A World of Islands, A Conversation with Curator and Featured Artists Learn more about the exhibition in this session moderated by curator Ligaya Salazar, with participating visual artists Nice Buenaventura, Ronyel Compra, and Kim Sacay Chin. About the Speaker/s ABOUT THE CURATORLigaya Salazar focuses on contemporary interdisciplinary practice at the intersection of design, art, craft and graphics. Her approach is shaped by an interest in how audiences can be positioned at the heart of curatorial practice, enabling a human-centred take on storytelling. Recent projects have focused on themes of place – through an ecological, diasporic and communal lens, shining a light on lesser known, purposefully ignored and marginalised narratives. Ligaya Salazar is a curator and researcher born in Manila, lived in Germany and in Great Britain and practices globally.ABOUT THE ARTISTSNice Buenaventura’s methods revolve around the offloading of tensions, often betweenethics and aesthetics, through drawing, painting, installation, new media and citizen-ethnography. This offloading extends to her project called Tropikalye, an onlineco-learning resource on vernacular culture in tropical and postcolonial Philippines. Varied modes of productivity allow her work to become generative expressions of concern, tracing links between seemingly disparate issues using the logics of the archipelago.Nice Buenaventura is a visual artist from Manila.Kim Sacay Chin’s work uses storytelling in practices that ground people with their environment and more-than-human kin. She navigates arts, learning and social spaces to inspire agency, connectivity, and belonging through co-creating textile work, printmaking, and public-facing events.Kim Sacay Chin is an artist, textile designer and community facilitator from London; born to a mother from Ormoc, Leyte and a father with Guangdong heritage from Kingston, Jamaica.Ronyel Compra integrates techniques used in local crafts production and trades into his practice as reflections of memories, history, and experiences of place and home. His artistic practice spans sculpture, installation, video, painting and pseudo-archeological methods, and remains rooted in the life and culture of his hometown of Bogo, Cebu.Ronyel Compra is a visual artist from Bogo.

Modes Of The Figurative And The Abstract: Romeo Tabuena, Constancio Bernardo, and Solomon Saprid Three of this year's featured artists are trailblazers in Philippine modern art. About the Speaker/s ABOUT THE SPEAKERSBarbara Mae DacanayJournalist Barbara Mae Naredo Dacanay has been writing about art, architecture, literature, music, and theater for the local media such as Business Mirror, Philippine Graphic, GMA Network, ANC X (online feature section of ABS CBN TV Network), Bulletin Lifestyle, and Inquirer.She was a scriptwriter and director of a 10-episode video about coconut, for Mama Sita Foundation in 2023; and a 20-minute video entitled “Mission,” for the United Church of Christ in the Philippines-National City United Church (UCCP-NCUC) in 2025.Barbara is a Political journalist, honed by foreign media. She was honed as a political writer who worked for foreign news. She was Manila bureau chief of Gulf News, a daily broadsheet published by Al Nisr Publishing in the United Arab Emirates.Only five Filipinos ever led the bureaus of (at an estimated 30) foreign news agencies in Manila.She was Manila bureau staff of Hong-Kong based weekly, Asiaweek, which was eventually owned by Times Magazine. She was Manila’s staff reporter of Jiji Press, or Japan News Agency. She started as a freelance contributor of political stories for foreign outlets - Agence FrancePresse (French News Agency), US’ CBS TV Network, Hong-Kong based Far Eastern Economic Review, London’s Reuters, and US-Hong Kong’s Time Magazine. She was cited by the Catholic Mass Media Award for a two-year coverage of the investigation of 1983 assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino, for Veritas, a short-lived Roman CatholicChurch news weekly.Barbara has yet to finish a commissioned two volumes, about the history of and artists produced by the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA). She contributed several articles for “Filipino Artists in their Studios,” Vols 1 and 2, published by the Manila Bulletin, in 2015 and 2018. She wrote, “Capen-Rodriguez, the Story of a Global Family,” a 500-page book, published by Australia-based Charles Byron Capen-Rodriguez, in 2010. It is about Spanish and American families that arrived in the Philippines in 1896 and 1931, during the Spanish and US colonial eras. She authored “Mount Pinatubo, 500 Years After (a Long Silence), a 200-page book published by Joseph Tan in 1991, which sold 10,000 copies, a landmark for a book published in thePhilippines.Cid ReyesCid Reyes is the author chosen by five National Artists: Arturo Luz, BenCab, J. Elizalde Navarro, Napoleon Abueva, and Fernando Amorsolo. A graduate of De La Salle University, Reyes studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome and art history at the City Lit Institute in London. For ten years (1995-2004), he wrote the weekly art column "Gallery-Hopping" for TODAY. Reyes authored the interview book "Conversations on Philippine Art."As an author and co-author, he has written over 40 art books and more than 1,000 artist notes. He co-wrote "TANAW: The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Art Collection" and "The Life and Art of Lee Aguinaldo," both of which received the Alfonso T. Ongpin Prize for Best Art Book.Reyes’s book, "MVP: The Man and His Art," earned a Gold Stevie International Business Award in 2021.Recently published are his books on glass sculptor Ramon Orlina, Lydia Velasco, Prudencio Lamarroza, and Roy Veneracion. Cid Reyes was named the Art Association of the Philippines' "Best in Art Criticism" in 1978, and Art Quarterly Manila selected Reyes as “Critic of the Year” in 2001, 2002, and 2003. He was recognized as the "Most Outstanding Kapampangan in the Arts" in 2016. Both the Creative Guild of the Philippines and De La Salle University awarded Reyes the "Lifetime Achievement Award."As an artist himself, Cid Reyes has held 20 solo exhibitions. His paintings are part of collections at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Philippine Trade Center in New York, Equitable-BDO, Deutsche Bank, PLDT, SMART, Meralco, NLEX, and various private collections.Cid Reyes is the publisher of the magazine “Conversations on Philippine Art.”He is the co-creator of the YouTube art channel ArticulatePH and the president of PAAFI (Promoting Art Advocacy Foundation, Inc.).

Beyond Painting: Exploring New Materials and Approaches in art making Ged Unson Merino, Bernice delos Reyes of Sa Tahanan Co. and Ampparito Artists today explore unconventional and fresh approaches and strategies. About the Speaker/s ABOUT THE ARTISTSGed Unson MerinoGed Merino is a Filipino-American artist based in New York, Manila and Bogotá. He collects things discarded intentionally or incidentally, and his history includes a cycle of migration and settlement, a movement of physical things. Through textile, the artist archives sentimentality, its communal and collective experience. Ged’s work is an attempt to make sense of a looming historical incongruence between what is lived, what remains and what must be remembered.He was selected for the Art Platform at the Singapore Art Stage 2015, 2018 was selected for “The Hybridity and Dynamism of the Contemporary Art of the Philippines” in Seoul KoreaAnna Bernice delos ReyesAnna Bernice delos Reyes is a Filipino independent curator, writer, cultural researcher, and communications strategist working between Berlin, Dubai, and Manila.Her practice operates within the realm of arts and culture, cultural heritage, and architecture. Social research and cultural context are integral to her curatorial and writing practice, often focusing on narratives of diaspora, migration, and colonized bodies.She is the co-founder and co-director of the Filipino diasporic curatorial platform Sa Tahanan Co. with artist Augustine Paredes. Started in 2020 in the UAE, Sa Tahanan Co. platforms Filipino creatives and focuses on arts practice as a means of diasporic representation in creative and cultural industries.She has worked with institutions such as Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Art Jameel, Barjeel Foundation, Japan Foundation, Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, OMA, Diriyah Biennale Foundation and Philippine Arts for Venice Biennale. As a writer, she has contributed to Vogue Philippines, Dazed Middle East, Canvas Magazine, Mousse Magazine, Dubai Collection, Vice, The National amongst other publications.She graduated from New York University Abu Dhabi with a double degree in Social Research Public Policy and Theater.AmpparitoBorn in Madrid in 1991, the artist studied Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid before developing a practice rooted in counter-advertising, urban intervention and mural painting, which they pursued until 2019. Their work explores deception, infiltration and the fragile boundary between truth and illusion. Camouflage and trompe-l’oeil appear not as technical displays but as conceptual tools — ways to inhabit fantasy when reality proves immovable, and to expose how the false can become true and the true can dissolve into fiction.Everyday objects are altered and displaced, serving not as finished forms but as triggers for behaviour and social reaction. The artist embraces the poetic absurdity of effort: hand-writing calendars until the year 2100 to mark the date of their own death, or installing hundreds of broken clocks so that one always displays the correct time. Humor and irony act as essential strategies, approaches to subjects too heavy to confront without a protective laugh.Preferring non-art contexts, the artist situates works in daily life, provoking genuine encounter without the assumptions of contemporary art settings. His practice challenges certainty, disrupts habit, and invites viewers into a space where logic fractures and imagination briefly takes control.

Preparing a Generation of Creatives in the Age of Digital Technology This session explores how to how fine art schools address the impact of digital technology to creative practice. About the Speaker/s ABOUT THE SPEAKERSSharon MapaMaria Sharon Mapa Arriola is an educator and academic leader with over 25 years of experience in Philippine higher education. She is Dean of the School of New Media Arts at De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde and Chair of the Commission on Higher Education’s Technical Panel for the Multimedia Arts Program. She has been a PAASCU accreditor since 2019 and has completed the ASEAN University Network–Quality Assurance Programme Assessment training programs. Her work spans international collaboration and cultural heritage research, including documentation projects for the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA). She has partnered with institutions such as Griffith University, the Asia-Europe Foundation, ENCATC, BIPAM, and the Australia–ASEAN Council, and previously served as a Visiting Fellow at the U.S. State Department’s International Arts Journalism Institute. She also attended Harvard’s Crisis Leadership in Higher Education program in 2020 through a CHED Professional Advancement Grant.Ian Boots BautistaIan Boots B. Bautista is an educator, researcher, and creative consultant whose work bridges the fields of education, technology, and design. Currently serving as a faculty member at the School of Multimedia and Digital Arts, Mapua University, Mr. Bautista brings a unique interdisciplinary approach to curriculum development, teacher training, and multimedia storytelling.He is currently writing his dissertation about Pragmatism and computational thinking skills for a PhD in Education with a specialization in History and Philosophy. He holds an MA in Educational Technology, and a BA in Political Science. His academic journey is marked by excellence, including recognition as an Outstanding Thesis nominee at the University of the Philippines Diliman. His research interests span UX design, educational communication, gamification, animation theory, and sustainability, with a particular focus on inclusive and socially impactful learning experiences.As the consultant of Black Cloth Productions since 2007, Mr. Bautista has led numerous creative initiatives in copywriting, graphic design, and audiovisual production. He has collaborated with national agencies such as Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI) in the development of certification tools, and has served as a regional trainer for Apple and Adobe technologies.

Private Collecting Today: From Early Impulse to Sustained Practice This collector conversation brings together two collectors from Manila whose journeys into art are shaped by very different starting points. About the Speaker/s ABOUT THE MODERATORChristoph NoePreviously a management consultant, Christoph Noe decided to switch industries and work in the contemporary art scene. Initially focusing on Chinese contemporary art, later he co-founded LARRY'S LIST, the leading art market knowledge company providing data, research and access to contemporary art collectors. In his role, he has edited and published a number of books and reports including a catalogue raisonné for the painter Liu Ye; the first publication of this kind for a Chinese contemporary artist, the "Private Museum Report (2016 and 2023)", a global overview on the landscape of privately founded contemporary art museums, and “The Next Gen Art Collectors Report (2021)”, a survey on art collectors below the age of 40 and the best-selling guidebooks “How to Not Fuck Up Your Art-World Happiness Vol. 1 and 2” (2022 and 2024).Christoph Noe is also advising a number of corporates, brands and private museums including Porsche, Rolls-Royce and Hugo Boss on their art engagements and collection. For Hugo Boss, he helped setting up the biennial HUGO BOSS ASIA ART AWARD in cooperation with the Shanghai-based private art museum Rockbund Art Museum. The award has been recognized as one of most acclaimed awards for emerging artists in Asia contributing to the art ecology in China and beyond.Christoph Noe has lectured extensively on the art market, among others for academic institutions including Angewandte University, Vienna, Ewha University, Seoul, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London. Leading global news media and art press, from Financial Times to China Daily, have been quoting Noe on his expertise on the global art market.ABOUT THE SPEAKERSGeorge SooAll around serious but fun guy, Dr George Soo, born in Manila in 1959, studied in Jesuit Xavier School and went to University of the Philippines. He finished medicine in the UERMMMC in 1984 and went to Taiwan where he trained in Microvascular Hand Surgery. Back to Manila in 1992, he trained at the UP Philippine General Hospital in Psychiatry, the field he now concentrates on. He is in a limited private boutique practice based out of Makati. In contact bridge, he is a veteran internationalist, playing for the national teams on many occasions. He is one of the top players from the Philippines. He has won the Far East Asian Championship, the only player from the Philippines to have won in the last 50 years, he has won gold and silvers in the SEA games and has played in two Asian Games. He also has the ASEAN bridge championships twice. In art, collecting voraciously since the 1980s, he has a wide collection of art including conceptual and figurative. He also collects sculpture and video. His other important interests include travel and food.JV CobankiatJan Vincent Cobankiat, born in 1980, is a Manila-based businessman and art collector. He studied at Xavier School and later earned a degree in Management of Financial Institutions from De La Salle University Manila.He is part of the family enterprise, Cobankiat Hardware, where he manages the business while also helping grow new ventures in fast-food franchising, farming, and real estate. This hands-on, long-term approach to building businesses also shapes how he collects—he looks for quality, consistency, and pieces that grow in meaning over time.JV started collecting art in 2016. What began as curiosity quickly developed into a serious interest, with a focus on local contemporary artists and a growing exploration into foreign works. His collecting is intuitive and personal, driven by what resonates with him rather than trends.Outside of art, he is an enthusiastic collector of fine wines, watches, sneakers, and well-designed home furniture, reflecting a broader appreciation for craftsmanship, design, and everyday objects that tell a story.

Impressions of Memory: Tessy & Jon Pettyjohn, and Max Balatbat Personal experiences, everyday environments, and familiar materials carry traces of the past that resurface in their work. Reflecting on their processes and influences, the session explores how memory is embedded in artistic practice. About the Speaker/s ABOUT THE ARTISTSJon PettyjohnJon Pettyjohn (b.1950, Okinawa, Japan), together with wife Tessy, is considered one of the pioneers of contemporary Philippine ceramics. For the past 38 years he has worked passionately in the realm of high fire Asian style ceramics. Although mostly functional he also sometimes explores the boundaries between the utilitarian and the sculptural, which he feels strongly, are of equal importance. The exploration for and use indigenous natural materials like clay, stones and ashes for ceramics are one of his major focus. Since 2000 he has concentrated on woodfiring using Anagamas (cave kilns) known for their rich natural glaze affects.From a handful of contemporary potters in the 1970’s the ceramic scene has grown exponentially in part from the Pettyjohn’s influence on a new generation of clay artists many of whom have been their apprentices or students.Tessy PettyjohnTessy Pettyjohn is a renowned pioneer of Philippine pottery, clay art, and sculpture. Starting her craft in the late 1970s, she has had many shows both here and abroad in her long career. Although she has retired from teaching, she now concentrates on doing her own work for exhibits at her Laguna workshop studio. She continues to explore the use of indigenous Philippine clays, pigments, and minerals for making high fire ceramics and glazes.Tessy and her husband Jon are at the forefront of ceramic arts in the Philippines. They have developed over many years, masterpieces, which focus heavily on the use of uniquely Filipino materials.Max BalatbatMaximino Balatbat was born in 1978 in Caloocan City. Being a son to an architect explains his natural affinity to the world of art which adamantly has not been hidden at all. His early creative formation and works took inspiration from the “International Cabaret”, a brothel in Caloocan’s red light district where he spent an unusual younger years in the company of prostitutes and rug rats like him. Earlier, he studied Architecture at the Far Eastern University in Manila 1995 but in 1997, after circumspecting the creative path, he decided to take Fine Arts instead at the University of the East Caloocan. In 2002, he completed his degree in Fine Arts with a major in Advertising and was awarded as one of UE’s Exemplary Performance in Visual Arts. Balatbat is also from his own unique generation of artists with piercing grit and passion. Before becoming a fulltime painter, he landed a string of jobs in graphic designs where his creative skills were put into good use.Maxbal gave pride to the country in 2009 when he won the Il Lorenzo Magnifico Award – (Painting category) Silver Medal in the Florence Biennale in Italy. Among the other feathers in his cap are 2009 ECCA Grand Prize in the Abstract Category and also the 2009 GSIS Art Competition’s grand prize in the Non-Representational Category.In 2010, his work was among the Juror Choice Award in Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards, the same winning piece is now part of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ collection. Also in the later part of 2010, he participated in the Malaysia Art Expo and the Philippine Arttrek in Singapore his works are also exhibited at Korea, Hong Kong, Beijing, Thailand, Italy, London, Germany, Austria, Netherlands.

Engaging the Female Presence: Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Brenda V. Fajardo, and Ambie Abaño These three artists all share a passion for printmaking and eventually explored distinct paths and styles. About the Speaker/s ABOUT THE SPEAKERSImelda Cajipe EndayaImelda Cajipe Endaya’s (b. 1949) artistic career has been devoted to contemporary social issues from the viewpoint of women empowerment. Her mixed media paintings and installations are richly colored and textured with crochet, laces, textiles, window, flatiron,suitcases, papier-mâché craft, and found objects from home and popular culture. In so doing she developed a visual language that is distinctly womanly and Filipino.Prints occupy a veritable space within Imelda Cajipe Endaya’s creative oeuvre, with close to three hundred in her inventory, and counting. Art Fair Philippines 2026 is pleased to present an overview of Cajipe Endaya’s printmaking through the years.Credit: Silverlens Gallery and Lara AcuinAmbie AbañoAmbie Abaño's work is characterized by her exceptional skill in woodcut printmaking. While she remains deeply connected to traditional methods, her curiosity and creativity have driven her to experiment beyond conventional boundaries. Her explorative spirit has led to the creation of remarkable sculptural and installation pieces, which blend the intricate details of printmaking with the spatial dynamics of three-dimensional art forms.She earned her MFA from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts whereshe serves as Associate Professor. She was president of the Philippine Association ofPrintmakers from 2007-2012. She has conducted numerous workshops in printmaking forart organizations, and cultural and academic institutions all over the Philippines since2001.Her practice as a printmaker has been recognized with numerous awards andaccolades. Some of the notable honors she has received include:• 3rd Prize in the 3rd ASEAN Graphic Arts Competition in 2020• Winning Piece in Hida Takayama Contemporary Woodblock-Prints Triennale in 2017• Grand Prize in the Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards in 2006• Grand Prize in the Painting Category of the Art Association of the Philippines OpenArt Competition in 1987She had artist residencies in Paris through the Alliance Francaise de ManillePhilippine Artist Residency Program (2011), New York through the Asian CulturalCouncil (2012), Kuala Lumpur, Fukuoka and Bandung for Barehands Artist Residencies(2015-2018), and attended art camps in Kerala, India (2011) and Krabi, Thailand (2012).Cecilia S. De La Paz Cecilia S. De La Paz is a Professor of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines (Diliman).She was the former Chair of the UP Department of Art Studies (2009-2015), and served as Director of the UPD Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (2018-2023), and curator of the UP Bulwagan ng Dangal University Heritage Museum (2015-2023). She holds a Master of Arts degree in Art History (1993) and PhD in Philippine Studies (2011) from UP. She was a Salzburg Global Fellow (2011) and the Asian Public Intellectuals (2001) for her work on participatory community museums. She has co-authored textbooks on the arts and humanities, served as Area Editor of the 2 nd edition of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (Visual Arts) in 2018, and has published articles in academic journals with focus on material religion, cultural studies, and community-based exhibitions. She currently serves as Project Leader of the UniversityCollections Mapping Project of UP Diliman.

Aguilar Alcuaz in Conversation: Salaysay from Those Who Knew Him Anchored in salaysay as narration and lived testimony, this panel brings together those who knew Federico Aguilar Alcuaz most closely to reflect on his life and art, in anticipation of the forthcoming monograph to be published later in 2026. About the Speaker/s ABOUT THE SPEAKERSCHRISTIAN MICHAEL AGUILARHe was born 1960 in Hamburg, Germany. He is the eldest son of the late National Artist Federico Aguilar Alcuaz. When living in the Philippines 1964 – 1969, he went to Ateneo de Manila, Loyola Heights. He moved back to Germany in 1969.In 1984 - 1986 he underwent a crafts-training to become a commerial painter (""Maler und Lackierer"") in Munich. He graduated with a license (""Gesellenbrief des Handwerks"") to work as such. He participated in workshops for special painting techniques in Munich and microscopic and IR photography in Tübingen.1986 – 1991 he enrolled into a specialised course ""Colour Design (Farbdesign)"" at ""Fachhochschule [College for Applied Arts] Hildesheim / Holzminden"", specialising in ""methodology and technology of (historic) architectural and decorativ painting"". He graduated as a ""Diplom Designer (FH)"", which roughly equals a Bachelor’s degree. He worked since then in he field of “Heritage Conservation”.He moved back to the Philippines in 2006, initially to take care of Federico Aguilar Alcuaz’s affairs. He has irregularly continued to work in the field of Heritage Conservation in the Philippines.He started and developed as early as 2006 the process of documenting and authenticating his father’s art, which he is doing until the present day. He is now the acknowledged and recognized authority on works of Federico Aguilar Alcuaz. He was the main person pushing for declaration and nomination of Federico Aguilar Alcuaz for National Artist in 2006 and in 2009.Christian M. Aguilar is currently the main editor of the book project Federico Aguilar Alcuaz: Salaysay.This book is scheduled to be launched in March 2026.Mathew LopezMatthew Benjamin P. Lopez (b. 1993) is a Hong Kong–based Philippine independent journalist, art researcher and author whose work sits at the intersection of visual culture, history and fine watchmaking. He has written extensively on Philippine art and historiography, alongside critical commentary on contemporary horology. He began his career as a researcher at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, was part of the founding curatorial team of the 2018 Manila Biennale, and subsequently served as Museum Consultant to Fundación Sansó. His published contributions include the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (2nd edition, 2017), The Watch Annual (2021), and Sansó: Prized and Personal (2025). He is currently Project Lead and Co-Editor of Federico Aguilar Alcuaz: Salaysay, scheduled for publication in March 2026.A collector of Filipiniana and fine timepieces, Lopez writes regularly for leading publications in the Philippines and abroad, including Spot.ph, the Manila Bulletin, Mr Porter, and SJX Watches. He is also a member of the Academy of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève—an institution often likened to the watchmaking world’s Academy Awards—and is among only three Filipinos to hold this distinction.Silvana DiazSilvana DiazSilvana Ancellotti-Diaz is a distinguished Italian arts patron whose profound and enduring love for the Philippines has made her, in spirit and cultural devotion, truly Filipino. Based in Manila, her lifelong dedication to Philippine contemporary art—documented through correspondence and archival records spanning more than 54 years—reflects a deep personal commitment to the country and its creative communities.Her contributions to arts and culture have been recognized both internationally and locally. She was awarded the title of Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, a knighthood conferred by the President of the Italian Republic in recognition of exceptional service to culture and international artistic exchange. In the Philippines, shehas also received the Gawad Parangal of the City of Pasay, honoring her lasting impact on the nation’s cultural landscape.As Art Patron and Director of Galleria Duemila, the Philippines’ longest-running commercial art gallery, she has played a defining role in shaping Philippine contemporary art for nearly five decades. Under her leadership, the gallery has become a vital platform for artistic dialogue, nurturing generations of artists and fostering inclusivity, experimentation, and excellence.Through decades of advocacy, mentorship, and cultural stewardship—carefully traced through letters, exchanges, and institutional records—Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz has built enduring bridges between Italy and the Philippines. Today, she continues to inspire artists, institutions, and audiences alike, making her a vital voice in conversations on art.

Exploring Archival Practices This panel includes archivists, art historians, curators, and artists involved in managing different archival collections who will share strategies in archival management and approaches in public access while maintaining security and ethical concerns. About the Speaker/s ABOUT THE MODERATOREileen Legaspi RamirezEileen Legaspi Ramirez is an Associate Professor of the University of the Philippines Diliman Department of Art Studies. Currently working within UP’s Doctorate in Social Development program in line with research on the understudied plight of labor and potencies of cultural work particularly in the context of site-specific community art initiatives across the Philippines. She continues to work across the fields of criticism and art history. She presently serves as editorial collective member of the journal Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary and Modern Art in Asia, as well as Research Advisory Committee member of The Flow of History collaborative project between Asia Art Archive and AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research, and Exhibitions. She is Editor of Thirteen Artists: Cipher of Stasis and Flux, an upcoming book on the Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artists co-published by the CCP and Eskinita Art Farm.ABOUT THE SPEAKERSIsa NazarenoIsa Nazareno is an Assistant Professor with the Department of History, Ateneo de Manila University. She was former Executive Director of the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings (ALiWW), a special collection of the Ateneo Rizal Library, and is currently part of its Board of Directors. She also serves as a consultant for the Lopez Museum and Library. Bono OlgadoBenedict “Bono” Salazar Olgado, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines School of Library and Information Studies, where he teaches archival theory and practice. He is the founding director of the National Film Archives of the Philippines and has worked on landmark restorations, including Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag (1975/2013) and On My Way to India, Consciousness I Reached China (1968/2013). Beyond film preservation, he consults on archiving and collection management for institutional and private art collections, and has advised artists’ archives including that of Danilo Dalena, At Macalungan, and Roberto Chabet. He also collaborates with artists in tracing, interpreting, and writing on the intersections of archival engagement and artistic intervention. He has programmed films for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and has served as editor for NANG (“Archival Imaginaries,” 2021) and Plaridel ("Philippine Cinema and the Archives,” 2018). He is currently working on his book, Reconfiguring the Empire of Memory: Studying the Entanglements of Filipino Archival Practices, Artistic Interventions, and Data Work.Mayumi HiranoMayumi Hirano is a curator, researcher, and the director of the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Center. She is the co-founder of the artistic platform Load na Dito Projects and teaches in the curatorial studies program at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the Art Management Program at Ateneo de Manila University.Her recent curatorial work includes Panultol (VIVA-ExCon, 2023), Trace the Tracelessness ofcthe Ant (PKL Center, 2023), and the book project Standing by a Doorway (2023). A former Nippon Foundation Asian Public Intellectual Fellow, she has conducted extensive research on artistic collaborations in the Philippines and Thailand. Her writing and research have been featured in publications by the Philippine Contemporary Art Network (PCAN) and NUS Press.Yason BanalYason Banal is an artist working with various forms, concepts and intersections among systems, mechanisms and nuances especially around crucial times. He obtained a BA in Film at the University of the Philippines, Diliman and an MA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, as well as various juried artist residencies including brief lectureships at London Metropolitan University and Tokyo University of Fine Arts. His works have been exhibited widely in various contexts, projects, galleries, alternative spaces, biennales and museums both locally and internationally, with recent exhibitions including The Drawing Room Manila (2022, 2023); ALT Philippines (2020-2021); Metropolitan Museum Manila (2019-2020); Asia Film Archive Singapore, SOAS London, 47 Canal New York (2019); Venice Architecture Biennale (2018). As an invited curator and programmer, he has worked on exhibitions and screenings for the Andy Warhol Museum, Osage Art Foundation, Tate Modern, Asia Pacific Triennial, ICA London and UPFI Film Center. Just recently he had a solo exhibition at the Drawing Room, produced a novella and was jury member at the Singapore International Film Festival. He is currently Director of the University of the Philippines Film Institute (UPFI) where he is also associate professor and full-time faculty.Isa NazarenoIsa Nazareno is an Assistant Professor with the Department of History, Ateneo de Manila University. She was former Executive Director of the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings (ALiWW), a special collection of the Ateneo Rizal Library, and is currently part of its Board of Directors. She also serves as a consultant for the Lopez Museum and Library.

A New Space for Art, in Motion This moderated conversation reflects on how design and curatorial practice shape civic spaces today, set in the context of the development of the forthcoming Kontempo - Center for Contemporary Art, Philippines in Circuit Makati. About the Speaker/s ABOUT THE MODERATORJorell LegaspiJorell Legaspi is the Senior Director for Arts and Culture at Ayala Foundation, which for more than six decades has been committed to community development, youth leadership, and arts and culture, while also supporting education and engaging the Ayala group through corporate citizenship. He oversees the long-term strategic development and positioning of cultural spaces managed under the auspices of the Foundation: Ayala Museum, Filipinas Heritage Library, and Kontempo.ABOUT THE SPEAKERSReuben Keehan Reuben Keehan is a curator and writer specializing in contemporary Asian and Pacific art. Since 2011, he has been closely involved with the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at QAGOMA, contributing to exhibition-making, research, and long-term institutional partnerships across the region. His curatorial work is grounded in collaboration, transnational exchange, and sustained engagement with artists and communities. Keehan’s appointment as Kontempo’s Artistic Director will take effect following the completion of standard clearance and compliance procedures.Kulapat YantrasastKulapat Yantrasast founded WHY Architecture, an interdisciplinary design practice with offices in Los Angeles and New York. The firm specializes in creating spaces for cultural institutions worldwide, including museums, galleries, and private foundations. Notable projects include the Grand Rapids Art Museum and the expansion of the Speed Art Museum, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the new wing of Musée du Louvre in Paris. Yantrasast's approach emphasizes inclusivity, sustainability, and human-centric design.

Insights From A Curator’s Residency Anne Laure Lamaitre visited the Philippines last October 2025 as the first recipient of the ArtFair Ph Curatorial Grant. Within a 4-week period, she visited museums, art galleries and artists studios, and met communities of creatives. About the Speaker/s

Art Fair Philippines 2026 Daily Tour View gallery exhibitions and #ArtFairPH sections through an hour-long guided tour around Art Fair Philippines 2026. About the Speaker/s