So you’re a hipster who wants to learn how to work with your hands on wood, iron, even adobe? Guess what, there’s a school for that.
But you’ll have to be really ironic and become an out of school youth.
“The courses now are really for people who will actually do the work. Not for appreciation or hobbyists. But we want to go into that when we have enough trained people already,” says Jaime Laya, chairman of Escuela Taller Intramuros chairman.
The Escuella Taller Intramuros started in 2009 as a project funded by both Spanish and Philippine governments to teach Filipinos the art of cultural preservation via masonry, ironworks, woodworking and electrical. Similar schools have been established in South America, but this is the only one of its kind in Asia.
“The project is phasing out and the Escuela Taller Foundation is taking over,” Laya announced last night at the National Museum of the Philippines where an exhibition of works made by students and faculty of the school are now on display.
“It is an institution that was organized, really, to carry on work that was done six or seven years ago under the Escuela Taller project which was an undertaking between the NCCA and AECID. The main purpose of the foundation is really to train workers in the proper art of cultural heritage restoration,” he said.
Studying at Escuela Taller Intramuros can take almost two years, with each course taking six months. Students and graduates are then hired, through the school, by establishments that have conservation projects. Some students are currently working on Malate Catholic Church, now undergoing a five-year restoration project that would likely cost PHP5 million per year. Escuela Taller graduates can earn at least PHP400 for a day’s work.
Escuela Taller Intramuros exhibit ongoing at the 3/F National Museum of the Philippines, P Burgos Drive, Intramuros, Manila.
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