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Dear Guests,
Scan the QR code to register or Click the Online Reservation Button.
For more information, you may reach us via:
-mindanaoart2021@gmail.com
Reminders:
1. Bring your Davao Safety QR Code.
2. Wear face mask & face shield.
3. Don’t bring backpacks as they are prohibited inside the venue; there is no luggage counter where you can deposit them.
4. Food and drinks are not allowed.
Gallery Posters.
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Mindanao Art 2021 (Click to learn more)
MINDANAO ART 2021
The 3rd installment of Mindanao Art Fair, the biggest gathering of artists in the island, is slated on October 1-31, 2021!
Spearheaded by Lawig Diwa Inc., Mindanao Art Fair 2021 is made possible through a grant of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts National Committee on Art Galleries (NCCA-NCAG).
More than 300 artists from than 30 galleries from various areas in Mindanao such as: Agusan, Bukidnon, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro Davao, Davao de Oro, Digos, Dipolog, General Santos, Iligan, Mati, North Cotabato, Panabo, Socsargen, Samal, Sto. Tomas, Tagum and Zamboanga are expected to participate in this year’s MindanaArt. It will also showcase the artworks of four (4) featured artists: Tanya Gaisano, Elenita Dumlao, Jag Bueno and Lucas Ranola.
Since face to face events are not allowed in Davao City due to the pandemic, MindanaoArt 2021 will be a combination of virtual and physical exhibition, with greater bulk of the activity happening online. Artworks will be displayed physically at the Poblacion Market Central (a new commercial complex in Davao), and can be viewed at Mindanao Art’s website (www.mindanaoart.org) and facebook page (Mindanao Art). There will be a virtual opening ceremony on October 1, 2021 to officially start the exhibit.
Theme
This year’s theme is Art in Between: Mindanao Art in Liminal Space—a recognition of where we are all right now—in a space of ambiguity and disorientation. The theme’s narrative can be experienced right from the entrance of the exhibit where a cocoon tunnel (representing the dark situation we are enveloped in at present) is installed. Going out of the cocoon, one will be welcomed by glowing butterflies which symbolize hope for the future and the strength to continue the journey and venture into the unknown. Following the butterflies will then lead you to the vast two-storey exhibit area, or the liminal space as they interpret it, a threshold between the immediate shock that disturbed the world and the new future that is yet to be named. The exhibit will feature artworks which have different interpretations of the theme.
One of the main features of the exhibit is the 8 ft x 40 ft mural by Davao artist Jeff Bangot. Installed at the entrance of the exhibit venue, the mural is Bangot’s interpretation of this year’s theme.
Satellite Exhibit and Special Events
Additionally, this year’s Mindanao Art Fair will also feature a fashion show entitled “Art Walk” which will be a collaboration between top fashion designers and selected visual artists in Davao City. This will be aired on October 29, 2021 via Mindanao Art’s virtual/online platforms. Their creations will be displayed at the Poblacion Market Central during the month-long exhibit. This special event is also in partnership with Mr. Alfie Atega of Beta Studios.
Meanwhile, Architect/Artist Ed Viacrusis, will hold a satellite exhibit at his residence which he transformed into a man-made forest. From a single-storey bungalow he acquired over two decades ago, he has built up to the treetops with ramps that go around the property providing a leisurely stroll to canopy walks, treehouses, naturally ventilated rooms, and webs of nylon ropes. Entitled “Floating Ground,” the satellite exhibit will showcase his artistry and imagination, nurtured and made to literally soar above ground in ways unimagined.
The Yellow Drum Project, which ensures that biodegradable wastes are diverted from landfills, also partners with Mindanao Art this year. Headed by Dr. Bo Puentespina, the collaboration hopes to reach even more people through art. Dubbed as the “Happy Drum Project,” colorfully-painted garbage drums will be displayed at the exhibit area, as a way to raise awareness and to get the public to think more deeply about what happens to the waste that they produce after it leaves their homes.
Another highlight would be the output of the students under the Lunang Art Residency Program in Tagum City which is mentored by Victor Dumaguing. Entitled “In Memory of Trees,” the paintings of the student-artists will be installed in Kublai Millan’s chainsaw wood sculpture.
Tagum City, which is dubbed as the Mural Capital of the Philippines, is also participating by creating a huge mural onsite through the artists of Tagum City Historical and Cultural Center. The onsite mural is an illustration of the murals that can be seen around the City’s streets.
Maintaining the Momentum
Now on its 3rd year, Mindanao Art has certainly come a long way from the very first Mindanao Art Fair, Exhibit and Conference in 2019. The 1st Mindanao Art started with ten galleries and spaces to jumpstart an attempt to organize an annual gathering of art galleries and spaces and be able to stir up an industry that is sustainable and profitable.
Following the success of Mindanao Art 2019, Lawig Diwa once again brought together masterpieces from the best artists in Mindanao in 2020. With the theme ‘Living Art in a New Landscape,’ Mindanao Art 2020 took on the challenges presented by the global COVID-19 Pandemic as opportunities to innovate and take the visual arts onward. Held at a time when almost everything else has been crippled, Mindanao Art 2020 brought together more artists than it did the previous year, with more than 200 artists from 17 galleries from 5 regions in Mindanao participating.
According to Lawig Diwa President, Kublai Millan, “MindanaoArt 2021 seeks to sustain what was started in 2019. The momentum that Mindanao artists have felt over the past 2 years must be continued in order to maintain a vibrant industry which is able to sustain life and livelihood, and consequently create more art.”
Millan continues, “This exhibit highlights how the artists recover and move with our changing times and adapting to this so-called “new normal.” This gives emphasis on their struggles, dreams, ideas, reflections, and hopes as they continue to live their lives as creative individuals in this uncertain moment.”
The Mindanao Art Primer
1st Mindanao Art Fair, Exhibit and Conference (2019)
The first ever Mindanao Art Fair, Exhibit and Conference (MindanaoArt 2019) was an undertaking of Lawig-Diwa Inc. spearheaded by Mindanao artist Rey Mudjahid “Kublai” P. Millan and journalist Stella A. Estremera. It was made possible through a grant of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts National Committee on Art Galleries (NCCA-NCAG).
MindanaoArt 2019 gathered ten galleries and spaces from all over Mindanao to jumpstart an attempt to organize an annual gathering of art galleries and spaces and be able to stir up an industry that is sustainable and profitable and in the process create a thriving environment for artists to create and earn from their works. This has been a longed-for activity considering that Mindanao has not had anything like this ever.
It was a well curated exhibition with the theme: “Traversing the River of Creativity”. Multi-talented Artists from Davao, General Santos City, Bukidnon, Zamboanga City, Butuan City and the Caraga Region participated in the exhibit. Special booth participants also included respected personalities in the Philippine art scene such as Gerry Leonardo, Leeroy New, Dominic Rubio, Riel Hilario and Melissa Yeung-Yap.
It was the first ever attempt to gather art groups, art galleries from all over Mindanao to start up a movement to stimulate an art industry. Mindanao has a lot of artists, all kinds of artists in fact, and there’s a lot of inspiration but there is no industry to speak of that can sustain a livelihood for the artists.
Being the first attempt, participation has been limited to groups that were quick in embracing the idea and sending their confirmation even before details could be threshed out. The vision, however, was to reach out to every art group and space and arrange a rotating participation where eventually, the MindanaoArt itself will be hosted by different cities.
2nd Mindanao Art Fair, Exhibit and Conference (2020)
Following the success of MindanaArt 2019, Lawig-Diwa Inc., still with the full support of NCCA-NCAG, once again brought together masterpieces from the best artists in Mindanao in 2020.
With the theme ‘Living Art in a New Landscape,’ MindanaoArt 2020 took on the challenges presented by the global COVID-19 Pandemic as opportunities to innovate and take the visual arts onward. Held at a time when almost everything else has been crippled, Mindanao Art 2020 brought together more artists than it did the previous year, in a feat and scale never before dared, with more than 200 artists from 17 galleries from 5 regions in Mindanao participating.
Artworks were exhibited on Mindanao Art’s Virtual Museum/E- Gallery, viewable to anyone in the world staying at home with an internet connection. MindanaoArt’s E-Gallery showcased paintings, sculptures, and other creative works by participating artists from different parts of Mindanao.
MinArt Talks also went online, with key speakers giving pre-recorded lectures before taking part in a live online & panel session. It featured some of the country’s and Mindanao’s leading cultural workers, curators, and art critics who discussed the latest issues that affect Mindanao’s art scene and more.
The 2nd MindanaoArt ran from 21 October to 15 November, with MinArt Talks Online starting on 22 October 2020. There was a limited physical exhibit at the Malayan Colleges of Mindanao campus in Davao City on a by-appointment-only basis to follow the IATF COVID-19 preventive protocols.
MINDANAO ART IN LIMINAL SPACE (Click to learn more)
Neither black nor white
Neither here nor there
To be liminal is to be e v e r y w h e r e and nowhere…
We have been in the collective difficult time of the pandemic for more than a year now. For many, this has been an especially trying year with its unique and unchartered conditions.
__________
Against this sudden dark backdrop, Mindanao art has found strength and continued to journey despite the dangers and restrictions the virus imposed. It was difficult to venture into the unknown. But living to its reputation of endurance, Mindanao and her art braved it. This was the New Landscape. Mindanao art emerged strong in the other side.
__________
The journey is not over yet. Like in an epic, Mindanao art is in one adventure after another— growing with the tides, learning with the wind.
__________
Unlike last year when the pandemic was still more somewhat of a faraway threat, now it is right at the doorstep. Hearing acquaintances contract the virus—while concerning—seem to sound normal; we are getting used to wearing masks and minding our physical distancing practices; we limit our interactions, we stay indoors a lot more often—what seemed to be something temporary is now becoming truly the “new normal.”
__________
We are at a threshold—a liminal space—between the immediate shock that disturbed the world and the new future that is yet to be named. Mindanao art is right in between phases as though to undergo another rite of passage.
__________
This year’s Mindanao Art explores the theme Art in Between: Mindanao Art in Liminal Space— a recognition of where we are all right now—in a space of ambiguity and disorientation as though suddenly put in the middle of a busy hallway where everything is a blur.
__________
Mindanao Art invites us to contemplate this unique rush that we seem to belong and not belong at the same time. Mindanao Art invites us to neither step forward nor back but to hold ground for a while and welcome this strange stillness and perhaps encounter exciting new energies.
__________
Being conscious of liminality means seeing and feeling important moments unnoticed in transitionary places. Like a little scratch on the wall of an empty hallway, or like the vast awkward silence of an uncrowded mall, or that unsuspecting butterfly in instances of human indecision—Mindanao Art calls artists to be in the moment and arrest the feeling.
__________
This also calls for new thrilling visions and approaches that the Mindanao art scene do not often see. Mindanao Art encourages experimentation as a mode of liminality that which welcome perspectives and realities that do not always get the spotlight.
__________
Last year, Mindanao Art has scaled the mountain, and undeniably reached the top. We have made it to the New Landscape. We have touched the clouds and tasted the air. Now what?
__________
We breathe in and we breathe out. There are other mountains below us that we also need to climb. We think about how to scale them. But for now, we close our eyes first and feel. This is the in between—the Mindanao Art in Liminal Space.
The
Exhibitors
Davao Galleries/ Art Group/ Art Space
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Regional Galleries/ Art Group/ Art Space
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The
Satellite Exhibitions
Ed Viacrucis’ Floating Ground
How far will your imagination bring you and how far into reality can you bring this to?
As far as you want. Especially when you are talking about Architect Edmundo Viacrucis, Davao City’s green architect long before green architecture became a buzzword.
(What’s the philosophy behind what you have made your house become?)
Get a Glimpse of the
Special Event
Art Walks, Art Talks
October 10, 2021
Fashion sets in motion the collaborative pursuit of the Mindanao Art Fair to engage all forms of art in one inclusive fair. In this year’s edition of MinArt, eight Davao Fashion and Design Council designers collaborate with eight featured visual artists to interpret paintings, sculptures, and mixed media works into wearable apparel. The fashion designers also interpreted Kublai Millan’s art series in varied materials, techniques, silhouette, and textile surface decoration.
This fashion-artist collaboration creates a dialogue and presents a tangible expression that transcends beyond the confines of the artists’ and designers’ classrooms, studios, and workshops. In doing so, they can articulate a collaborative vision expressed vividly in a diversity of interpretations. The showcase allows the audience to visually engage with the artists’ and designers’ discourse and evolving perspectives. Indeed, Art Walks, Art Talks create a platform for artists and designers to “walk their talk” and their audience to talk back.
Address
Poblacion Market Central, Davao City
(Former location of Madrazo Fruit Stand, C. Bangyo St., Davao City)
Open Hours
Monday to Sunday: 9am – 5pm
Holidays: Closed