LOCAL ARTISTS. Photo shows members of the Dumaguete Visual Arts who are taking part in the Visayas Art Fair in Cebu City from Nov. 25-28, 2021. The first of its kind, the art event carries the theme "Connecting the Islands through Art." (Photo courtesy of Cil Flores/DVA)
DUMAGUETE CITY – 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.
Creative communities from Regions 6, 7, and 8 will participate in the art fair at the Montebello Hotel, which banners the theme “Connecting the Islands through Art,” a media release from the city tourism office said.
Dumaguete Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo highlighted “the need to sustain our support for culture and the arts, despite the various challenges we currently face and that this event represents the vision of better days ahead”.
The local artists whose works will be on exhibit at the Visayas Art Fair are 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 include paintings, sculptures, and art installations.
Five of them, Alano, Labarento, Duran, Vincent, and Flores, will be attending the Visayas Art Fair to represent the Dumaguete/Negros Oriental group.
Also set at a local hotel here is the “Ihalas Negrense”, a two-day art exhibit on Negros wildlife, from November 27-28.
It will include paintings of endangered wildlife such as the Negros spotted deer, the Negros bleeding heart pigeon, and the Visayan warty pig, among others.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV), said the Visayas Art Fair "is an event initiated by the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA), together with the Cebu Design Week Inc., Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, Sacred Heart School for Boys Batch 1985 Foundation, and the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation (CFIF)."
On Thursday, there will be two events in Cebu City - The Collector's Preview and the Cebu UNESCO City of Design Event.
The Sacred Heart School-Jesuits Batch 85 will again hold the ArTabang 4: Silent Auction that will benefit various disaster relief efforts and art organizations all over the Philippines. The bidding starts on November 25 at 6 p.m. and ends on November 26 at 9 p.m.
The other activities from November 26-28 will include the Art Fair Exhibition, which is the main event, the all-women exhibition "By No Means", Tito Cuevas in Bold Strokes, an exhibition by the "father of abstract expressionism" in Cebu, and the Makers' Pop-Up Market that will showcase art and design in various forms.
Multi-awarded designer and artist Kenneth Cobonpue will put up his first immersive light installation Curio starting on November 26, while Chocolate Queen Raquel Toquero-Choa of the Chocolate Chamber will have several sessions to showcase how cacao can be transformed into various products.
Also on Friday, the Cebu Wear Fashion Show, which will feature Miss Cebu candidates, will celebrate "Hablon", the woven fabric of Cebu as seen and felt in the designs by Cebu designer Dexter Alazas. (PNA)
