The dream of ‘making art more accessible to the people’ grows bigger amid the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years.
Now on its 5th year, organizers of the Ortigas Art Festival promise to break barriers both for the artists and the public by showcasing broader exhibitions and adding more art forms apart from the traditional painting and sculpture art.
The month-long festival will run from July 7 to August 22 at the East Wing, Estancia Mall in Pasig City.
The festival will feature around 300 artists coming d different fields such as paintings, sculptures, performing arts, photography, fashion or couture.
There will be workshops in garderning and sculpting to be conducted in the month-long run.
The art festival aims to be one of the first major festivals since the loosened COVID-19 restrictions.
‘It’s like coming home’
The award-winning festival was the brainchild of Helen Mirasol.
For her, the annual festival whether hybrid or physical provides artists an opportunity to showcase their works in a public space and more accessible to people from all walks of life.
Mirasol says for patronizers of the festival, the yearly event gives a feeling of ‘coming home’.
“It’s like coming home. The restrictions and lockdowns taught us how important family is, how important is to get out and art also add to your life,” Mirasol told The Filipino Times in an interview.
Mirasol said that thetre are a number of reasons why the Ortigas Art Festival can be set apart from other exhibits.
“When you go to museum you have to pay, and we don’t usually hear people say this weekend we go to the museum, but they say go to the mall. So it’s free and you bring art to the most people,” she said.
“For the artists, they have a venue where they do not have to lay to show to their work, they don’t have to pay for the space because it’s free,” Mirasol added.
‘Artist run-space’
For this year’s curator and social realist artist Renato Habulan, the festival is a great opportunity for artists new and senior ones to showcase their works.
“Kabaligtaran ito kasi ang tendency talaga ng art ay to be elitist dahil ang views nila about being excellent art is becoming exclusive to few audience ito ang gusto namin basagin,” Habulan told The Filipino Times.
Habulan also highlights the ‘artist run-spaces’ provided for artists in the festival. These spaces allow the artist to organize or direct his or her exhibit free of charge.
“Number 1 walang bayad, number 2 accessible, number 3 the art we want to show may rapport agad sa audience mo. Very progressive, naiintidihan nila ang needs ng artists,” he added.
The festival will be featuring some artworks and artists on their social media platforms gearing up to July 7.
As a young artist who can`t afford expensive art materials, this event will be my guide to try new things and to leave my comfort zone.