The UPD Art Collection

UPD is steward to many artworks and heritage objects under the care of various units on campus. In 2017, the University Collection Mapping (UCM) project was developed with the goal of updating the 1986 inventory as published in the University Art Collection. The project was also mandated to expand the definition of the university collections beyond the fine arts, to include archeological and ethnographic materials, and selected heritage furniture that contains historical significance to the institutions and its functions.

The outputs of the project include a database that may be accessed by scholars, researchers, conservators, art managers, and art policy makers; and a publication, Adhika: Vision and Legacy (2020) which offers thematic essays reflecting on art history, public art, archaeological and ethnographic materials, and heritage furniture, as they pertain to objects that have functioned as a “teaching collection” used as a pedagogical tool in the early years on the university, becoming later on as part of the “university collections” anchored on institutional histories and disciplines.  Moreover, the UCM project hopes to encourage research on these collections, and to promote interdisciplinary collaborations on the study of art and culture, through the lens of UP’s intellectual history.