It’s one thing to learn how to conduct oneself properly while inside places such as museums or art galleries. But at the very least, it shouldn’t be difficult to follow rules about not touching the artwork.
A video by freelance artist Rodney James de Guzman has made the rounds on social media after he caught a young woman doing a TikTok dance inside one of the National Museum’s spacious galleries.
“Appreciate and learn, [don’t] do TikTok and lean your cellphone against the artwork. FYI that is a marble artwork, it says do not touch but you placed your phone on it,” de Guzman wrote on Facebook.
The video pans around the gallery, which houses an exhibition of sculptor Impy Pilapil. Then it lands on two people, possibly teens, who are seen shooting a TikTok video with the phone against one of the exhibit’s sculptures.
In the comments section, de Guzman shared that the two in his video were not an isolated case.
“So many people taking TikTok videos inside the National Museum,” he said.
“What not to do with art,” one commenter wrote.
“So uncultured,” another said.
One pointed out that taking videos inside the museum is prohibited, and was baffled by how the teens were able to get away with it.
De Guzman added that in his case, he had to take a video for awareness and for the appropriate officials to take action.
“I have to take action because the artwork itself was involved since they placed the phone on it, if I don’t have evidence it’s just a story to tell,” he said.
He also shared a separate post about a gallery visitor in Florida who broke a US$42,000 (PHP2.33 million) limited-edition sculpture by artist Jeff Koons, saying, “This is what I meant, to avoid these types of incidents.”
While the National Museum has not commented on the matter, its renovation efforts over the past decade, along with free admission, have led to renewed interest in the museum. It’s likely then that many think of the institution as a great setting for TikTok content.
