By: Penn T. Larena
The debut of the Visayas Art Fair is happening from the 25th to the 28th November 2021 at the Montebello Villa Hotel in Cebu City, Philippines.
The spearhead of this project is the Cebu Design Week (CDW) Inc., in collaboration with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, the Sacred Heart School for Boys Batch 1985 Foundation, and the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation. Cebu Design Week is a platform that intends to unite creative industries in Cebu and Visayas as a whole.
Participating galleries from the Visayas will be: Adeste Deguilmo, Aroma Art Gallery, Art Portal, CAI, Dramus Art Gallery, Florentino, UP Cebu Jose Joya Gallery, NANO, Orange Project, PASPI, Qube Gallery, Southwest Art Club, Solitaryo Cinco, Women Artists.Participating galleries from NCR: Leon Gallery, Metro Gallery, Mono8 Gallery, R Gallery, Secret Fresh, The Working Animals Art Project, Vinyl on Vinyl.
The event is open to the public but social distancing and safety protocols must still be adhered to. Guests who are not yet vaccinated will be required to have an antigen test on-site. The testing kit costs ₱380.00 and it will be shouldered by the guest, however, a swab test is not a requirement for those who are fully vaccinated.
Twenty-one local artists from the Dumaguete Visual Arts (DVA) and the Negros Oriental Network of Artists (NANO) are taking part in the first-ever Visayas Art Fair to be held in Cebu City from Nov. 25-28.
The local artists whose works will be on exhibit at the Visayas Art Fair are namely: Alta Jia, Alma Zosan, Babbu Wenceslao, Carmen del Prado, Cil Flores, Daniel Vincent, Dan Duran, Dyna Quilnet, Faye Mandi, Hersley Casero, Isabel Gutang, Jomir Tabudlong, Mikoo Cataylo, Ramsid Labe, Rey Labarento, Jascer Merced, Rianne Salvarita, Rovan Caballes, Totem Saa, Vanessa Gaston, and Jana Jumalon Alano.
Their artworks will include paintings, sculptures, and art installations. Five of them, Alano, Labarento, Duran, Vincent, and Flores, will be attending the Visayas Art Fair in person to represent the Dumaguete/Negros Oriental group.
PHLPost and some other Postal Stamp Enthusiasts in celebration of the National Stamps Collectors Month will also be participating in the said event which they will have booths displaying their various stamp collections at the venue's hotel main lobby.
The Visayas Art Fair is not only the first of its kind in the Visayas Region but it also marks the revival of the art scene of the island’s various regions since the pandemic. From April of 2020, events and exhibitions have been put on hold due to safety restrictions against COVID-19 Pandemic. Together we celebrate Visaya's artistry, culture, and heritage.