The Art Fair as ‘imagined barrio’

Over its 13 iterations, Art Fair Philippines has sometimes shifted venues, moving from its original home at The Link to Ayala Triangle Gardens, through online and hybrid versions during COVID, to its latest space for the Feb. 6-8 run at Circuit Corporate Center One, Circuit Makati, a former racetrack complex that is poised to become a new art hub at the edge of the city.

One thing that has not changed: the presence of co-directors Trickie Lopa, Lisa Periquet and Dindin Araneta. These art ladies have taken Makati and the public through one wild, thought-provoking, eye-opening art journey after another.

Each of them stressed they’ve always thought of Art Fair as an experience that is always changing, a moveable feast of culture encounters.

Relocating to Circuit offers new spatial opportunities. Set up over six floors, with a more integrated environment for galleries, curated projects and public programming, it allowed exhibition design team Nazareno/Lichuaco another chance to reinvent Art Fair’s Special Projects space with a new look—this time, as a long-ago town plaza, an “imagined barrio” where eskinitas lead visitors past “vendors” (art exhibits), continually moving through a lively environment of collective spiritual energy.

Now imagine all of this in Circuit Makati, a winding complex of commercial and public areas where, eventually, a mammoth contemporary art center by Ayala Land is set to rise. 

For the media launch at The Flatlands in Circuit Makati, the trio unveiled the featured artists, events and installations to expect this coming February.

ArtFairPH/Projects

ArtFairPH/Projects offers a deep dive into the practices of 11 modern masters and contemporary visionaries.

Leading the contemporary lineup is Imelda Cajipe Endaya, known for her deep exploration of domesticity, migration and women’s empowerment. While underscoring the fair’s commitment to art that reflects the complexities of Philippine identity, Endaya’s exhibit “A Votary’s Art” sets the tone for the section, bridging the gap between historical modernism and urgent contemporary practice.

A diverse group of visionaries in diverse media—printmaking, textile design, woodcutting—highlight the Projects section. Ambie Abaño explores the soul through printmaking (“beyond body”), while Max Balatbat’s installation (“Kapilya”) provides an architectural lens on urban life. The section further expands its material boundaries with the textile-based “material memories” of Ged Unson Merino, the meditative stoneware of ceramic pioneers Jon and Tessy Pettyjohn, and a group of Filipino diaspora artists organized by the Berlin-based Sa Tahanan Co. collective.

Spanish artist Ampparito subverts the mundane through provocative shifts in scale. His third consecutive special project for Art Fair in partnership with the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, “Ezperanza de Vida,” will involve a live painting of calendar months that seem perpetually locked into January 2025.

In addition to these contemporary voices, ArtFairPH/Projects honors the foundations of Philippine art by featuring four late Filipino masters: Brenda Fajardo, Constancio Bernardo, Solomon Saprid, and Romeo Tabuena. Their inclusion ensures that the legacy of feminist social realism and geometric abstraction continues to resonate with a new generation of collectors.

Trickie was excited to present the tarot card works of Fajardo—a professor and artist who passed in 2024—that explore questions of Filipino identity and fate. “She was a remarkable woman, heading the art studies department at UP, active in organizing women’s groups, active in theater.” For “Manifest,” Fajardo repurposed “these European or Western tarot archetypes to make social commentaries on Filipino life.” 

Dindin was proud of their efforts to finally include work by the late Constancio Bernardo and Solomon Saprid at Art Fair. “The families are very invested in preserving their fathers’ legacy, so we’ve been trying to get them for a long time. Sometimes, you introduce the idea to them, until the family is ready. It’s a lot about getting to know us a little bit.”

Lisa spoke of Tabuena, a Filipino artist who left the Philippines for Mexico in the ‘70s and never returned; yet his dense, layered watercolors and prints have long been sought by collectors here “He was constantly experimenting. He was all about sketching, and the sketches are forms that don’t have much detail. And then he goes into this sort of Cubistic look, but then it kind of fades. There are no hard edges.” His show “Conquering Hybridity” is curated by Tats Manahan.

ArtFairPH/Digital

Exploring the intersection between art and technology, this year’s ArtFairPH/Digital highlights works that incorporate animation, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and the metaverse.

Featured will be painter and graphic artist TRNZ, whose work depicts understated, quotidian scenes that hover between familiarity and unease by assembling “fragments” of personal and online imagery, inviting viewers into a shared experience of quiet emotional weight and introspection. He debuts The Keeper, an animated short film he created in collaboration with Fleet Studios. It explores the gravity of pressure in our society, and how the most important things fall through the cracks in pursuit of success, accolades, and external validation.

Joining him is the TLYR Collective, whose presentation centers on the theme of “digital alchemy.” Through their immersive installations, TLYR Collective explores the fluidity of identity in virtual spaces, using generative art and augmented reality to challenge the boundaries between the physical and the simulated.

Developing audiences for contemporary art

Consistent with its mission to develop audiences for contemporary art, the fair also presents ArtFairPH/Talks in partnership with the Ateneo Art Gallery and the Museum Foundation of the Philippines. These daily sessions offer deep dives into the evolving art landscape as this year’s project artists discuss their work at the fair, as well as exchange views on art collecting and the art market. Speakers and specific topics for the 2026 sessions will be announced on the fair’s website.

Art Fair also continues to expand the horizons of Filipino artists through its Residencies program. For the 2026 edition, the fair announced Anne-Laure Lemaitre will be the curator for the residency grant. An independent curator and producer based in New York, Lemaitre is recognized for her work in cross-disciplinary projects and her expertise in navigating the intersection of public art, technology and cultural storytelling. Applications are now officially open, inviting artists to engage in this transformative cross-cultural dialogue.

10 days of art

Coinciding with the fair is 10 Days of Art (Jan. 30 to Feb. 8), a series of events and museum openings that celebrate the best of Makati’s cultural spirit. Large-scale public art installations by Alfredo & Isabel Aquilizan (“Signs and Intimations”), Ronald Ventura (“Carousel”) milliner Mich Dulce (“Nagasasalitang Ulo”) and others will be scattered throughout the Makati Central Business District, leading the way to the main event at Circuit Makati.

‘Art refuses to stay still’

Ayala Land creative director Paloma Urquijo Zobel de Ayala offered a video message on this year’s venue and goals:

“Circuit was always envisioned from the very beginning as a creative and cultural district, a place where art, performance, and public life coexist across indoor venues, open spaces, and everyday settings, and also with a soon-to-rise contemporary arts center.

“Beyond the fair itself, we are excited to establish and relaunch Art Walk by Ayala Land, a growing initiative that will run in parallel to Art Fair Philippines and extend art beyond designated moments and prescribed spaces.

“Art Walk began as a literal walk through Makati, where people experienced art by following a map through the city. But this year, we will build on that original idea and expand it across different public spaces and allow the movement of art to continue beyond the fair. Art Walk by Ayala Land is what happens when art refuses to stay still. It brings contemporary art into our estates, malls, and public spaces, where people can encounter it unexpectedly as part of their everyday life.

“This year, Art Walk continues to reflect a more immersive and contemporary way of engaging in culture. Ultimately, this partnership with Art Fair Philippines and initiatives such as Art Walk by Ayala Land are about community, coming together, and building cities that leave room for imagination, curiosity, and most importantly, connection—coming together to give more Filipinos the space to think, feel, and be changed by art.”