A Participatory Experience

"The Flavors That Sail Across the Seas" exhibition was inaugurated in the National Museum of the Philippines, Manila (2016). It then toured Cádiz, Huelva, Valladolid, Málaga, and Seville, concluding at the Auditorium of la Merced, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz (2019).

The subject was presented via visitor participation and interaction with varied methods. It is illustrated below, through photographs taken at the different locations.

The exhibition is interactive, inviting visitors to discover its contents using various methods, as observed in this scene from the National Museum of the Philippines, Manila (2016).

If you don't engage, you don't learn, and you might miss something interesting.

The image shows a cabinet inspired by 18th-century herb chests, as displayed at the Provincial Historical Archive of Malaga (2018).

What did the kitchens look like?

Facsimiles of 18th-century Valencian tiles. Photograph taken at the Auditorium of la Merced, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz (2019).

A facsimile about cinnamon, accompanied by an information board. It consists of a box with a description of the document on the lid; inside is an olfactory device, as exhibited in Manila (2016).

The sense of touch complements that of sight and the text.

The image shows young members of the public experimenting with senses. General Archive of the Indies (Archivo General de Indias), Seville (2019).

Sometimes it is worth taking a closer look at the foodstuff itself—the ingredient that is sometimes only known by way of manufactured products. This is the case with purple yam, turmeric, coconuts, and tamarind.

Photograph taken in the Archive of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid (Archivo de la Real Chancillería de Valladolid) (2018).

The exhibition and its resources can be shared, enjoyed, and learned from.

The image shows the map of the Philippines in landscape and a moving object with a drawing of a galleon. Provincial Historical Archive of Málaga (Archivo Histórico Provincial de Málaga) (2018).

This puzzle with 6 maps by Abraham Ortelius offers an alternate way of learning about the geography of the mid-16th century.

The photograph was taken in the Archive of the Royal Chancery of Valladolid (2018).

Visitors can learn through play, and discover this magnificent map of the American continent, photographed here in the Huelva Port Authority (Autoridad Portuaria de Huelva) (2017).

Which foodstuffs sailed from Acapulco to Manila?

A game that invites the visitor to learn about the food and its characteristics.

These children are playing and learning, looking through the copies of the documents, and analyzing the information they contain. On the back of each card are the seals of the packages that sailed on one of the voyages.

Photograph taken in the General Archive of the Indies, Seville (2019).

Recipes written by visitors to the exhibition in its locations at the provincial government of Cádiz (2017) and the General Archive of the Indies (2019).