Budget-friendly art was showcased in Art for All Manila: The Affordable Art Fair 2014 at the SM Aura Premiere in Taguig City last February 14 to 16.
The art fair aimed to encourage young art collectors to invest in affordable artworks. It brought together 20 new and established galleries around the country.
One of the organizers of the event, Delan Robillos, said the galleries were requested to sell art with “friendly’” tag prices ranging from P1,000 to P45,000.
Robillos, a board member of ManilaArt Foundation, Inc., which organizes the yearly ManilaArt Fair, said that unlike ManilArt where souvenir products were sold only at the centralized merchandise booth, the exhibitors in Art for Manila were allowed to sell their downstream products. These products, which include art shirts or art totes, were sold for P500 and less.
“You can have ‘wearable art’ such as shirts, bags, etc. and it is still art.” The organizer said.
A lecture demo about classical ballet basics was given by Lisa Macuja-Elizalde of Ballet Manila on the last day of the art fair. A dance excerpt from the classical ballet “Le Corsaire” (The Pirate) was also performed along with a demonstration of a ballet class feauturing the scholars of Ballet Manila’s Project Ballet Futures. The choreography was done by one of the Thomasian danseur Osias Barroso Jr. and France-based choreographer Ernest Mandap.
“We of the visual art community embrace the other sister arts such as dance and literature.” Robillos said. “We like to incorporate them in our presentations so it would be a multi-discipline collaboration.” Aliliana Margarette T. Uyao
