Held last month from October 15 to 19 at SMX Aura Convention Center, Taguig, ManilART marked its 17th edition with “Across Forms, Beyond Borders,” celebrating the cyclical nature of creativity through painting, sculpture, fashion, functional art, home and living design, and heritage cuisine. Over five days, the fair welcomed visitors and reaffirmed its role as the country’s national platform for artistic exchange during Museums and Galleries Month, gathering artists, galleries, educators, cultural workers, collectors, students, and families under one roof.
Opening Night
The vernissage set the tone as the ManilART Lounge transformed into a living tablescape that married visual art with culinary heritage. Guests of Honor were served CocoKusina’s mana-pulutan by Chef Riza Matibag-Muyot amid ceramic tableware by Ugu Bigyan, sculptural lighting by Danny Rayos del Sol, and functional art hardwood furniture by Agi Pagkatipunan. Natural décor including nganga, dayap, juvenile macapuno, and tropical flora infused the setting with a distinctly Filipino sensibility, introducing the fair’s cross-disciplinary spirit that rippled across its exhibitions and programs.
A Focus on Education
This year saw the launch of a new initiative focusing on art education and industry development. ManilART Education expanded hands-on learning and public engagement through talks, workshops and demonstrations hosted at the ManilART Lounge and guided walking tours of the fair for student groups and pre-registered fairgoers.
From October 16–18, artists, practitioners, and curators led tours for 600 public-school students from Taguig and over a hundred private-school students—bringing interpretation, exhibition design, and cultural context to life on the fair floor. The program’s sessions moved fluidly between heritage and practice: Ombok Villamor shared professional methods for exhibition installation; Patis Tesoro traced indigenous textiles and the enduring relevance of Filipiniana, and San Pablo’s Arts, Culture and Tourism Officer An Mercado Alcantara presented case studies on the creative economy as a pillar of community development.
Day two continued with Carlito Camahalan Amalla’s seminar on Agusan Manobo textile traditions for public-school MAPEH teachers, a health-focused lecture by Dr. Bambi Coronel on preventing overuse injuries among visual artists in partnership with the Quezon City Medical Society, a live heritage-cuisine demonstration and tasting by Chef Riza Matibag-Muyot and Michelin-starred Chef Roger Asakil Joya, and a panel led by Secretary Dante Ang on the Global Filipino as culture ambassador. Beyond the halls, the San Pablo Art Circuit (SaPAC) kiosk spotlighted a month-long regional “Artstravaganza” across ten venues with seven weekend shuttle tours reaching roughly 300 participants, extending ManilART’s educational and cultural footprint to the province.
Exhibits
Across the fair’s special shows and partner events, inspiration moved between mediums with a palpable sense of dialogue. Gallery Nine’s “A Luminous Collection” presented couture, jewelry, glass, sculpture, and painting in conversation, featuring Patis Tesoro, Romulo Galicano, Bullet Dematera, Ramon Orlina, Helena Alegre, Maria Magdamit, Faico and Knoi Esmane of Hoseki, Bayo Atelier, and artists from the Annual Sculpture Review. Galerie du Soleil paired Ed Coronel’s award-winning Gummy Bear series with Nelson Ricahuerta’s monumental Pahina, while The Artologist Gallery showcased Pandy Aviado’s meditations on memory and motion, Joemarie Sanclaria’s tender “Flurries of Grace,” and Monnar’s bright re-readings of Picasso. “To Exist in This Eclipse” at Art for Space contemplated resilience through works by Demi Padua, Reyna Raymunda, Joshua Torres, Ezekiel Fajardo, Jane Cuevas, Baltek, Ali Alejandro, and Yao Sampana; Art Corner’s “Synergy” united six voices across classical, pointillist, abstract, surreal, and contemporary styles, and Artes Orientes featured Alab Pagarigan’s seven new pieces that extend his wire-driven language between figuration and abstraction.
Beyond Taguig, Angkla’s “LAMBANA” marked Angono’s first all-women artists’ collective entering the national stage, Rojo Galerie’s Urban Fireflies by Erwin Mallari crafted nocturnes in watercolor, VAM International’s Rhythm of Nature paired Patrick H. C. Naval’s stainless-steel forms with Fil Delacruz’s painter-printmaker mastery, the ManilART Lounge’s “Art of the Table” revisited heritage cuisine as functional art, and Museo Orlina’s “Eskultura IV: Steampunk” assembled eight sculptors exploring industrial fantasy across diverse media.
Kinetic showcases underscored how art thrives beyond the white cube. Ramon Orlina unveiled a new collaboration with Dominic Rubio in an Art Car exhibit that merged automotive culture with sculptural form and portraiture, drawing both art lovers and motoring enthusiasts. In parallel, Gromyko Semper embarked on a three-day Live-Art Painting performance for B2B Carshow, bridging fine art with car culture and engaging collectors and industry partners in the process of creation itself.
ManilART’25 extends its gratitude to the partners whose support enabled a robust slate of exhibitions, education, and outreach: the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the City of Taguig, SMX Convention Center, SM Supermalls, Museo Orlina, CocoKusina: The Philippine Coconut Kitchen with Lakan Premium Lambanog, Nom Poptails, The Power of Slow, Via Mare, Purefoods Deli, MOD Café, Sebastiao Cocktails, Ladder Events Production, Vision Prime Media, Future Studios, Design Phoundry, Art Caravan, Quatro Arts, Grentek Solutions, BDO, and TicketBooth.ph. Synergy with partners helped the fair sustain a creative ecosystem where an artwork can inspire a garment, a table setting, or a live performance—and then circle back to spark new works.
With strong public participation, inclusive education, and regional collaboration, ManilART’25 affirmed that Philippine art flourishes across forms and beyond borders, not only seen on the walls, but learned, shared, and lived. For post-event materials and future updates, follow ManilART on Facebook and @themanilartfair on Instagram, or visit manilartfair.com.
