Art Fair Philippines is one of the things I look forward to each year. I treat it as a pilgrimage to see what the local art scene has been up to. It’s always a great time because I run into friends and catch up with all the interesting things they’ve been doing.
This year, Art Fair is going hybrid with physical and digital versions of the event. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s run.
1. This year’s Art Fair Philippines will be a hybrid event
There will be physical exhibitions set up at Ayala Triangle Gardens and in gallery venues, and online exhibitions and other activities accessible at www.artfairphilippines.com. The country’s premier art fair will open on March 23, 2022, and will run until April 1, 2022.
2. There will be 46 exhibitors from the Philippines and abroad
This year’s Philippine exhibitors include 1335Mabini, Altro Mondo Gallery, Art Cube Gallery, Art Elaan, Art For Space, Art Underground, Art Verite Gallery, Artery Art Space, Avellana Art Gallery, Boston Art Gallery, CANVAS, District Gallery, Eskinita Gallery, Galerie Roberto, Galerie Stephanie, Grounded Holistic Arts and Culture Studio, J Studio, Kaida Contemporary, León Gallery, Luzviminda, Modeka, MONO8 Gallery, Paseo Art Gallery, Pinaglabanan X, Qube Gallery, Salcedo Private View, Secret Fresh, Silverlens, Strange Fruit, The Crucible Gallery, Tin-aw, The Metro Gallery, White Walls Gallery, and Ysobel Art Gallery.
Six international galleries – Art Agenda (Singapore/Jakarta), Gajah Gallery (Singapore/Yogyakarta), Mayoral (Paris/Barcelona), Yavuz Gallery (Singapore/Sydney), Gallery Kogure (Tokyo), and YOD Gallery (Osaka), and two NFT galleries – A/terhen and Cyber Baat will also present exhibitions at Art Fair Philippines 2022.
3. Several art groups from around the Philippines will join the fair for Regional Focus
These exhibitors are: Ibagiw Art Fest x Gallery 2600 (Luzon), VIVA ExCon Dasun Bacolod x Orange Project (Visayas), Langgikit x Museo De Oro x Art Portal Gallery (Mindanao), and Lawig-diwa x Gallery Down South (Mindanao).
4. Art Fair Philippines will be taking over a new space for its first physical exhibition since 2020
Art Fair Philippines will present art installations at the Ayala Tower One Fountain Area for the ArtFairPH/Projects section.
The 2022 featured artists will include a special exhibition of works by the late Arô Soriano and noted social realist Nune Alvarado. This section will also feature new commissions from both internationally established and rising Filipino visual artists such as Bjorn Calleja, Johanna Helmuth, Ryan Jara, Doktor Karayom, Tyang Karyel, Aze Ong, Wyndelle Remonde. Also in this section is Melvin Guirhem, the 2022 recipient of the Karen H. Montinola Selection, a private grant created in homage to art patron Karen Montinola.
A special project introduces the Filipino audience to the inflatable sculpture of Russian artist Sasha Frolova.
5. There will be a section on fashion photography
Also part of the physical exhibit is the fair’s ArtFairPH/Photo section. Curated by Neal Oshima, Michael Salientes, Mark Nicdao, and Gio Panlilio, this section will explore the exhibit entitled Tattoos, Ternos and Couture, A Celebration of Philippine Fashion Photography.
6. The film section will also be set up at the Ayala Triangle Gardens
This year, the ArtFairPH/Film section will present works by New York-based new media artist Jeremy Couillard, including his new film There Is No Up Or Down, Only Attraction (2022), which explores curious creatures across galactic vistas, pixelated gaming maps, and streetscapes.
Art Fair Philippines will also present films from Couillard’s Fuzz Spiral series – a collection of three films based on the artist’s recent video game Fuzz Dungeon (2021). As Couillard’s works appear on the digital screens of Makati’s Ayala Triangle Gardens, viewers will be transported into fantastical worlds and new dimensions of color and light.
The OLED screens at the Film section are sponsored by LG Electronics.
7. The fair will also exhibit works by the chosen artists for #ArtFairPH/Residencies
The artists are Derek Tumala for Manila Observatory, Hannah Nantes for Linangan Art Residency, Jao San Pedro for Emerging Islands, Alwin Reamillo for Orange Project, and Faye Abantao for Butanding Barrio.
Launched in 2021 in partnership with Bleeding Heart Rum Corporation, makers of Don Papa Rum, ArtFairPH/Residencies is open to all Filipino artists across all disciplines. The application period for 2022 will be from March 23 to April 23 and the chosen artists shall be announced by May 20, 2022.
8. There will be an interactive AR art trail
This will be held at the Ayala Triangle Gardens and you will need to use the Daata AR app.
Named after Leeroy New’s artwork Aparisyon (Apparition), this AR Art Trail examines the timeless nature of storytelling through words and imagery, inspired by the Philippines’ thriving speculative fiction.
Aparisyon brings to life sculptures that the artist created from discarded plastic bottles during the pandemic. New invites audiences to embark on a journey into his imagination, where alternative futures, only possible by avoiding a climate disaster, are brought to life.
This is accompanied by Eliza Victoria’s story entitled Let Me Hold Your Hand, which draws from the tropes of portal fantasy and local folk narratives of people losing themselves in enchanted realms.
Together with the older commissions, New’s artwork and Victoria’s story weave a tale that carries audiences on a journey through time and space, questioning the solidity of our relationship with reality and imagination in the face of a climate emergency.
Daata’s presentation also includes artworks premiering in Asia by artists Jeremy Couillard, Eva Papamargariti, Elliot Dodd, Tuomas Laitinen, Keiken, Aaajiao, and Florian Meisenberg.
Daata is a digital platform that commissions original digital artworks by established and emerging artists, allowing viewers to stream or download high-quality digital artworks on any device.
9. #ArtFairPH Gallery Hops is for those who want to explore the pieces in person
The fair has a Gallery Hop section that makes it easier to plot out routes for viewing the gallery shows in person. They’ve organized the exhibitors via their locations to enable art lovers to optimize their schedules throughout the fair’s run.
10. There will be virtual tours of the exhibitors
The exhibits by this year’s participants will be viewable at www.artfairphilippines.com. Art Fair Philippines guests can also join the Gallery Walkthrough, scheduled on March 23 and March 24, for virtual tours of the exhibitors.
In the pipeline for ArtFairPH/Tours is Baguio Artists Studio Visits: Part 2, a continuation of last year’s video documentation of visits to artists’ studios by Nona Garcia, Abbie Lara, and Kawayan de Guia.
Visual artists Plet Bolipata and Elmer Borlongan will take fair visitors on a virtual tour of their new studio in what they call the Bolipata and Borlongan Talyer Video Tour.
11. There will also be talks
ArtFairPH/Talks features daily discussions presented in partnership with the Ateneo Art Gallery, Museum Foundation of the Philippines, and the Embassy of Spain. The talks will be accessible at www.artfairphilippines.com.
This year’s ArtFairPH/Talks will include a series of virtual discussions with Paco Barragán, an independent curator and arts writer based in Madrid, about art collecting and advice for artists. There will also be a panel discussion about NFTs, which was the main focus of last year’s edition of Art Fair Philippines. Guests can also look forward to an interesting discussion on the special photo exhibit Tattoos, Ternos and Couture, A Celebration of Philippine Fashion Photography with curators Neal Oshima, Michael Salientes, Mark Nicdao, and Gio Panlilio.
For the full list of ArtFairPH/Talks schedule, visit www.artfairphilippines.com or follow Art Fair Philippines on social media.
12. Check out the three-part series of pottery demos
For this edition, Art Fair Philippines has collaborated with J Studio and ceramicist Pablo Capati to showcase a three-part series of pottery demos entitled Conversations on Clay with Jezzel Wee, Marco Rosario, Ella Mendoza, Krista Nogueras, Jon Pettyjohn, and Joey de Castro.
13. Don’t forget 10 Days of Art!
Also complementing the fair is the 10 Days of Art initiative, a series of events around the Makati Central Business District in celebrating art beyond the venue of the fair.
As in previous years, the public may visit art installations around Makati City. This year’s three major public art exhibits will include an art installation by James Clar called I Can’t Tell You What I Don’t Know, Only That I Don’t Know at the plinth in front of the Ayala Museum. Works by Juanito Torres and Norman Dreo, two solo exhibits in conversation under the title Perspectives, will also be on view at the Greenbelt 5 Gallery. For schedule and updates, visit www.10daysofart.com.
This story is in partnership with Art Fair Philippines. For more information, visit the website or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.