About Town | Showcasing the Global Filipino Artist Through ManilART 2019’s Activities

ManilART is the flagship activity for the National Commision on Culture and the Arts (NCCA)’s Museums and Galleries Month (MGM), celebrated every October. This eleventh year, ManilART showcases the Global Filipino Artist through the display of homegrown talents that have captivated the world’s stage. The premiere art fair has championed its cause for accessible art by catering to everyone from art collectors to high school students.

What comes to mind when people think of ManilART is often the visual arts, particularly through the medium of painting, but the fair’s activities go far beyond that. Art education and the showcasing of diverse artistic media are made possible through ManilART’s range of activities.

There will be walking tours for students and the general public led by art professionals. This year, there will likewise be a whole-day art workshop geared towards Music, Arts and PE (MAPE) teachers from different schools. The whole-day lesson will encompass the basics, from the very definition of art, to the analytic practice of art criticism. The goal is not just to equip the teachers with new skills—it is through these workshops that ManilART aims to reach even more young art enthusiasts. The workshop will be conducted by Prof. Gerry Leonardo of the Philippine High School for the Arts.

ManilART’s advocacy is not just limited to the art industry. The art fair, in partnership with Manila Bulletin, will also be hosting for the first time the Art for Red, an annual fundraising event for the Philippine Red Cross, a humanitarian organization providing emergency and disaster assistance. A satellite exhibit shall be featured at the SM Aura atrium of the artworks for charity.

The Zonta Club Women’s group will host a film screening of “Patay Na Si Jesus” (2016), with a Q&A session with the film’s acclaimed screenwriter and producer, Moira Lang. It will be shown in Cebuano, with the goal for the language of cinema to bridge the gap between the Philippine languages.

The Subcommission on Cultural Heritage of the NCCA will hold a Heritage Night engaging with different cultural institutions involved in celebrating Museums and Galleries Month—the government body was mandated with the specific role to implement arts and culture projects in the country, and plays a crucial role not just in the art fair, but in all MGM-related activities this October.

We can expect ManilART’s mainstays: a performance by a band composed of renowned visual artists, as well as live sketching sessions—the latter of which will focus on sketching young artistic ingenues--a harpist and a ballerina.

A photography talk by Nikon Ambassadors, will also cater to younger audiences and fans of new media teaching enthusiasts their tricks of the trade.

This year’s participating galleries are Galerie Francesca, Dave Art Gallery, ManilART Foundation, Incorporated, Legacy Art Gallery, Annual Sculpture Review, Singapore Contemporary Arts Society, Galerie  Raphael, Galleria Nicolas, Gallery Nine, Canvas, 371 Art Space, Arte Pintura, Galerie Roberto,AC888, Renaissance Gallery, Galerie Anna, Blanc, Artery Manila, PASPI, Paseo Gallery, Art for Space, Galerie Y, Art Farm, Artes Orientes, Art Circle, Quattrocento Gallery, Artologist, Ysobel Art Gallery, Artphile by CMG, Galerie Artes, Art Anton, and Espacio Manila.

  

ManilART'19 is co-presented by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Bonafide Art Galleries Organization Inc. (BAGO), and Manilart Foundation and supported by the City of Taguig, SMX Convention Center, SM Aura Premier, SM Malls, Ladder Events Production, Don Papa Rum, Giffard, Savoroso, Via Mare, Museo Orlina, Shambala Living Museum with media partners Manila Bulletin, Art+ Magazine, Manila Times, Metro Channel, Experience Travel and Living, EXPTV, Metro Style, Asian Travelers, Philippine Primer, UNTV, SMNI, Wish 107.5, Crossover 105.1 Manila, Channel Hue TV Everywhere, PINAS.

ManilArt’s eleventh run will be from October 9-13 at the SMX Convention Center, Taguig. The invitational gala will be on the 9th of October and the fair will be open to the general public from October 10-13. Call 7798635 or visit www.manilart.org for more details.