Art Fair PH 2025: New venue, fresh ideas
In planning the 2025 edition of Art Fair Philippines, founders Trickie Lopa, Dindin Araneta, and Lisa Periquet took a different course, as they’ve found a new venue to continue their efforts in exhibiting and selling the best in modern and contemporary Philippine visual art.
This year’s fair, which runs from Feb. 21 to Feb. 23, will take place at the Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati City, with an entrance each fronting Ayala Avenue and Makati Avenue. It’s not very far from the fair’s original site since 2013, The Link, located at the Ayala Center side of Makati Avenue.
“Suddenly we were going into something unfamiliar,” Lopa told Lifestyle at the media launch held on Jan. 21 at The Executive Center of Ayala Triangle Gardens’ Tower 2. “At The Link, you already know what to expect.”
Setting aside their trepidation, the trio appreciated being given access not only to the park area but also the unused spaces in the property’s two buildings.
“When you have these raw spaces, you can actually create anything that you like,” Lopa said, singling out the Projects section. It features a collection of curated exhibits meant to celebrate artistic excellence and innovation while reinforcing the fair’s position as a key player in the global art scene.
Just like in past editions, this year’s Projects section is a mix of established masters and emerging talents led by Manny Garibay, Manuel Ocampo, Goldie Poblador, Ryan Rubio, and Jezzel Wee. It also includes the works of Spanish collective SpY Studio as a continuation of last year’s collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines as a special project partner.
The other curated exhibitions will still come from the top galleries in the Philippines and some international exhibitors. They will be housed in a huge tent now being set up across the park.
All-day ticket
When the attendees to the fair enter the tent, Lopa explained, they will get to see the exhibits around. Then, without getting out of the tent, they can continue walking to reach the entrance of either of the two towers of the Ayala Triangle Gardens. They will find there more exhibits, like those under the Projects section. They may also attend the scheduled talks and film screenings at The Executive Center.
“Your ticket is valid for a day,” Lopa said as a reminder to attendees of the fair, so they can make the most of their visit. Fair hours are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets can be bought at the venue or online, via https://artfairphilippines.com/afp2025/.
“Come and be prepared to spend a few hours. You’ll see a lot of things. Just look at what the galleries have to offer. See the special exhibitions. Attend the talks, watch a film screening. Sulitin mo ang ticket mo.”
In separate interviews with young artists Jezzel Wee and Goldie Poblador at the media launch, we gathered that the exhibits featuring their works could create a lot of buzz at the fair.
Wee, who works with ceramics, and Poblador, with glass, will each present a collection through interactive and multi-sensory means.
In Wee’s “Pagbulong” exhibit, the ceramic artist will have over 50 art objects she created based on the traditional Japanese daruma wishing doll. Inside each object that looks like a head with a friendly face, there’s at least one ceramic chip that will create a sound when the object is shaken.
Sounds, shapes, sizes
As fairgoers pick up the objects in the exhibition and shake them, Wee explained, they will hear not just the sound from what they’re shaking but also from those being shaken by other visitors.
“You will be surrounded by different sounds,” said the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts graduate, who underwent a three-year apprenticeship at a pottery company in Aomori prefecture in rural Japan.
Aside from the sound, Wee said she hopes for those visiting her exhibition to appreciate the various shapes and sizes that can be created through ceramic art.
“Not just the usual white and shiny variety that many people are used to seeing,” she pointed out. “The handmade ones can also be given much value. While looking at the objects, you can also appreciate pockets of silence.”
On the other hand, Poblador’s “The Rise of Medusa” exhibition will have around 10 glass sculptures, some of which will double as perfume bottles. The bottles will be filled with scents specially made by a professional perfumer to tell a cautionary marine tale. There’s a scent that evokes an oil slick, then a dead coral, and finally something hopeful, like a mango.
“You can go near the sculptures and smell them,” she said, adding that there will be an aural component to the exhibition. “I work with two sound artists. The sound, I think, will be installed either around the sculptures or up high. Let’s see.”
The New York-based Poblador, who flew in from the US just to participate in Art Fair 2025, explained that her exhibit is inspired by the archetype of the monstrous feminine. Aside from Medusa, there’s Magwayen, the goddess of the sea in Philippine mythology.
“I thought it was related to the marine invertebrates, like jellyfish,” she said. “It’s also about power and being a woman.”
