Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo visited the Philippines national museum (Pambansang Museo) for a spouse program, which is a series of the 30th ASEAN summit in Manila, on Saturday.

The First Lady visited the Philippines national museum after attending the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Summit at the Philippines International Convention Center (PICC), according to a press statement received from the Press Bureau, Media and Information of the Indonesian Presidential Secretariat.

Upon her arrival at the museum, she was greeted by the Director General of the National Museum, Cielito Avancea, as well as Curator Jeremy Barns.

The event began at 11:40 local time. She observed a number of paintings on the first floor of the museum, which was established since 1901.

Iriana, who wore red kebaya combined with batik cloth, occasionally conversed with Avancea.

In addition to Avancea, the host, and Iriana, the wives of other ASEAN leaders who were present were Naly Sisoulith, wife of Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith; Naraporn Chan-o-cha, wife of Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha; and Thu Tran Nguyen, wife of Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

They were then photographed together in front of a painting by famous Filipino painter Juan Luna entitled Spoliarium.

The event was then followed by a craft-weaving demonstration at IRI Gallery located on the third floor of the museum by artisans brought directly from South Cotabato, a province near Mindanao in the southern Philippines.

After witnessing the exhibition, Avancea then entertained the guests with a luncheon at the Old Senate Session located on the third floor of the museum.

Following the banquet, the guests were then treated to songs and a traditional dance performance by the Kalilayan Folkloric dance group.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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