By Eldrick Yuji Los Baňos

For art historians and critics, a precise definition of contemporary art is difficult to pin down. In a literal sense, contemporary art is made in our time, the present, regardless of medium or subject matter. Last year’s iteration of “The Manila’Bang Show” (TMBS) even suggested that the art movements of the past, transported to the Information Age through communications technologies, can also be considered contemporary.

Such a label has been in use to describe the state of global art as far back as the 1970s—but does it still apply to the art of the now? If not, what should come after the contemporary? Several terms, such as post-contemporary and ultra-contemporary (referring to artists born after 1974) have been proposed to keep up with current artistic trends.

Nevertheless, the concept of the contemporary persists, not only as a marker of time, but as an open-ended mode of artmaking with the power to imagine new realities. In his book Art to Come: Histories of Contemporary Art (Duke UP, 2019), art historian Terry Smith describes contemporary art as “art to come,” transforming the energies of our advancing world to “keep our futures open.”

This month, the Manila’Bang Show highlights the constantly innovating and forward-looking nature of today’s art with its chosen theme, “Higher Grounds for the Contemporary and Beyond.” Gathering more than 300 artists and 33 galleries from the Philippines and abroad, the fourth edition of the Manila’Bang Show provides a glimpse into the latest peaks of contemporary art.

This year’s theme also alludes to show’s new partnership with Space at One Ayala, the Makati Central Business District’s newest premier trade hall. With its iconic location and state-of-the-art facilities, the 3,000-square-meter space is set to bring The Manila’Bang Show to new heights and Metro Manila audiences to truly become “The Metro Art Fair.”