 

Professor Kerby Alvarez of the UP Department of History (right) guides UP President Angelo Jimenez (left) around the exhibit at the Palma Hall lobby.
Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.
The exhibit showcases José Rizal’s second novel “El filibusterismo,” which was first published in Ghent, Belgium in 1891.
Photo by Kevin Roque, UPS-MCO.

 

“I invite everyone to explore this exhibition with curiosity, discover our unexpected connections, and to reflect on how five centuries of encounters continue to shape our relations today,” Iordanova urged.

 

The exhibit is organized by the UPD CSSP’s Department of History, the Université de Namur, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in Manila, the Philippine Association of Belgian University Scholars, and the Joint Strategic Framework Philippines. It is free and open to the public until Sept. 19.