AT THE impressive multi-level event venue TOPS, an art festival proved that there could be more to the mountain lookout’s panoramic view of Cebu City, turning it into an art-filled space for four days.
For its third year, the TOPS ArtFest, held last week from Oct. 22 to 25, attracted over 300 artists and 45 galleries from all over the Philippines, said Lorenzo Miguel Dino, the festival director.
“In our first run, we had about 200 artists and 30 galleries, so it’s been gaining traction over the past three years. We’ve had a lot of inquiries as well, and collectors flying in from different parts of the country,” said Mr. Dino in an interview with BusinessWorld.
EXPANDING THE ART WORLD
This year’s theme, “Building and Breaking Norms,” invited audiences to look at the world around them with fresh eyes.
“We’ve found that local communities have been coming up more and more. The art circle in Cebu is so tight-knit, and everyone knows everyone, but there are so many people we don’t recognize anymore, so it means we’re breaking outside of the bubble in the art community,” Mr. Dino added.
He also noted that the festival has always aimed to “break down the barriers of art, outside of the gallery context.” He explained to BusinessWorld, “We want to provide people the ability to experience all that art has to offer. It has always been our invitation for people to define what art can mean to them, because it’s an ongoing conversation. It’s something that shifts day by day.”
For TOPS ArtFest program director Sarah Mae Enclona-Henderson, the crowd getting bigger each year can be felt in the growing number of students and schools committing to coming to the festival.
“At 10 o’clock, when we opened our doors on the first day, we already had groups from four or five schools waiting. They bring their students to experience the festival, because we have talks, we have workshops, we have demonstrations. Young artists are able to meet and greet established artists,” Ms. Enclona-Henderson said. “We accommodated around 300 students just for opening day. And the good thing about the format is, you can come and go.”
Some of the Philippines’ most distinctive artistic voices exhibited at the festival, like installation artist Junyee and newly proclaimed National Artist Nune Alvarado. Other rockstars of Philippine art with works on display were Ronald Ventura, Romulo Galicano, Randalf Dilla, and Dino Gabito, among many others.
At the unveiling of Junyee’s acclaimed 1981 installation piece, Wood Things, the artist himself expressed his joy to have it reach Cebu.
“I’m happy and honored. I’m also Bisaya, so it means a lot because this is the first time I exhibited this here,” he told BusinessWorld. “I’m always surprised [by the reception to it] because this is just a plaything for me. For any artist, it’s great when somebody starts paying for your work.”
At TOPS ArtFest, purchasing and auctioning off art were key to the event’s charity work and art education thrust. They held the yearly ARTABANG live auction, which featured paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media artworks by Charlie Co, Jik Villanueva, Dr. Renato Cheng, Adeste Deguilmo, James Doran-Webb, Demi Padua, Jose Maria Picornell, Renz Guilas, Joel Chavez, Uz, and the Art Association of the Philippines. Proceeds went to local foundations.
There was also the “Young at Art” initiative, presented by the Sacred Heart School Batch ’85 Foundation, which allowed students to purchase a work by a professional artist for as low as P2,000.
“These are small artworks that students can afford and appreciate,” Ms. Enclona-Henderson said. “Our hope is that this will begin their journey of appreciating arts.”
THE HUMAN-NESS OF ART
One of the talks that students attended was “How to Differentiate Your Art in the AI Era.” Led by copywriter and University of San Carlos professor Carla Adlawan, it championed the value of original, unique, and human-made art even in a time where fast and convenient results reign supreme.
The talk was attended by many students from schools all over Cebu — a market for TOPS ArtFest that has been growing over the past three years. Ms. Adlawan encouraged the young artists to “nurture their own perspectives and lived experiences,” which artificial intelligence (AI) can never replicate.
“You can prompt [the AI], and what will come out is probably somebody else’s lived experience, somebody else’s perspective, because again, generative AI is based on existing material from the internet, so they’re not unique, they’re not original, and they belong to someone else,” she said.
Speaking as both a zine maker and an advertising professional, Ms. Adlawan said that AI is best used as a tool, but not as a magic wand that can do all the work for you.
“Value is a very personal thing because that depends on the capacity we can afford art, but you will see that if it’s easily accessible, people are more than willing to pay extra for something unique and different,” she said. “People are still willing.”
Mr. Dino told BusinessWorld that such discussions are important because these are “uncharted waters.”
“All the more reason we want to champion the human-ness of what we can create outside of AI,” he said. “Through TOPS ArtFest, we give Filipino artists a platform to show their works.”
Outside of visual arts, the festival showcased many performances and competitions that illustrated the full scale of talent in the Philippines. The Sugbuanon Indigenous Collective held an informal music jam one night, where guests were encouraged to join in their live communal dance. “Resonance in Motion” was a live interdisciplinary performance which combined sound and visual art as passersby painted on a canvas connected to a sound machine.
While the festival invites their own set of artists each year, galleries and groups are welcome to submit proposals for exhibits. As early as now, TOPS ArtFest is accepting proposals for next year’s edition. — Brontë H. Lacsamana