WHY REST REAWAKENS CREATIVITY, ACCORDING TO MANILA ILLUSTRATOR FAIR

I've been meaning to touch grass lately.

- Text and photos by EPHRAIM DYTIANQUIN

Strangers stop to fill up the interactive mural. "The rewards of curiosity are a way of seeing and approaching things with a sense of wonder," said Aly Kangleon during a workshop on drawing flora. "If birds fly (and) fish swim, then humans create. You're a person. You can make a zine," artist Pepe Reyes said during a basic zine workshop. "Kung anong interests ko at the time, lumalabas siya sa works ko," said speaker Soleil Ignacio, who recounted the spaces that shaped her practice.

Resting doesn't come naturally to me, being a busy bee buzzing around for opportunities. In fact, I've built quite a reputation for being a workaholic. So it took me by surprise when that moment of clarity finally arrived at this year's Manila Illustrator Fair.

There I was, umbrella in hand outside the UP Diliman Fine Arts Gallery, while Aly Kangleon, one of the event's speakers, gave a botany crash course on the surrounding foliage.

"It's a fun, sensorial experience," she quipped, before having to cut the nature walk short and retreating inside due to the intensifying downpour. We tried.

Rain or shine, MIF 2025 brought together a myriad of creatives from Sept. 12 to 14 for its third year. With a curated selection of 30 local and international artists and an eclectic roster of speakers, the event stood as a proud declaration of the illustration community's spirit.