Vintana.ph: Redefining the Filipino Gallery Experience and Arts Education Today

This online gallery, which was born out of the pandemic's series of quarantine measures, has opened the doors to its physical space at the heart of Makati City's bohemian district

Back in the Nineties, the visual art scene in Metro Manila was really different compared to what it is today. Although digital art was on the rise, experiencing art in gallery spaces permeates one's mind and soul for its tactile, audio-visual, and immersive elements. Digital ways to explore art like touring the galleries and knowing more about the artists are still analogue. But it was this vibe that drew high school buddies Ram Bautista, Robert Flores, and Angela Gaddi into the world of art.

But as the saying goes, life happens. The three parted ways to pursue different paths. Bautista was into neuroscience then software engineering and stayed in New Zealand for about 15 years. Meanwhile, Flores went into law school and had a stint in theatre, among many things. Gaddi, however, became captivated by the local music scene while pursuing a writing career and starting to build her own family. Years passed and Bautista returned to the Philippines, Gaddi gathered the group together, and in their reunion sparked a passion project for them to do—open an online art gallery.

"Our initial thought was 'how hard can it be?' We planned to do it just every weekend and so were oblivious of the fact that it was a hell of a lot of work still," says Bautista.

Together, they've put up and started maintaining their website Vintana.ph and YouTube channel with art content. Also, they introduced themselves to local artists and convinced them to work with them through their vision and mission. To top it all off, they had to market the works of the artists through their platform and promote further their reach by maximising their social media channels.

"It wasn't easy but you know what, the good thing is we had a good start and started being more serious about it. As a result, we've got an overwhelming response both from the local art community and the people at large. We saw that there is this 'thirst' for this kind of content," says Bautista.

Above Visit vintana.ph to see their online exhibits, online catalogues of physical exhibits, articles and video content for art history and art literacy, and more

"For me, the art scene in the Philippines is like a secret world—it is among us but we don't easily see it," shares Bautista. A key to Vintana.ph's success is that, unlike common art blogs, their reportage of the happenings in the visual art scene and the way they write about the work, creative process, and philosophy of each of the artists they work with curatorially are not merely "scratches on the surface" but impeccably done.

"We provide art education and literacy but from a place of humility—none of us have any academic background in the arts—as we are just discovering as well our country's art scene and history," says Bautista.

If initially they just wanted to reunite and work on something creatively, Bautista and his co-founders decided to make it more tangible, driven by the desire to be recognised and accepted as an active part of the art community.

"We want the people to reconnect to their artistic inheritance through our video tutorials on YouTube and our website about local and global art history topics," Bautista says.

To appreciate what's being produced currently, Bautista, Gaddi, and Flores would visit other local galleries, view exhibitions, and meet and get to know artists, which include spending time with them over food and drinks. Lastly, they sell art because they believe in the mission that they have to support the artists, not only those they feature online.

To date, Vintana had two iterations of "The Little Big Art Show" which is a gathering of new works by their represented artists like Kirk Dijamco, Dex Fernandez, Manuel Ocampo, Lourd de Veyra, and many more. In the past, they have had 13 exhibitions since Vintana.ph's founding in 2019, including the works of esteemed artists Pardo de Leon, Gerry Tan, Ernest Concepcion, Julie Lluch, Lena Cobangbang Kiko Escora, and many more.

Vintana.ph's success in their KPIs, online exhibitions and their growing community of artists and artist-friends that they have shaped in the past two years propelled them to put up a physical gallery.

"We wanted a place that is special, something that gives back to the community in the sense of it being a place of gathering and making one feel special when walked into," says Bautista. Looking for a place—at the heart of Makati City to make it more accessible—that has a reception area, roof deck/rooftop for pocket events, and a spacious exhibition space, they have found The Astbury as the perfect location. "This is a really beautiful creative hub and has that exciting energy that we like. It's also a private members club that has a community of its own and whom we could collaborate with in the future."

A deeper level of engagement with their audience, shares Bautista, is what mainly pushed the three to take the big leap from digital to physical—amidst the rise of traditional galleries moving into online space. "Encountering art in person elicits a visceral response—one can be overwhelmed by an emotion immediately upon seeing art. People get goosebumps and chills sometimes. But in order to get to that point, it's a combination of visual and intellectual stimulation, which you could get by understanding the history of art and the history of the people who made the art. And that's where the art education and literacy program of Vintana [online] comes in."

Above Ram Bautista

Encountering art in person elicits a visceral response. . .But in order to get to that point, it's a combination of visual and intellectual stimulation, which you could get by understanding the history of art and the history of the people who made the art.

- Ram Bautista -

How do you grasp an artist's identity and intention when mounting an exhibition to effectively represent them?

I just let them do what they want most of the time. But oftentimes we already have a theme in mind and then look at what the artist has done in the past instead of the other way around. We go by showcasing their works where they are already good. I think to really understand an artist, you really need to spend time with them. Visiting them in their studios is one way to do that. Another is talking about something else with them. In that way, you get their essence and their point of view on things.

What are the projects that you'll try to do this year to continue further the art literacy program of Vintana?

We're continuing our series on Philippine masters like Ang Kiukok, Juan Luna, and Vicente Manansala. We're kind of going back and forth across the timeline of Philippine art history. These videos are accessible because we want to present art to a larger audience. Vintana pushes to bridge the academic, commercial, and popular aspects of art in service of the art community.

What do you think of today's Philippine visual art scene?

I think it's very vibrant. I don't understand people who are saying that it's dead. Because even throughout the pandemic there were a lot of gallery openings and exhibitions. It's very vibrant and diverse, as you can see we had a musical performance art earlier at our gallery opening. I think it's very exciting and so alive. We are just so happy to be part of it even just a little bit. We're not a big gallery, definitely not one of the majors, but we have our own mission, of which we do not want to compete with anybody.

Our mission is art literacy. We want to spread knowledge and increase people's understanding of art. So that more people will get interested to engage in the art scene either as artists, collectors, or viewers. Then more art will be made and we'll come full circle. We want Filipinos to have that civic pride in what our culture produces.

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