“Kids at the Halad Museum”

CEBU, Philippines – October being Children’s Month, the JRG Halad Museum yesterday played host to some 60 kids from the city’s barangay Tinago. The kids were made to undergo a fun workshop in Playing Musical Instruments and watch a Tableya Making Demonstration. They also had a tour around the Museum and listened to old Cebuano music.

Mrs. Nena Gullas, wife of Jose “Dodong” Gullas and co-founder of the JRG Halad Museum, personally treated the young museum visitors to a yummy merienda with hot “sikwate” using the classic “Andrea’s Tableya,” which was a cherished delicacy in Old Cebu. The kids excitedly sampled the traditional Cebuano snack once enjoyed by their grandparents. The “sikwate” was purposely made part of the afternoon event at Halad, since the museum itself occupies the very house where Doña Andrea Rivera used to make her famous “tableya” (native chocolate made from home-grown cacao nuts).

Representatives of Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu also came with treats for the kids, perhaps hinting that the advocacy of starting children early in arts appreciation and cultural awareness is also catching on among the business groups in the city. Students of the V.I.P. Gullas Conservatory of Music provided solid support, as well.

The JRG Halad Museum is the only musical museum in the country where visitors get the chance to hear the old Cebuano music. The kids’ visit to the museum is part of the “Kids at the Museum” project organized by the Culture and Heritage Unit of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. in cooperation with partner city museums.