LIST: 3 reasons to visit 3rd Ortigas Art Festival at Estancia Mall
MANILA, Philippines — Ortigas Malls is taking everyday malling experience to new heights, welcoming March on a colorful note as it launches the third Ortigas Art Festival at Estancia Mall in Capitol Commons, Pasig City.
Located at the Ground Floor East Wing, the Stevie and International Business award-winning art festival is now exhibiting over 300 artworks from diverse origins and artists.
“This year we even expanded it to cover international artists in a much bigger venue—a 2,000 sqm exhibition space—allowing us to effectively encourage art appreciation and help in the development of artists in the Philippine art scene. It’s a very ideal location in a mall setting, for free, beyond shopping,” said Jaime Ysmael, president and chief executive officer of Ortigas Land.
1. Art for the public
Part of the rationale for this year’s even-grander exhibition is Ortigas Malls’ continued efforts at democratizing art and making it accessible to a wider audience.
“We want to be different from other fairs. That’s why it’s free, even the artists are not charged any exhibition space fee. We also do a lot of workshops—giving free materials to participants. Talagang we want to reach out to everybody—especially students,” said Renato Habulan, resident curator of Eskinita Gallery and curator at large for this year’s art festival.
The said art workshops—seven all in all—have been lined up to cater to all skill levels. International artists Sahid Kazi and Katrinn Haman spearheaded the Mixed Media demonstration last February 29. Michelle Dawson Made Palguna and Rey dela Cruz meanwhile held workshops for Multimedia last March 1.
“In the regions, Filipino artists are the most dynamic in Southeast Asia, and in a lot of art festival's abroad, most of the exhibiting artists are Filipinos. Our artists are so diverse in terms of style, so it’s very exciting,’ he added.
Habulan is aided by Helen Mirasol, the festival’s main producer.
2. ‘Boceto’ in spotlight
The boceto, which is Spanish for a sketch or an outline, takes center stage at the art festival, through the Papelismo Boceto exhibition.
Since its inception in 2012, the traveling exhibit has heralded the importance of sketches as the important backbones that lead to great works of art. Even renowned artists today and of time past, from the likes of Da Vinci, Amorsolo, Toulouse-Lautrec, and so on, all employ the use of boceto as precursors to all of their ouevre.
Habulan describes that beyond exhibitions, the Papelismo Boceto has now evolved into a movement and has grown to 200 members strong.
“We also want to say that what we know as ‘artists’ aren’t just those established ones whose works are museum mainstays, there are also ordinary artists throughout the country reflecting the Filipino heart. We want a platform where people will also see the art of ordinary artists. If we do that, we can create an impact on the enlightenment of a community, not just a small sector,” Habulan explained.
Whatever the medium, be it pencil, charcoal, paint, or pastel, the Papelismo Boceto exhibit brings it all to the table for every art-going folk.
3. Discover, support diversity
Headlining this year’s art festival are local independent artists such as Arnel Borja, Richard Buxani, Allison David and Sam Penaso along with members of the Fine Arts Photography Group led by Bern Wong.
Exhibiting international artists are Arnel Agawin, Julio Austria, Jeho Bitancor, Gala Caki, Reynold dela Cruz, Michelle Dawson, Feliciano Gallardo, Processo Gelladuga, Katrinn Hamann, Sahid Kazi, Leonore RS Lim, Alfonso Medillo, Dengcoy Miel, Rey Padernilla, Made Palguna, Joel Soliven, Art Zamora and Jose Zulueta. They will be coming in from from Australia, Bangladesh, Germany Hong Kong, Indonesia, New York, Serbia and Singapore.
The featured galleries are Eskinita Art Gallery, Kaida Contemporary Gallery and vMeme Contemporary Art Gallery.
For her part, Renée Bacani, vice president of Ortigas Malls, shared: “We have always believed that art should be enjoyed by people from all walks of life, and the best way to promote art appreciation is by bringing art exhibits right where people converge, which are malls.
“Over the past three years that we’ve had the art festival at Estancia, we were surprised to see the great and growing interest in art among Filipinos, both young and old. This is why we have continued with the art festival and added features which we think will be of added interest to more people.”
This March, get inspired and show support in the name of art. Visit the Ortigas Art Festival at Estancia Mall, Capitol Commons, Pasig City until March 8. Admission is free.
For more information, check out Ortigas Art Festival in Facebook or follow Estancia Mall in Facebook and Instagram. Also subscribe to the newsletter at www.ortigasmalls.com.
