Junk today, historic tomorrow: Save some Binay, Poe posters

Save some of those Nancy Binays, Grace Poes and Bam Aquinos for posterity.

Once every three years, campaign materials in all shapes and sizes clutter the streets. But decades from now, they could be prized mementos.

Posters, banners and even leaflets from last week’s elections may now be junk to many, but to a historian and museum curator they can be worth keeping as special items whose sentimental or historical value would surely increase in time.

“People could keep them. And if they realize later on that, say, the mayor depicted in the campaign material has become a senator or even president of the country 10 or 20 years later, then those campaign materials definitely have value. The value increases as the person’s position rises,” said Jonathan Balsamo, curator of Museo Valenzuela in Valenzuela City.

For future generations

“They may be trash right now, but they could have a high value 10 or 20 years in the future,” Balsamo told  Inquirer earlier this week as government agencies started mobilizing for a massive post-election cleanup on the streets.

But beyond their monetary value, preserved or archived campaign materials could serve as vivid souvenirs of the political situation during a certain period and could be important for educational or recording purposes.

“I’ve noticed that our generation today doesn’t even know how campaigns were waged even a decade ago. So we can keep these materials and use them as part of teaching aids for future generations,” he said.

Community museums, in particular, can use them to document local history and the political experience of a locality, he said.

‘’It is really only in the future where we will see the value of these things,” Balsamo added. “They say something about the political period we live in and the politicians we have….If we keep these materials and exhibit them in the future, they might invite people to reflect on this generation’s political experience.”