About the MET

The Metropolitan Museum of Manila is one of the major museums in the Philippines. It was originally built as a venue for international art exhibitions in 1976, aimed at expanding the exposure of Filipinos to the visual arts of foreign cultures while enhancing cultural diplomacy. 

In 1986, it redefined its vision towards cultivating local pride in the Filipinos’ own cultural and artistic heritage primarily represented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) valuable collections of Pre historic Gold and Pottery, colonial Hispanic art, and the growing modern and contemporary collections of the BSP and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. 

The museum was among the first to develop and extend its audience reach by embracing the philosophy of ART FOR ALL, adopting a bilingual approach to exhibition texts, and implementing a vigorous education and community outreach program.

In the last few years the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in partnership with the BSP has refocused and moved forward with a more cohesive and strengthened direction in positioning the museum as the home of Contemporary Art by Filipino and international artists. It seeks to amplify the Filipinos’ sense of artistic and cultural heritage from the past, to the present and beyond, in contemporary global contexts and experiences. 

Its diverse range of contemporary art exhibitions and programs reflect the thriving borderless multi-dimensional environments of scholarship, artistic expression and the world we live in. The museum has reached out to different audiences creating off site programs with different partner organizations.