Art lovers, rejoice!
The digital world, while oftentimes messy and crazy, has paved the way for many artists to thrive throughout the pandemic. The power of the internet to connect has never been more than essential during these trying times. This year, Art Fair Philippines is paying homage to that as it goes virtual for the first time.
Happening from May 6 to 15, 2021, the art festival is bringing everyone to the Metaverse with the spotlight on digital art. for free.
Dive in to crypto art
Recently, Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs have been making headlines all over the world. Art Fair Philippines 2021 will take you from understanding the crypto basics, to buying an NFT, and meeting artists and gallerists that are embedded within the crypto art community.
Welcome to the Metaverse, The NFT 101 Showcase, presented by the Bank of the Philippine Islands, for the ArtFairPH/Projects section of the fair is co-curated with Tropical Futures Institute, a multi-disciplinary think tank and studio based in Cebu, Philippines, and Narra Art Gallery, a Filipino digital art gallery.
HD art displays
Art Fair Philippines will also debut digital artworks specially commissioned for ArtFairPH/Film. This section of the fair is developed in partnership with Daata, 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. The ArtFairPH/Film section is presented by Globe Platinum.
The partnership will showcase digital artworks by new media and contemporary artists Jeremy Couillard and Petra Cortright, and Keiken, a collaborative practice co-founded by artists Tanya Cruz, Hana Omori, and Isabel Ramos.
Enjoy the the world's art
Exhibitors from the Philippines and abroad will showcase artworks through its online viewing rooms, which will include videos produced in collaboration with Globe Studios. Art enthusiasts can expect to see exhibitions from different nations, from Asian neighbors Singapore, Japan, Thailand to Western countries Italy and Spain.
Rounding up this year’s digital art focus is a special presentation of the six winners of the Julius Baer Next Generation Art Prize.
As a strong supporter of the arts, Julius Baer recently launched this inaugural competition for Southeast Asian artists, with a focus on the digital image, recognizing it as a medium of the future.
Open to Southeast Asian artists from 18 to 40 years old, submissions were from Nov. 5 to 28, 2020, to Feb. 5, 2021.
The prize rewards the top three winners in two categories: Still Image (e.g. digital photography) and Moving Image (e.g. video art), with a total of $60,000 in cash prizes.
Special exhibit for Photography
Co-presented by the Swiss private bank Julius Baer, ArtFairPH/Photo has proved to be one of the more popular sections of the art fair.
For 2021, Paris-based Filipino photographer Ding Panganiban will bring to the fair his ambrotype collodion process of developing photographs taken with a vintage camera and printed on glass.
Deeper understand of art
In keeping with the fair’s thrust to widen the audience for the visuals arts and to continue to expand the appreciation of fair visitors for contemporary art, ArtFairPH/Talks features daily discussions presented in partnership with the Ateneo Art Gallery, Museum Foundation of the Philippines, and the international publication, Art Review.
Launched in 2020, the series of workshops dubbed Open Studios goes online with a selection of live demonstrations and recorded instructionals aimed to give fair visitors hands-on experiences in art-making.
Also in the pipeline are two virtual tours: A look at the singular collection of filmmaker and current Baguio resident, Moira Lang, and a studio visit with acclaimed artist Alfredo Equillo.
Introducing ArtFairPH/Residencies
Art Fair Philippines is also launching a new section, ArtFairPH/Residencies, an artist residency program project in partnership with Bleeding Heart Rum Corporation, the makers of Don Papa Rum.
This program is open to all Filipino artists across all disciplines. Five artists selected based on their submitted portfolios will be paired with art spaces and galleries from different parts of the Philippines including Manila Observatory in Quezon City, Linangan Art Residency in Alfonzo, Cavite, Emerging Islands in San Juan, La Union, The Orange Project in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, and Barrio Butanding in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
The resulting artists’ projects will be presented at Art Fair Philippines 2022.
For more information on this year’s program and schedule of activities, visit the Art Fair Philippines website, Instagram, and Facebook pages.