Text by Jennifer Manongdo
Photos by Sarah Hazel Moces Pulumbarit

A unique fashion show was held at the Museum of a History of Ideas on May 14, 2025, that featured some of the country’s indigenous plants painted on garments by artist Corinne Juliano-Salazar. 

Artist Corinne Juliano-Salazar hand-painted the wearable art pieces featured in the fashion show

Students of UP Manila Crèche, Escolare at Ztalk and Learn in General Santos City, and selected basketball players of the University, paraded barongs, dresses, and accessories adorned with hand-painted leaves, petals, and flowers that perfectly blended art and Filipino heritage through modern silhouettes.

“The flowers captured in paint are part of the collection at the UP Manila Museum of History of Ideas, organized in its five plant atriums: indigenous plants, tropical plants, agricultural plants, medicinal plants, and mythological plants,” noted Special Assistant to the Chancellor for the Museum of a History of Ideas Honey Libertine Achanzar-Labor, curator of “Moving Blooms: A Fashion Show of Wearable Art Pieces.” 

Special Assistant to the Chancellor for the Museum of a History of Ideas Honey Libertine Achanzar-Labor announced the release of an e-book featuring the wearable art pieces seen in the show.

The show featured 40 flora species, including Kamagong, Rattan, Coconut, Limuran, Kamias, and Pili, painted on piña or jusi fabric and in Barong Tagalog pieces. 

“These garments pay tribute to the quiet beauty of the flora found in the UP Manila campus and the UP Manila Museum of a History of Ideas, turning them into inspiring, wearable art,” Jacquiline Lumain, event producer, said.#

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