UST College of Architecture faculty member Ar. Lorelei De Viana, Ph.D., author of “Three Centuries of Binondo Architecture,” discoursed on Binondo, Manila, a district that is considered as one of the oldest Chinatowns in the world in a webinar held on October 3, 2020. Through archival maps and images, the talk recounted the history of the district from “being a 16th-century Dominican mission settlement for Christianized Chinese into the economic hub of colonial Philippines in the 19th and early 20th centuries.”
In her discussion, de Viana shared her position on the current conservation efforts on Binondo’s heritage buildings. She also expressed how the Megaworld Foundation has captured the essence and legacy of Binondo through the Chinatown Museum in Divisoria, Manila.
In the same webinar, museum Curator Jocelyn B. Gerra, Ph.D., shared her expertise on the Chinatown of Cebu. She discussed the vibrant history of the Chinese and the Chinatown in the South of the Philippines. She also shared that the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum in Cebu City recounts the history of the Chinese people of Cebu.
For three consecutive Tuesdays in October, the Chinatown Museum organized a series of webinars that looked into the Chinatowns worldwide. It covered Manila and Cebu in the Philippines, London in the United Kingdom, and Melbourne in Australia.
This event was organized in cooperation with CHiNOY TV and in partnership with the Ateneo Ricardo Leong Center for Chinese Studies; Bahay Tsinoy in Intramuros, Manila; Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum in Cebu; and the Chinese Museum in Melbourne, Australia.
