Art Fair Philippines 2026 runs Feb. 6 to 8, 2026, at Circuit Corporate Center One, The Circuit Makati.
Art Fair Philippines 2026 is drawing huge crowds, making it the banner art event in the country. Even for the supposedly limited-invitation vernissage yesterday, queues snaked around the entrance at Circuit Makati early evening yesterday, with people waiting to gain entrance.
Art Fair Philippines, from February 6 to 8, is in a new setting at Circuit Corporate Center One, Circuit Makati, positioning the former racetrack complex as a central site for the country’s contemporary art ecosystem. This is a much bigger and airier space than its former home at The Link at Ayala Center.
Wire Tuazon at Archivo
The move signals a shift not only in scale but also in ambition, as the fair continues to connect Philippine art to regional and global conversations.
Apparently, the Art Fair is drawing a wide market or demographic, particularly the millennials and GenZs, with its mix of galleries, talks and dialogues, events or projects, technology, even residency program. It’s a robust content that relates to and attracts today’s communities. It has drawn global participation, the digital platform, and technological forms.
Carlo Tanseco before his ‘Ibang Label’ collection
An observer noted, “The Art Fair is not just about art, but an event that everyone enjoys. A group experience.”
Following landmark editions at The Link and Ayala Triangle Gardens, the relocation to Circuit Makati offers greater spatial flexibility and a more integrated environment for galleries, curated projects, and public programming.
The 2026 edition brings together leading galleries from across the Philippines alongside exhibitors from France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Spain. This reinforces Manila’s growing role as a hub within the Asian and international art markets.
ArtFairPH/Projects
ArtFairPH/Projects, one of the most anticipated highlights of the fair, celebrates artistic excellence and experimental innovation, a deeper dive into the practices of both modern masters and contemporary visionaries.
By leading the contemporary lineup with Imelda Cajipe Endaya, the fair underscores its commitment to art that reflects the complexities of Philippine identity. Cajipe Endaya’s work, known for its deep exploration of domesticity, migration, and women’s empowerment, sets the tone for a section that bridges the gap between historical modernism and urgent contemporary practice.
Joining Cajipe Endaya is a diverse group of visionaries. Ambie Abaño explores the soul through printmaking, while Max Balatbat provides an architectural lens on urban life. The section expands with the textile-based “material memories” of Ged Unson Merino, the meditative stoneware of ceramic pioneers Jon and Tessy Pettyjohn, and a group of Filipino diaspora artists organized by the Berlin-based Sa Tahanan Co. collective.
Leading photographer Neal Oshima
Cross-cultural perspective is provided by Spanish artist Ampparito, who subverts the mundane through provocative shifts in scale. This is the third consecutive year Art Fair undertakes a special project with the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines.
In addition to these contemporary voices, ArtFairPH/Projects honors the foundations of Philippine art by featuring four late Filipino masters: Brenda Fajardo, Constancio Bernardo, Solomon Saprid, and Romeo Tabuena. Their inclusion ensures that the legacy of feminist social realism and geometric abstraction continues to resonate with a new generation of collectors.
For 2026, Art Fair Philippines once again worked with Nazareno/Lichauco for the exhibition design of this curated selection of exhibits.
ArtFairPH/Digital
The fair continues its exploration of the intersection between art and technology in ArtFairPH/Digital. This section highlights works that incorporate animation, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse.
Featured is painter and graphic artist TRNZ. His work depicts understated, quotidian scenes that hover between familiarity and unease by assembling “fragments” of personal and online imagery, inviting viewers to a shared experience of quiet emotional weight and introspection. He debuts The Keeper, an animated short film he created in collaboration with Fleet Studios. It explores the gravity of pressure in our society, and how the most important things fall through the cracks in pursuit of success, accolades, and external validation.
Ramon Orlina (Photo by Alonzo Domingo)
Joining him is the TLYR Collective, with the theme “digital alchemy.” Through immersive installations, TLYR Collective explores the fluidity of identity in virtual spaces, using generative art and augmented reality to challenge the boundaries between the physical and the simulated.
Developing audiences for contemporary art
Consistent with its mission to develop audiences for contemporary art, the fair presents ArtFairPH/Talks with the Ateneo Art Gallery and the Museum Foundation of the Philippines. These daily sessions offer deep dives into the evolving art landscape. This year’s project artists discuss their work, exchange views on art collecting and the art market. Speakers and specific topics are announced on the fair’s website.
Towards this goal, the fair continues to expand the horizons for Filipino artists through ArtFairPH/Residencies. This program offers new possibilities for local artists by facilitating a global exchange of ideas and introducing selected international curators to the vibrant Philippine art scene.
This year Anne-Laure Lemaitre is the curator for the residency grant. An independent curator and producer based in New York, Lemaitre is recognized for her work in cross-disciplinary projects and her expertise in navigating the intersection of public art, technology, and cultural storytelling. Applications are now officially open, inviting artists to engage in this transformative cross-cultural dialogue.
10 Days of Art
Coinciding with the fair is the 10 Days of Art initiative (January 30 to February 8), a series of events and museum openings that celebrate the best of Makati’s cultural spirit. Large-scale public art installations are scattered throughout the Makati Central Business District, leading to the main event at Circuit Makati.
In this exclusive interview with TheDiarist.ph, Lisa Periquet, one of the three founders of Art Fair Philippines (the others are Dindin Araneta and Trickie Lopa), answers questions on the direction of Art Fair.
How do keep the original focus for a venture that has become a brand and keeps expanding? How do you not get overwhelmed by the scope?
“I think it’s precisely because we keep our original focus in mind that Art Fair PH has grown in leaps and bounds in terms of scope, breadth and depth. That focus has always been to widen the audience for modern and contemporary art in the Philippines.
“At this point, our 13th edition, we welcome international galleries, about 35% of the exhibitors this year. They’ve come, over the years, to bring their art to Philippine audiences, which indicates to me that our market has become more interested, and open to different sources and aesthetic styles of contemporary art.
“We do many things to give a well-rounded experience to our audience. Our featured artists in our ArtFairPH/Projects section are always a highlight, and this year we have 10 of them. We produce a catalogue with excellent essays on the Projects artists. We develop in-house tours, a VIP program, and round off the art fair experience with the opportunity to take a deeper dive into the art on show through our ArtFairPH/Talks program.
“We’re also always developing sections of the fair through the years. After introducing a photography section in 2018, photography galleries now participate in the larger body of the fair. We have also given space to sound art, many forms of digital art, and artist residencies, among others. This year will mark our first curatorial residency which aims to open up the eyes of foreign-based curators to Philippine art.
“We have always looked at art beyond the art fair venue with a program called 10 Days of Art which we run concurrently with the fair. This features public art placed in many different venues. This year, 10 Days of Art features Art Walk by Ayala Land which begins in Makati with an installation by the Aquilizans inside the Tower One atrium, and ends in the Circuit Mall with Ronald Ventura’s giant carousel of mythical creatures, which you can ride! In between are the design shows of the milliner-artist Mich Dulce, and the shoe artist Joel Wijangco in Greenbelt 5, among other installations and performances.”
A detail shot of Carlo Tanseco’s newest pop art creation. (Photo by Alonzo Domingo)
A big proportion of the art fair attendance is the young demographic you describe. How did it happen?
“Organically, through the years, since a large proportion of our population is young. However, we have also promoted art to as wide an audience as possible, and have always welcomed young people to the fair, whether school age, or young professionals, so they can experience, appreciate and interact with art in all its forms.
“Art fairs tend to focus on the art collectors, but because our vision is to widen the audience for art, we have always encouraged and welcomed the younger demographic who will be the future of art interest and art collecting in our country.”
Tickets are now available at www.artfairphilippines.com. Regular daily admission is PhP750, while discounted tickets for students with valid IDs, senior citizens, and PWDs are available for PHP 500. Makati students with valid IDs may also avail themselves of a specialized rate of PhP300. The event runs Feb. 6 to 8, 2026, at Circuit Corporate Center One, The Circuit Makati, with on-site tickets also available at the Reception Desk.
Art Fair Philippines is co-presented by Ayala Land Inc, Bank of the Philippine Islands, and Globe.
For more information and updates, visit the official website or follow Art Fair Philippines on Facebook and Instagram.
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