What’s the biggest change for this year’s Art Fair? From the car park of The Link—its home of 12 years— Art Fair Philippines 2025, from February 21 to 23, is moving to the verdant Ayala Triangle Gardens.
Trickie Lopa, one of Art Fair founders, explained the reason for the change. “We like making it harder for ourselves every year,” she said in jest during the press conference. “When we first started 12 years ago, the Link car park was still new, but as the years have gone by, challenges began to arise as the venue has grown older. We were thinking about what new thing we wanted to bring this year, and we thought it was about time for a change in that sense.”
Co-founder Lisa Ongpin-Periquet explained in an interview with TheDiarist.ph what visitors will experience in the tents, “The space is continuous, but it’s going to be varied. Because we have tent areas and space within a building. It’s an unknown factor and unknown quantity that people will have to score and give their opinion about later.”
When February rolls around, artists, art collectors, and art lovers alike look forward to one of the Philippines’ biggest contemporary and modern art events of the year: Art Fair Philippines. Every year, the events’ founders, Trickie Lopa, Lisa Ongpin-Periquet, and Geraldine “Dindin” Araneta, think up innovative and exciting ways to fulfill Art Fair Philippines’ mission to make art more accessible and engaging for local and foreign visitors. By highlighting the different points in an artist’s career in Art Fair/PROJECTS, by expanding Art Fair categories such as Art Fair/DIGITAL and Art Fair/PHOTO, and by inviting international artists that Filipinos would have not otherwise known about or had the opportunity to see if not for the annual event, Art Fair Philippines has built a growing following that cuts across demographics. Just witness the queues each day of the three-day event, from the opening hour to late in the evening.
Art Fair Philippines has become an annual must-see not only for the art community, but also for a wider audience and market. Among its growing communities are students, lovers of music, film and documentary, and the performance art. It even draws club denizens, given its club atmosphere.
This year the organizers want to maximize the vast space that is the Ayala Triangle Gardens and its features. There will always be something to do in that sprawl during the day and night, and around it.
For instance, the Art Fair/Talk and Art Fair/Film will be held at The Executive Center, the fair’s venue partner, at the Ayala Triangle Tower 2, on the 6th and 8th floors, featuring informative talks and screening of films. To be screened is Kono Basho, the film by award-winning director J, Pacena, from Cinemalaya 2024. Visitors can also look forward to a talk-back with the film’s cast at The Executive Center.
There will also be the integration of animated and digital artwork as well as the Screenings at the Amphitheater section of the fair outside the tents. Visitors can expect to see this set-up in the outdoor tiered space adjacent to the lawn of Ayala Triangle Gardens. The Art Fair organizers wanted to ensure that, even when people are just chilling and enjoying a cup of coffee in the cafe in the gardens, they’d still be able to enjoy the art all around them.
‘We can expect to see works and installations from the large, extravagant (surprise) work of SpY Studio to the intricate, delicate glass works of Goldie Poblador in The Rise of Medusa’
Lisa Ongpin-Periquet, in a brief interview with TheDiarist.ph, elaborated: “What’s new is always the Projects (Art Fair/Projects) section because that’s our curated part. We always try to have interesting artists. We have quite a nice selection this year who are all doing work in different niches…. We can expect to see works and installations from the large, extravagant (surprise) work of SpY Studio (a Spanish artist brought into the country by the Spanish Embassy who partnered with Art Fair Philippines this year), to the intricate, delicate glass works of Goldie Poblador in her exhibition The Rise of Medusa.”
In our sit-down interview, the passion and drive of all three co-founders became evident, passion and drive with sleepless nights (as Dindin Araneta pointed out).
There is also a strong sense of collaboration between the Art Fair teams and their partners. Indeed it is a big weight on the shoulders of these women.
Art and the scene could come off as pretentious or high-brow, to the outsiders like my generation. It could be quite intimidating to try to learn about it, no matter one’s avid interest.
The founders face the challenges, bear the responsibility and the weight of the decisions to be made, from the artists to highlight every year, to the ticket prices to ensure the event is accessible and enjoyable to the thousands of visitors. (I myself got initiated last year in the mounting of art events, both corporate and advocacy-based; it is no walk in the park, or at Ayala Triangles Garden.)
So for those who have never been to Art Fair Philippines, do so! Take it slow and set aside an entire day to take in everything. It’ll be a lot to explore. If you have only so much time in your year to dedicate to art, what better event is there than Art Fair Philippines to have your fill of Filipino modern and contemporary art?
It isn’t even just the mediums that pique our interest and resonate with Art Fair-goers, but also the stories, symbolism, significance behind the exhibitions— an attraction beyond the visual.
Fair tickets can be purchased in advance at www.artfairphilippines.com. Tickets will also be available at the reception area of Art Fair Philippines Feb. 21 to 23, 2024.
For more information, visit Art Fair Philippines website and follow Art Fair Philippines on Instagram (@artfairph) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/artfairph).