Appreciating art..a tour at BenCab museum

I'm not an art collector but once in a while I appreciate a good piece of art when I see one. My hubby  loves to take a peek at art galleries every time we were at the mall. A few weeks ago, we visited the museum of National Artist Ben Cabrera which is located at Km. 6 Asin Road, Tadiangan, Tuba, Benguet,  a 15 minute drive if you're coming from the main city of Baguio. The museum is in a four level building that houses BenCab's collection of his own works, as well as other famous masters and rising contemporary artist. Since it is a weekday, we were lucky enough that there weren't many visitors at the museum, I think there were only 6 of us.

The museum is open to public from Tuesdays to Sundays (closed on Mondays, Christmas Day and New Year's Day) starting from 9:00 am to 6:00pm. 

Admission tickets cost:

• P100 - General admission
• P80 - student or Senior Citizen (with valid ID)
• free for child smaller than 42"

Our first stop was the museum shop/sepia gallery which is located on level 1/street level. They sell art books, postcards, notebooks and other souvenir items such as T-shirts and caps.  On the Sepia Gallery, you will find some of BenCab's artworks. 

Taking pictures are allowed but only no flash.

Level 2 where the Galleries of BenCab, Cordillera, Print, Indigo and Erotica are located.

Bencab Gallery displays the artist's own works including Sabel.

Cordillera Gallery, a collection of tribal artifacts and indigenous crafts of the Cordilleras.

Erotica Gallery features erotic artworks by various artists

Level 3 displays contemporary art and Gallery of the masters

The Bulol Installation and Maestro Gallery where a selection of works from  Masters of Philippine art like Joya, Luz and Zobel, to name a few, are displayed.

On the Garden Level, you will find Cafe Sabel, art works are also displayed in the cafe. They serve all day breakfast, rice meals, pasta and drinks, for takeouts or "pasalubong", homemade jams, marmalades and other treats are available here.  

Since it was already past lunchtime when we finished touring the museum, we dined at Cafe Sabel. We had homemade longganisa and Taal Rice which were both delicious and filling.

While eating at the cafe, you can view the beautiful scenery that surrounds the garden level.

The museum also offers a guided tour to the Eco-trail at the farm and garden for a minimal fee of P100/person. Since the weather was too hot that afternoon, we decided not to do the Eco-trail.

Who is Sabel?

As we tour around the museum, we noticed that some of the works of BenCab were titled "Sabel". This was the description in one of his works.

I wonder, where she is... 

The next time you're in Baguio, why not visit BenCab's museum, it's the next best thing to do while you're in the summer capital.