Information

Shown below are items associated with Miguel Tecson available without first logging in. This person appears in records from MOA.

Knowledge shared by institutions

In the Philippines old objects are highly valued and are often stored for safety in the largest house in a community. The house owners store their own objects and those belonging to others in the community. Miguel Tecson grew up in such a house. Dr. Tecson began collecting ceramics when he was in grade school, intensifying his collecting after World War II.

Dr. Miguel (Mike) Tecson, and his wife Julia Gonzales Tecson, were early Filipino immigrants to Vancouver, in the 1960s. They were both from San Miguel, Bulacan. Mike became the first licensed Filipino pyschiatrist in British Columbia. The collection they donated to MOA consists of over 350 objects from Northern Luzon, Central Visayas, and Mindanao, and pottery from different parts of Southeast Asia. The collection also includes rice granary gods (bulul) from the indigenous tribes of northern Philippines, and ornate swords known as kris. Tecson noted that in the Philippines old objects were highly valued and often stored for safety in the largest house in a community; he grew up in such a house. He began collecting ceramics when he was in grade school, intensifying his collecting after World War II. He said in an interview– “The idea of the collection is not to amass and accumulate things. The intention is to make it a study collection. We made sure that all the items have literature and archeological information so that after we gathered everything, we can put it in a museum where it is accessible to students and the general public. It is the best way to introduce Philippine culture and heritage to Canadians.”

Born: c. 1931