The country's premier art fair returns to The Link at Ayala Center, in time for its 10th anniversary. The women behind Art Fair Philippines tell Tatler how much the country's art scene has grown over the years
Coming out of the shadows of the pandemic, Art Fair Philippines rises anew by featuring a biophilic design to give art lovers and collectors a refreshing experience this February.
With the success of its online and hybrid editions of the last two years, Art Fair Philippines will continue to revitalise the arts and culture scene at its main venue, The Link at Ayala Center, through its online platform organised by Tezos, and with partner galleries around Metro Manila, in the Cordillera region, Bacolod, and Cagayan de Oro.
From February 17 to 19, everyone is invited to experience the 10th year edition of Art Fair Philippines at The Link, with an organically designed setting by Leandro V Locsin Partners spearheaded by Andy Locsin.
In case you missed it: Art Fair PH 2022: Artists and Participating Galleries
Looking back at the journey of Art Fair Philippines, its founders Dindin Araneta, Trickie Lopa, and Lisa Ongpin-Periquet share their thoughts.
"One thing that we've been able to do is to sustain Art Fair Philippines, as well as Art in the Park. We get a lot of support from the community," Araneta says. "From the very beginning, we received a lot of support from the press. The coverage has enabled the art fair to reach more people and develop a broad audience."
Ranging from students to collectors, visitors to Art Fair Philippines have grown over the years. And this also relates to the growing number of galleries that join the fairs, as evident with international galleries that come on board. Araneta adds further that the continued expansion of the fair can also be seen in its addition of sections such as film, digital, artist residencies, and performance art which is being introduced this year.
Related: Art Fair PH 2022’s Regional Focus Expands the Lens of Filipino Artistry
"I still can't believe that it's been 10 years!" Lopa says with a tone of excitement and disbelief. "It gives us a sense of achievement that we set out to do our mission: expand the audience for contemporary art and expand the exposure of the audience to the many forms of contemporary art. There's also a sense of 'oh gosh, there's a lot we have to live up to', especially now slowly coming out of the pandemic, which makes people excited to see Art Fair Philippines again live."
Ongpin-Periquet meanwhile compares their planning for this upcoming edition to their early years: "When we started in 2013, the trend was increasing the galleries, adding new floors each year, and so on. But when the two years of the pandemic hit, we had to adjust and be flexible. In 2021, we put it online and purely digital. Then the following year, we made it hybrid and longer in duration than usual as art lovers were invited to personally visit galleries near their areas. Also in 2022, we had a photography exhibit in the walkway and an augmented reality trail of art in the open space. It changes every year but it's all the same in the sense that we were always trying to do something different."
For her, besting the year before is always the challenge. "The audience and galleries naturally come so the pressure is on us, putting the show together," Ongpin-Periquet shares. "There's always got to be something new, a nice conversation among the three of us of what we think would work out, and then maintaining our relationships with our sponsors. . .not that the process is problematic but it's really just a lot of work to put on Art Fair Philippines," she adds. What made them overcome this was the team behind them, of which the founders are very proud.
"Some of them have been with us since we started in 2013! It has become a family already," Ongpin-Periquet says.
Besides being a constant presence in the Philippine art scene for a decade through Art Fair Philippines, the founders are also influential cultural workers even from way back. They share their insights on how far the art scene has come today compared to when Art Fair Philippines was merely a vague concept.
"One thing that I really noticed is that our country's art scene has really grown over the last 10 years. Annually, there's an increase in the number of those who go to Cinemalaya, international and regional film festivals, as well as events for dance, theatre, and fashion," Araneta says, further acknowledging the creation of Philippine Creative Industries Development Council.
"As Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr puts it, 'plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose'. The more it changes, the more it stays the same," Lopa says. "The audience of the art scene has grown in number. New galleries have opened and we have seen interesting exhibitions over the last ten years, with some making it to the Venice Biennale. The commercial scene, which includes collectors and auctions, has also gotten much bigger. The institutions like Ateneo Art Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Vargas Museum, have elevated their game as well. But it stays the same because usual conversations still come up, like 'is that bad or good art?' and 'what makes bad art bad?'," explains Lopa.
"For me, yes there are some negatives that have happened over the last ten years but what impresses me is that art has entered the purview of so many people. It has attracted not just people from the art scene but also across society. Students see something that they enjoy and wanted to see every year. We really didn't have that in mind when we started because Art Fair Philippines is typically for collectors but now it is also for those people," Ongpin-Periquet says. "There may be some cons in these but from what I see it, it's all positive for the art market."
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