Jose Rizal Exhibition Hall: New Museum Project Approved by Marcos Jr.
New Rizal Exhibition Hall Planned for National Museum
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Met with National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) Chairperson Andoni Aboitiz on , to discuss a proposal for a new Rizal Exhibition Hall. The meeting took place in Malacañang, according to a press briefing by Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro.
The proposed exhibition hall aims to showcase the life and works of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, with a particular focus on his interests in fine arts. Details of the hall’s construction and design were discussed during the meeting, though specific plans have not yet been publicly released.
The initiative comes as the National Museum prepares a series of digital exhibitions dedicated to Rizal. The first thematic focus, “Connecting and Collecting: Rizal’s Ethnographic Objects in Germany,” launched on January 7, 2026, and features 21 Philippine objects Rizal donated to the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin in 1888. Further digital exhibitions, “Rizal as an Artist” and “Rizal as a Hero,” are planned for launch on , and , respectively.
The new Rizal Exhibition Hall is envisioned to be constructed at the center of the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) Complex. The project reflects a commitment to preserving and promoting Rizal’s legacy, according to the PCO.
In a related development on , the National Museum of Fine Arts put on public display a clay sculpture created by Rizal of his sleeping wife, Josephine Bracken, as part of the commemoration of the 128th anniversary of Rizal’s martyrdom. The sculpture is valued at P31 million.
The NMP is collaborating with several institutions on the Rizal digital exhibitions, including the Office of Senator Loren Legarda, the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin, the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in Berlin, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the National Library of the Philippines, and Sentro Rizal of the National Museum.