LAST year, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts co-sponsored the first Visayas Art Fair held at Montebello Villa Hotel, Cebu on November 25 to 28. It was the highlight of the Cebu Design Week. Its aim was to create a huge awareness that art and culture are very much alive in the Visayas region. With designer Kenneth Cobonpue as consultant, the art fair featured the art and culture from Region 6, 7, 8, and the NCR. It was very successful in connecting collectors to artists and building the reputation of artists’ brands.
I was supposed to join last year’s Visayas Art Fair. Yet, I could not raise the money to get in.
The director of the event wrote me an invitation letter to avail one of the 27 booths – a rare opportunity for a Boholano artist. The booth was P48,000, plus the logistics, fares and hotel accommodation, with a total of about P60,000. This investment was reasonable with all the exposures and valuable contacts needed for a local artist.
What was sad: I could not present my artworks in that art fair because it was hard to raise that amount. No Boholano artist was able to grab the opportunity, simply because no one was prepared financially even if some artists here in the province are competitive.
I could have presented along with popular brands in art like Qube Gallery, Vinyl on Vinyl, and the Art Association of the Philippines.
But why should artists showcase in the Visayas Art Fair? Let’s delve into the benefits for local artists and the Boholano community who wish to be represented.
Art fairs are opportunities to learn because it is a great platform to explore, observe, and criticize the works of other artists. If artists learn what their peers do differently well, they will grow in wisdom.
If an artist joins the Visayas Art Fair, he or she will get the perfect business opportunity. It is an event where art professionals, art lovers, collectors, dealers, and art agencies come together. Artist really wants to be sustainable by earning from their skills. An art fair gives them the leverage for their business because it opens the doors for their careers to gain traction not just in the Visayas.
Art fairs are platforms to make fruitful dialogues through the visual arts medium, so that society can make sense of suffering, despair, danger, neglect, and pain. This leads to meaningful change.
Compared to gallery shows, art fairs are more prestigious. They have a wider audience.
The Visayas Art Fair is a strategic event even if it lasts for four days. It is like major trade fairs that build up the brands of artists and find their collectors.
For this coming November’s Visayas Art Fair, I have prepared several paintings and sculptures to display in a booth. For a few months, I have evolved my style as a contemporary artist based in Bohol. Whether or not I can get there depends on God’s favor and grace.
But by faith, I say, “See you there.”
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Lucell Larawan is a visual artist based in Bohol. He has mounted his solo exhibits in Museo Iloilo, La Salle Gallery (Bacolod), University of the Philippines in the Visayas Art Gallery, Qube Gallery (Cebu City), and Prism Gallery (Manila). He romped two finalist awards in the International Artists Grand Prize Championship (2019 and 2020) and the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence in sculpture (2006 and 2008).
