A Gathering of Galleries: Manilart 2013 Reaches Outside Metro Manila

From left: ManilArt Foundation board director and ManilArt 2013 Media Relations Committee head Delan Robillos; SMX Convention Center director of sales Charry Casabar; Ciara Eadie of Archivo 1984; ManilArt Foundation board member and ManilArt 2013 Finance Committee head Robert Bjorn Santos; Skyjet Airlines president and CEO Dr. Joel Mendoz; dean of SoFA Design Institute Tobias Guggenheimer; National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ National Committee on Art Galleries head Amy Loste; SMX Convention Center assistant vice president of sales and marketing Marivic Marquez; Lifestyle Asia associate publisher Cheryl Tiu; Lifestyle Asia editor-in-chief Anna Sobrepeña; Diageo Reserve marketing executive Mara Chen; ManilArt Foundation board member and ManilArt 2013 art fair director Romana Go; and ManilArt Exhibitor Relations Committee head Rio Ambrosio

From October 9 to 13, 2013, prominent and emerging art galleries around Metro Manila will converge in the fifth mounting ManilArt at the newly inaugurated SM Aura Premier Convention Center in Taguig City.
Included is the Galleria Duemila, a custom-built gallery in Pasay City said to be longest running commercial gallery in the Philippines, having been established in 1975 by Italian-born Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz. Galleria Duemila, which specializes in contemporary paintings, sculptures, works on paper and installations, as well as rare secondary-market stock by modern Filipino masters, will feature its roster of artists including Raul Lebajo, Julie Lluch, Duddley Diaz, Nelfa Querubin, Lindslee, Margherita de Balzo, Onib Olmedo, Romina Diaz and Roberto Robles.

An exhibitor's booth during the ManilArt 2010 art fair

Street art demo brought indoors during the ManilArt 2010 art fair

On the other hand, Big and Small Art Company will banner its resident young artist Aleah Angeles, after presenting Ronald Ventura last year. According to gallery owner Dr. Joel Mendez, the figurative artist, whose painting Lazy Daisy was auctioned by Christie’s Hong Kong in 2012 for $7,759, almost twice its estimated original value of $4,138, will showcase her trademark lyrical and romantic large-scale paintings of young, innocent girls in a solo exhibit called “Seed.” Aside from using oil on canvases, Angeles ventured into a whole artwork featuring miniature paintings from top to bottom.
In an effort to showcase art outside the National Capital Region, this year’s ManilArt will show exhibitors from the regions. In addition to pioneer member/exhibitor Tam-Awan Village of Baguio City, the Amarela Gallery of Bohol; Charlie’s Gallery of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Yaru Nu Artes Ivatan of Basco, Batanes; and a huge contingent of Visayas-Mindanao artists presented by Qube Gallery of Cebu City will also join the art fair.
The rest of exhibitors include L’arc en ciel, Galerie Francesca, Galerie Nicolas, Archivo 1984, Vmeme Contemporary Art Gallery, Finale Art File, Quattrocento, Leon Gallery, Qube Gallery, Galerie Anna, Artes Orientes, Galerie Joaquin, Galerie Stephanie, Manila Contemporary, Blue and Gray Gallery, Paseo Gallery, Artery Manila, Arte Pintura Gallery, Renaissance, Galeria Delas Islas, Gallery Nine, Transwing Art Gallery and Gallery Big.
ManilArt is organized by the Bonafide Art Galleries Organization with governmental support through the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and support form the private sector including Lifestyle Asia magazine and the One Mega Group.
According to Imelda Loste, head of the NCCA’s National Committee on Art Galleries, ManilArt over the years has showcased over 2,500 works of Philippine artists. Attendance is also increasing. Last year, the four-day event at the SMX Convention Center of SM Mall of Asia registered about 11,000 visitors, mostly art patrons, collectors, enthusiasts and students.
Loste said that the ManilArt is timed during autumn in many parts of the world and when many big art expos are happening. They aim to make ManilArt a big art event of the country comparable to those abroad.
This year, the slogans for ManilArt are “Celebrating Variety” and “Art According to All” to emphasize “the continued government support, participation from other regions, and the private sector rallying behind the art fair.”
ManilArt will open with an invitational gala night on October 9, expecting to draw foreign and local dignitaries, art collectors and enthusiasts, government officials and heads of the industry, prominent artists and museum professionals. The regular run of the art fair will be from October 10 to 13, from 11 A.M. to 9 P.M.
Among the activities of the art fair is the Walking Tour for students and enthusiasts, to be held everyday (1 to 2 P.M., 2:30 to 3:30 P.M., and 4 to 5 P.M.). There will be a separate walking tour for bloggers, with lectures and workshops.
An art fair catalogue, sponsored by Lifestyle Asia magazine and the One Mega Group, will be available at the fair as well as new ManilArt merchandise featuring images of artworks. Parents who will be bringing children aged seven to 12 will get the chance to receive storybooks illustrated by noted visual artists.

For inquiries, call 910-8016 or 0917-3272529, or e-mail info.manilart@gmail.com.

 Aleah Angeles’s Rare Fairy Seed 3 (60 by 72 inches, oil on canvas) will be showcased in ManilArt 2013