The term 'New Normal" has become a household name in the last six months. I find that it can be a little misleading. It's as if a new form of normal has set in. The truth, however, is that it's out feeble way of describing a frighteningly rapid and disconcerting series of changes in our way of life that is not going to slow down in the foreseeable future.
Museums, at present, are challenged not only to adapt to this revolution but be visible enablers of people who are trying to survive and make sense and meaning out of it. The French phenomenologist, Paul Ricoeur, wrote that crisis is like the riddle of the Sphinx: answer or be killed. Throughout its long history, Casa Gorordo has witnessed the families who have lived in it and their community withstand several crises that threatened their existence.
As a program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), CGM is propelled by a larger vision of "touching people, shaping the future." For this reason, the museum has been the site of relief operations of RAFI in response to sevveral social crises before. The current one is not an exception.
But we are dealing with an impact of the pandemic at work in a less visible level: cultural displacement. It is in this aspect that CGM and other museums can be most relevant and effective. So, CGM has tasked itself to bring out the best stories from local history and culture, and convert these to become sources of awareness and inspiration for Cebuanos in these most trying times.
The answer to the Sphinx's riddle is simple: the human being. Our hope and capability to prevail over this crisis is certainly within us. It is foundin the stories we remember, create and pass on. These stories we share our virtual "agbay" to Cebuanos as we push on in the New Normal/
Florencio A Moreño II
Curator, Casa Gorordo Museum
