The number thirteen is often seen as unlucky in popular culture, tied to superstitions, fear, and bad luck, to the extent that some buildings avoid labeling a 13th floor. But this belief doesn’t hold true everywhere.
In the art community in the Philippines, thirteen takes on a very different meaning. For instance, the CCP Thirteen Artists Awards, which was launched in the 1970s by the Cultural Center of the Philippines after the Thirteen Filipino Modernists led by National Artists Victorio Edades, Carlos “Botong” Francisco, Hernando Ocampo, and Cesar Legaspi, along with other distinguished artists of their generation in the 1920s.
For the CCP Thirteen Artists Awards, the number thirteen here became a marker of creativity, rebellion, and cultural significance, celebrating bold, innovative Filipino artists who pushed the boundaries of contemporary art.
In the early 1970s, the late CCP curator Roberto Chabet created a curatorial project to put the spotlight on innovative young Filipino artists who introduced new ways of artmaking. Soon, CCP Museum director-artist Ray Albano elevated the project and turned it into the award program that we know today.
This year, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) honored 13 Filipino artists whose work has significantly impacted the country’s artistic and cultural landscape during a ceremony at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila.
The 2024 Thirteen Artists Awardees are Catalina Africa, Denver Garza, Russ Ligtas, Ella Mendoza, Henrielle Baltazar Pagkaliwangan, Issay Rodriguez, Luis Antonio Santos, Joshua Serafin, Jel Suarez, Tekla Tamoria, Derek Tumala, Vien Valencia, and Liv Vinluan. They were recognized for their unique artistic practices reflecting contemporary human experiences.
The awarding coincided with the opening of a special exhibition of the awardees’ works, open daily until Jan. 12, 2026.
Exhibit curator Mervy C. Pueblo said the 2024 awardees reveal “a Philippine art that is awake, attentive, and insistently present,” exploring memory, care, nature, and material through media including video, sculpture, tapestry, watercolor, and installation.
Highlights include Russ Ligtas’ installations exploring memory and resisting erasure; Henrielle Baltazar Pagkaliwangan’s prints and artist books on identity as process; Tekla Tamoria’s tapestries on Filipino women’s social history; and Catalina Africa’s sculptural “personal cosmology.” Issay Rodriguez fuses humanist and ecological ideas, while Liv Vinluan reimagines extinct flora. Ella Mendoza critiques the quiet that accompanies violence.
Luis Antonio Santos transforms galvanized iron into palimpsests of history, and Vien Valencia examines the spaces we inhabit. Denver Garza and Jel Suarez create participatory works that allow communities to engage with burdens and fragments, while Joshua Serafin and Derek Tumala confront cultural and ecological erasure.
CCP president Kaye C. Tinga said, “Out of 108 nominations, thirteen artists were chosen to carry the legacy forward. These artists will redefine and provoke the social order while reflecting their truths and realities.”
CCP artistic director Dennis Marasigan added that the award recognizes artists “not just for their excellence but also their potential to inspire and influence the future of Philippine art.”
National Museum director general Jeremy Barns welcomed the artists, noting ongoing upgrades at CCP and the museum: “We need more space, better facilities to house more works of art, works of heritage.”
The CCP Thirteen Artists create not only artworks but also statements on current social landscapes, using bodies, materials, and spaces to make Filipino culture and history visible and relevant for past, present, and future generations. It shows that the meaning we attach to numbers often depends on context, and sometimes what is considered unlucky can actually stand for something groundbreaking.
For more information on the TAA, visit the official website (www.thirteenartists.culturalcenter.gov.ph). To get the latest news on CCP’s events and programs, you may follow the official social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.
