All Stories

Everything we've published, newest first.

A faceted kite-like sculpture of iridescent triangles hangs in the gallery for “Pneumatic Synergetic”

Somatosonic at The Crucible

Marco Ortiga, Tad Ermitaño and Christina Dy bring homemade instruments, pole dance and cheerful chaos to their “Pneumatic Synergetic” show at The Crucible.

By Igan D'Bayan · December 11, 2023
A packed auditorium bathed in red light at the opening ceremony of the 75th Frankfurter Buchmesse

Frankfurter Buchmesse 2023: Why books matter in a time of war & the ongoing assault on truth

Books are being banned, censored and even burned in parts of America. In Germany, they hold the world’s largest trade fair for books.

By Igan D'Bayan · November 19, 2023
The honeycomb-latticed pavilion of Guest of Honour Slovenia at the Frankfurt Book Fair

The Philippines is Frankfurt Book Fair 2025 Guest of Honour

Ten years after Indonesia, the Philippines lands the Frankfurt Book Fair Guest of Honour slot. We want this, we dreamt of this, we have earned this.

By Igan D'Bayan · November 12, 2023
Charlie Co painting of anguished figures in blue crowded into a boat on a fiery red impasto sea beneath a black crescent moon

Excess equals exuberance in Singapore show focusing on Philippine art

‘What makes Singaporeans respond remarkably well to artworks by Filipinos? I think it’s the sheer liveliness, the vigor, and the energy of Philippine art.’

By Igan D'Bayan · October 10, 2023
The coffee-table book Glenn Bautista: An Artist Drowning in Visions by Igan D’Bayan stands on a paint-spattered studio table among jars of brushes, oil paint tubes and a box of Sennelier pastels

The Art of Drowning in Visions

Glenn Bautista drew Rizal’s monument from a line by line transcription of his 39 poems, then vanished for 15 years. On the artist we forgot.

By Igan D'Bayan · September 4, 2023
Jurors of the Philippine Pavilion for the 60th Venice Biennale standing and sitting together in a conference room during deliberations

Beyond the veil: Carlos Quijon Jr. & Mark Salvatus to represent PH at the Venice Biennale

Curator Carlos Quijon Jr. and artist Mark Salvatus on taking the Philippines to Venice, and the curator’s shift from shaman to jack of all trades.

By Igan D'Bayan · August 14, 2023
A skull-faced figure in shirtsleeves and a waistcoat types at an old typewriter in a dark room, facing a second skull wired into a tangle of cables and machinery

Who’s afraid of big, bad artificial intelligence?

Talking nicely to the chatbots in case they remember us later, and finding that the scariest thing online is still the people doing the typing.

By Igan D'Bayan · July 28, 2023
Detail of a lifelike dead female centaur with a spotted horse body lying on pale stone tiles

People, events, dead centaurs, places

A family of dead centaurs in the Danish Pavilion, a German floor torn up to its Nazi-era joints: pavilion-hopping at the 59th Venice Biennale.

By Igan D'Bayan · April 10, 2023
German pianist Joja Wendt playing a black Steinway grand piano at the PGA Cars gallery

Steinway artist Joja Wendt plays boogie-woogie & Beethoven (with flying bumblebees in between)

The German pianist who swings from boogie-woogie to Beethoven, in Manila for Steinway & Sons’ The Artistry in Modern Precision at PGA Cars.

By Igan D'Bayan · March 11, 2023
Weaving installation with red threads and textiles hanging from the rafters of the Arsenale during the Philippine Pavilion exhibition at the Venice Biennale

An invisible thread that binds us all

The Pavilion’s closing act reaches the Pinoys of Venice: the waiters, the healthcare workers, the household helpers, all one existential tapestry.

By Igan D'Bayan · December 25, 2022
Two works by Marco Ortiga: a black steel hoop sculpture and a faceted polyhedron lined with mirror shards

The art of Marco Ortiga: Through the looking glass, weirdly

The conceptual artist holds a mirror up to this ‘see-me world’, and instead of showing clarity and reflection, purveys cracks and malformation.

By Igan D'Bayan · October 17, 2022
Portrait of NCCA Chairman Nick Lizaso posing in a garden in Venice, wearing a barong Tagalog

Nick Lizaso: 10,000 stories and one heart for the masses

After a life on stage and screen, the NCCA chairman calls himself simply an audience member now, watching people watch performances.

By Igan D'Bayan · June 27, 2022