How 9,000 SQM And 20 Years Of Art Began In Bacolod

An Odd But Perfect Match

- By Chesca Santiago

Here's how the origin story goes: in 2004, entrepreneur Bong Lopue III and visual artist Charlie Co shook hands at a gas station along Bacolod City's Lacson Avenue. The latter was gassing up when Lopue, in the midst of a morning jog, knocked on Co's car window to strike a partnership that would produce one of the most enduring art spaces in Visayas and in the country.

One name change and two relocations later, the space has evolved into what we now know as Orange Project. Today, the gallery leads a complex of establishments up north in Bacolod to form the city's 9,000-sqm art district and carries two decades of exhibitions, programs and domestic and international collaborations under its belt. As it marks its 20th anniversary this month, we trace how the space began to define the artistic life not only within the region, but also beyond.

The businessman-artist pairing might seem odd at first. But as co-founders of the space, Co and Lopue are each other's perfect match. Aside from running a retail business, Lopue was also into art and architecture—interests that found their juncture in his desire to develop a space for local art in Bacolod. He wanted a venue, in his own words, in which the city could take pride and show off to its guests. Aware that he couldn't run this himself, he tapped the artist to direct a gallery which, at the time of their chance meeting in 2004, was still under construction.

One of the first art installations to greet art district visitors from Lacson Ave. is Megumi Miura, Brandon Braza, Zabiel Nemenzo, Zander Lopez and Zanna Jamili's "Corazon del Arte."

Lopue shares that two things made Co, who was roughly 20 years his senior and whom he knew only as his classmate's uncle, the ideal partner for this project. First, Co was an artist. By extension, he already had a network of creatives to help jumpstart the project. They got the ball rolling two weeks since their handshake, without any formal written agreement.