Mindanao Art Fair: from 3 days in 2019 to 3 weeks in 2022
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 16 October) – Mindanao Art 2022 opened Friday night at The Club at Northtown in Cabantian, a huge venue for hundreds of paintings, sculptures and installations by Mindanawon artists inside and outside the exhibit halls, on the open field and by the poolside.
Opened for public viewing on Saturday, October 15, the 4th Mindanao Art Fair runs until November 5, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. This year’s theme is “Aligned and Interconnected.”
This is the fourth since 2019 as organizers led by Mindanawon artist Rey Mudjahid “Kublai” Millan, continued to mount the art fair despite the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
But this is the first time the exhibit runs for three weeks. The first, held at the atrium of Gaisano Mall on October 4 to 6, 2019 was only for three days, the first for gala, the weekend for the public exhibit. An art conference was held at the Philippine Women’s College then.
The theme of the first Mindanao Art Fair and Exhibit was “Traversing the River of Creativity” to recognize “the important role of nature and our being grounded to who we are in the creative process of Mindanao artists.”
“We have made the first step of gathering Mindanao art groups to showcase their artists talents and declare that Mindanao is profuse with talents worth any collectors’ attention,” said Millan, President of Lawig-Diwa, the group that organized MindanaoArt, at the opening of the first Mindanao Art Fair in 2019.
Their mission, he said then, was to fan an art industry that will sustain the art and livelihood of artists and build a following to bring collectors and art patrons to Mindanao, and for Mindanao artists to be active participants by bringing out what is uniquely Mindanao.
An art industry “that is grounded on the roots of Mindanao. Di lang kumikita but kitang-kita na Mindanao siya” (Not just earning but seen as Mindanao art), Lawig-Diwa secretary/treasurer Stella Estremera said at the press conference in 2019. Estremera, former Editor in Chief of Sun.Star Davao, is now Associate Publisher.
Millan said they had enough of artists saying there is no market for art. “We know for a fact that there is. Except that, there has to be a one big push to bring the patrons to Mindanao and put Mindanao on the map as a destination for art collectors and in the process, stimulate interest to buy art among Mindanawons themselves.”
Mindanao Art 2022: Aligned and Interconnected
In his opening remarks at the 4th Mindanao Art Fair last Friday night, Millan recalled that in 2019, “admittedly, the majority were pieces that needed a lot of polishing to make it big on the national scene. In 2019, we were coming from the fact that Mindanao artists had a lot to catch up to thrive as individuals and as an industry.”
“But making visual art a thriving industry in Mindanao is but a recognized offshoot of what we envision Mindanao Art Fair to be,” he said, adding that they shared the vision “in bits and pieces, one fair at a time.”
The pandemic notwithstanding, they continued mounting the art fair – in 2020 at the Malayan College along Matina with the theme “Living Art in a New Landscape and in 2021d at the Poblacion Market Central downtown.
“We challenged the lingering fears of the artists and the audience in 2021 with ‘Art in Between: Mindanao Art in Liminal Space,’” Millan said.
Millan shared with the audience that they embarked on mentoring programs, reaching out to the provinces “to share with them our expertise and the exposures we have had in our travels and interactions in the art world.”
This year alone, he said, they were able to mentor more than a hundred young artists from the provinces of Davao de Oro, South Cotabato, and North Cotabato, the Caraga Region, and General Santos City.
“These are all out-of-pocket expenses, our way of giving back for the gifts of talent and success we received that allowed us to thrive in our trade,” he said.
“I admit, there are always days when we can’t help but ask: Why are we punishing ourselves? I have carved a name for myself as an artist, why would I subject myself to the rigors required of grants like what we have for Mindanao Art Fair, when we can easily just focus on ourselves and grow richer? That would be an easier life away from intrigues and the difficulty to gather this massive group of artists from all over Mindanao. But here we are again, on our fourth year. Bigger, more festive, more colorful, and becoming more Mindanao,” he said.
Mindanao Art
He noted that “it will take more than me and my few friends to create what we can truly call a Mindanao Art.”
He explained that the vision is not to stage a yearly event as the art fair is merely a vehicle, but to “embed into the consciousness of each artist and each member of the audience an art genre that is truly Mindanao. An art genre that is deeply rooted in the identity of the land and our people, the culture, and the landscape, both past and present.”
Artists, he said, are “our own tribe, we feel their difficulties, we feel their hunger, we listen to their needs and dreams and we try to share what we can because our eyes are on the horizon, not the now. And in the horizon we see artists creating without having to beg for their subsistence. We see artists who can command their prices. Artists whose God-given talents are recognized, respected, bought at a fair price, and collected as investments. But most of all, we see artists who are confident in their identity and art.”
Mindanao Art 2022, according to Millan, “dares to redefine the present reality of Artificial Intelligence or AI as we dig deep into the soul of Mindanao to find an alignment and interconnectedness, the AI of the arts, the artists, the audience, and the land.”
By bringing forth that uniqueness in all of us and of all regions, we communicate to the world of art at the soul level.
“Aligned and Interconnected, we are one with all … and it feels good that way,” he said.
Mindanao Art Fair is supported by a grant from the National Commission on Culture and the Arts-National Committee on Art Galleries (NCCA-NCAG) under the Regional Art Fair category.
Participating art groups
Mindanao Art Fair 2022 gathered 32 art groups from four of six regions in Mindanao – Northern Mindanao, Davao, Region 12 or Soccsksargen and Caraga.
In 2019, only 10 art groups participated.
While 32 is a substantial number, representation to make it more Mindanawon is still wanting. Of the 32 art groups, for example, 20 or 62.5% are from the Davao region. Of the 20, 14 are from Davao City (Abong Bughaw, Beta Studio, Datu Bago Gallery Café, Dibuho Art Dabaw, Ds Foundation For The Differently-Abled Inc., Galerie Raphael, Gallery Down South, Gama Art Group, Kalapati Art Group, Kasing Art Lab, Kulit Kultura. La Herencia Davao Art Space, Patikan, Piguras Contemporary By Mayari).
There are three participating groups from Davao del Norte: Davnor Artist Circle which is in The Club while the satellite show at Poblacion Market Central features Sandog Artist of Tagum By Sining Mata and Guhit Kamay Young Artist of Panabo,
From Davao de Oro, there is Bulawanong Dibuhista; from Davao del Sur, Davao Del Sur League Of Visual Artists And Aesthetic Builders; and from Davao Oriental, Jing Cayacay Rabat Gallery in Mati City.
Based on the list released by the organizers, there is no representation from Region 9 (Zamboanga region) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Region 10 or Northern Mindanao is represented by five art groups (15.6%) – Cagayan de Oro City’s Arkadia Collective and Capitl University Museum Of Three Cultures Art Gallery; Iligan City’s Ebony Visual Artist Association and Studio One Art Studio And Gallery; and Bukidnon’s Talaandig Artist Organization.
Region 12 or what is popularly referred to as Soccsksargen, is represented by three art groups (9.4%) – Sarangani’s Glan Mag’glang Artist, General Santos City’s Mugna Heneral Visual Artist and North Cotabato’s Museyo Kutawato.
Caraga Region has two participating groups (6.25%) – Alampat Gallary and iLikha.
The organizers also listed Art Moves, which it described as a “collaboration between Davao-based videographer and General Santos City visual artist; and Ahon Mindanao Watercolor Group which has members “all over Mindanao.”
Unlike the first three Mindanao art fairs held in the city, the venue for Mindanao Art 2022 is quite far from downtown, around 12 kilometers from City Hall. While public transportation like jeepneys is available, one has to walk from the street down to the clubhouse some 200 meters away.
For students already attending face-to-face classes, a field trip to the art fair would be interesting but would take an entire morning or afternoon, inclusive of travel. An hour’s viewing is not enough. At least two hours would be reasonable.
Tickets are available at 100 pesos. For students, senior citizens and persons with disabilities, the price is 75 pesos.
Organizers said Mindanao Art 2022 can be viewed at its website, www.mindanaoart.org. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
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