L’Archipel et le Plat Pays (The Archipelago and the Flat Country): Pages from the shared history of Belgium and the Philippines

Organized by the UP Department of History, Université de Namur, Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in Manila, UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, Philippine Association of Belgian University Scholars (PhilABUS), and the Join Strategic Framework Philippines.

The Opening Program of the Exhibit will be hold on 14 September 2026 (Monday), 10-11am, at the Palma Hall Ground Floor Lobby, UP Diliman.

Overview

This exhibition traces the remarkable and often unexpected connections between Belgium and the Philippines across five centuries of shared history. From the period when both territories were linked under the Spanish Crown, to the circulation of goods, ideas, missionaries, and travelers, the exhibit explores encounters that shaped both societies. It examines Belgium’s nineteenth-century ambitions toward the Philippine archipelago, the transformative stay of José Rizal in Brussels and Ghent where he completed El filibusterismo (1891), the complex legacy of the 1913 Ghent World Exhibition, and the visit of the future King Leopold III to the Philippines. The story culminates in the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1946 and their evolution into a modern partnership grounded in development cooperation, cultural exchange, and people-to-people ties. An additional concluding panel brings the narrative to the present day, highlighting the 80th anniversary of Philippine-Belgian diplomatic relations in 2026, the visit of Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Maxime Prévot to Manila, and ongoing efforts to preserve and renew the shared legacy of Rizal for future generations, demonstrating that new pages continue to be written in the story of the “Archipelago and the Flat Country.”