Philippines Exposition (1887)
The Philippines Exposition (Spanish: Exposición de las Filipinas; full name: Exposición General de las Islas Filipinas) was a colonial exhibition held in the main park in Madrid, the Parque del Buen Retiro, in 1887 in order to boost commercial and economic relations between the archipelago of the Philippines and the metropolis.
Buildings erected for the exhibition such as the Palacio de Cristal survive to the present day.
== History ==
The exhibition was inspired by the colonial exhibition held in 1883 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The organizing committee in mainland Spain, presided by Víctor Balaguer (Overseas Minister), was tasked with receiving, classifying and studying all the items sent by the Central Committee in the Philippines. 8 sections were created:1st. Naturaleza en los territorios españoles en la Oceanía ('Nature in the Spanish territories in Oceania')
2nd. Población ('Population')
3rd. Ejército e institutos armados auxiliares de la Administración (' Army and auxiliary armed institutes of the Administration')
4th. Marina de Guerra ('Navy')
5th. Geografía botánica del Archipiélago, su flora, la forestal y fauna ('Botanical geography of the Archipelago, its flora, forest and fauna')
6th. Agricultura, horticultura y riqueza pecuaria ('Agriculture, horticulture and livestock wealth')
7th. Industria, movimiento, comercial, tráfico ('Industry, commercial movement, traffic')
8th. Cultura general, instrucción pública, ciencias y artes ('General culture, public instruction, sciences and arts').
Upon the advertising of the project, the latter was met by racist commentary from sectors of the local press. The main venues were the Palacio de Velázquez and the Palacio de Cristal.
Insofar the exhibition aimed for a holistic representation of the Philippines, natives from different ethnic groups, fauna, flora and Philippine craftmanship were brought to Madrid. 43 natives (naturales) arrived to Madrid to be exhibited (reportedly including some igorots, one negrito, several tagalog, chamorros, carolinos, Jolo moros and a group of visayans). Another 12 natives arrived later to Madrid. The intellectual author behind the exhibition of the naturales was Pedro Payo, Archbishop of Manila. The physiognomy of the natives was studied and they were measured up. The natives were distributed in two villages: the ranchería igorrote, destined to display uncivilized natives and the so-called Pueblo indio de Santiago, for the Christianized and civilized ones (indios). Locations outside the two villages displayed female indias weaving fabrics and rolling cigars.
It was inaugurated on 30 June 1887 in El Retiro by the Queen Regent Maria Christina, accompanied by the infanta Isabel. It closed on 30 October 1887.

CitationsBibliography
Blanco, Ada (2012). Cultura y conciencia imperial en la España del siglo XIX. Valencia: PUV. ISBN 978-84-370-8954-6.
Sánchez Avendaño, María Teresa (1998). Análisis histórico y sociológico de la Exposición de Filipinas en la España finisecular. Revista Española del Pacífico. VII (8): 271–287 – via Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
Sánchez Gómez, Luis Ángel (2002). Indigenous art at the Philippine Exposition of 1887: Arguments for an ideological and racial battle in a colonial context (PDF). Journal of the History of Collections. 14 (2): 283–294. doi:10.1093/jhc/14.2.283.
Sánchez Gómez, Luis Ángel (2003). Un imperio en la vitrina: el colonialismo español en el Pacífico y la exposición de Filipinas de 1887. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. ISBN 84-00-08190-0.