Pinoy power at Southeast Asia's biggest art fair

Filipino artists flexed their star-power in Singapore over the weekend at Art SG 2025, the biggest art fair in Southeast Asia.

- LISA GUERRERO NAKPIL

Two trends were increasingly apparent: first, regional collectors remain upbeat and energized compared to a downturn in gallery and auction sales in the West. China's slow economic recovery and the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles have likewise conspired to make Southeast Asia an oasis of stability and prosperity.

Secondly and just as important, the Philippines and Indonesia have solidified their positions as Southeast Asia's two leading art markets.

To underscore the point, an artwork by Filipino Gerard Tan was selected as cover photo of a special report by the prestigious cultural bible, The Art Newspaper.

Indeed, fueled by Manila's robust auction results, Filipino artists have found representation not only in galleries owned by fellow Filipinos, but have also crossed over to galleries as far afield as Madrid and London as well as in the region's dynamic epicenters of Singapore and Jakarta.

Madrid-based Galeria Cayon exhibited two important works by Fernando Zobel, including “Monstrance,” a glittering metallic piece that once belonged to modernist pioneer and National Artist Arturo Luz. It was priced at $575,000 or P33.6 million, befitting its rarity and gilt-edged provenance.