Preview of the Visayas Art Fair during its ceremonial launching on November 25, 2021, at Montebello Villa Hotel, Cebu City | CDN Digital Photo by Morexette Marie B. Erram #CDNDigital
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Visayas on November 25 launched its biggest art fair yet, drawing dozens of artists and thousands of masterpieces for a colorful, two-day affair.
Called the Visayas Art Fair, the event gathered artists, art galleries, and exhibitors from National Capital Region and the entire Visayas area to showcase their creations.
It was organized by the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA), Cebu Design Week Inc., Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV), Sacred Heart School for Boys Batch 1985 Foundation, and the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation. (CFIF).
The activity, held at Montebello Villa Hotel, will run from November 26 to November 28.
“This is the first ever Visayas Art Fair. There have been a lot of art fairs all over the Philippines but never in the Visayas. This is, in fact, the biggest so far in the Visayas,” said Sec. Michael Lloyd Dino, of OPAV.
“Visayas actually has a lot of world-class artists. If you go and take a look around, you can see their artworks, dili lang pang local. Pang international na ug quality,” he added.
Renowned artists from Visayas are also among the exhibitors for the Visayas Art Fair such as international designer Kenneth Cobonpue, Cebu’s Chocolate Queen Raquel Choa, Hablon designer Dexter Alazas, and Wenceslao ‘Tito’ Cuevas Jr., the father of abstract expressionism in Cebu whose ‘In Bold Strokes’ exhibition is among the highlights.
Raquel Choa, Cebu’s Chocolate Queen, presents to visitors of Visayas Art Fair a Cacao de Bola, one of her most notable creations that highlights the art and cultural significance of traditional chocolate making. | CDN Digital Photo by Morexette Marie Erram
It will also play host to a two-day ‘silent auction’ called ‘ArTabang’ to raise funds for disaster relief efforts and art organizations in the country.
HEIR APPARENT, acrylic on canvas by Josue Mangrobang Jr., is among the works up for auction for ArTabang, Visayas Art Fair’s silent auction segment | CDN Digital Photo by Morexette Marie Erram
Bidding will start on November 25 and will end at 9 p.m. on November 26.
Open-air performances such as musical numbers and plays, and art talks, competitions, and demonstrations are also part of the event.
Access
The Visayas Art Fair is open to both vaccinated and non-vaccinated visitors.
However, organizers told non-vaccinated guests will have to undergo a COVID-19 antigen test onsite, at their own expense, and that their results must indicate they are free from the infection.
“The influx of people will be limited and the capacity will be based on the regulations of the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) that will be implemented during the time,” they added.
Regular admission fee starts at P100 and P50 for students. /rcg
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