Undás 2026 | The Festive All Souls' Day

All Souls’ Day is an annual tradition, a day of remembrance for the dearly departed, observed by Christians on November 2. In the Philippines, it’s more like a festive event, where there’s food and other things that are part of the ‘fiesta’ that has become a tradition in the country. Other countries, like Latin America and parts of Europe, including Italy and Germany, also observe All Souls' Day. This year’s observance has been livelier than ever, but I wasn’t here last year to experience the crowded streets. Despite all the celebratory vibe, security has been very tight, with police on their motorcycles patrolling in and out of the cemetery.

Galerie Joaquin | A Garden Within

“A Garden Within” is Hayara Ocampo-Tejido's latest solo exhibit at Galerie Joaquin's newest location. This is her first for this new location at Opus Mall opened in August 2025. It’s a low-key exhibit that was revealed on September 12th: a new set of paintings from Haraya that continues to evolve like her real garden at home. The new pieces occupy whatever space Galerie Joaquin has to offer; it certainly makes the gallery vibrant with the chosen style and colours Haraya has put together in these ensemble pieces, and they certainly make someone’s wall something to look at when you explore her latest works.

Supergirl Day | The Maiden of Fandom

The end of June is closing in, but local events like Supergirl Day aren’t celebrated quite as often as most major comic book events like Free Comic Book Day, but it’s always a welcome situation when it is about a comic book character never quite the conversation. The premiere week of the movie Supergirl was the right time for it. In the Philippines, how often do you get something like this compared to the recent event that just wrapped up at SM Mall of Asia, which did not even invite a local comic shop like Comic Odyssey to sell their Supergirl comic books? But this one not only promotes the movie, but also brings in local artists who worked on the books!

Galleria Nicolas | Sweet Dreams...

In every artwork, there’s always a journey behind its proof of concept, and it is unrelated to the familiar title of the exhibit. It might be a theme that often relates to the personal experience of the artist having indulged in something he or she enjoys in their everyday life. Sometimes, there’s no context to it, and then there is the storytelling that drives each painting that stands out. Jomike Tejido’s “Sweet Dreams… Are made with these” is not taken from the classic song that British synth-pop duo Eurhythmics popularized in the 80s. But something special and interesting takes on the title of his latest exhibit at the Galleria Nicolas, which is currently running at the gallery that inspires even the kids at heart.

VoV + PSP XIX | Stickers & Illustrate

The Pilipinas Street Plan (PSP) is a collection of talented artists, designers, and visual creatives that was formed nineteen years ago. The group is more known for its street culture through their artistic mural creations, redefining the term “Street Art” and not just some random, tasteless vandalism that the masses overlook in their work. PSP changes the way you look at graffiti as a way not just to express their views on life, culture, and politics. Some members create their own stories that define what led them to become artists. There are storytellers too, they push their artistry to redefine that organized vandalism can be works of art that others would be inspired to create their own narrative and introduce the grassroots of Filipino Culture.

Kinablangan | Let the Games Continue

Town Fiestas are a tradition in the Philippines; it is a form of social interaction with local communities dating back to pre-colonial days. Most of it is lost in big cities in Metro Manila, but in regional or rural areas, it is a yearly celebration. It's a consistent date, just confused some who had never grown up or lived in these parts. Personally, the last time I had to see a town fiesta in Pura Tarlac was back in 2017, when a former office colleague invited me to visit her hometown, taking a bus to make it there early in the morning and spending most of the day there. They had parades and all the pageantry of a town fiesta had to offer, and it was just about that.

Kinablangan | Power Outage & Fiesta

Saturday did not start well; in fact, the power outage occurred as early as 6 AM (Philippine Time). There’s nothing good when you live in a rural area where there’s no power, regardless of whether it’s for five minutes or five hours. It shows that the power supply to the whole region of Davao Oriental is not enough to be given to every town that’s part of this region. By 9 AM (Philippine time), the only cell site owned by Globe Network had just died. There’s no power or way to communicate online for the next few hours. There was news from DORECO (Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative, Inc.) that the outage will last for twelve hours while the town has a special event.

MoCAF 2025 | VoV: Silver

This year’s MoCAF (Modern Contemporary Art Fair) is about shining a spotlight on some of the best visual artists in the industry. If last year’s diverse talent featured under one booth, Vinyl on Vinyl focuses on one such talent who has been long enough during the time of the art galleries’ evolution as one of the known exhibitors to bring their artist that might have flown under someone else’s radar. That artist is none other than Iyan de Jesus, she has come a long way to carve her own niche and style that you might have not noticed. Her works has been featured in the international art scene as her works have been a subtle favourite among art collectors who have acquired her past works is here shining like Silver.

World Bex 2025 | Beyond Sustainnovation

Construction and design to conform to the current climate in the world has to work around, which would be sustainable at the same time innovate. Every year, World BEX International is something worth seeing for those who don’t have any knowledge of architecture, construction, and design to educate the consumer what’s the latest technology in building homes and finding the best interior concept. The Philippines is one of the countries that has the hardest working, talented, and innovative individuals in this field in bringing their work to the forefront of this type of industry. World BEX is not just a Building Expo about construction and what the industry has to offer, but every year they bring something to the new consumer to educate more about finding sustainable and innovative ways to build business.

Book Launch | Si Migoy, Ang Batang Tausug

Book Launches are a rare event prominently held in bookstores rather than in huge public venues or inside a shopping centre. But this one is a partnership between the publisher the author and illustrator with the NBDB (National Book Development Board) promoting literacy in the country. The event is about a book launch featuring a Children’s book, and not just an ordinary book for kids. It is a story about an Indigenous Boy named Migoy, a Tausug an ethnic group of people who live in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The book promotes Filipino Culture and Cuisine. This is a reason why reading is important and why this launch was special for the kids out there.

Vinyl on Vinyl | DIKO ALAM

“Diko Alam” is a pun and loosely translated in English as “Don’t Know” as one of the exhibits to close out 2024 for Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery featuring Diko aka Gabriel Tiongson, a visual artist born and bred in the Philippines who now resides in New Zealand carving his artistry at Kiwi Land is something always to look forward to the shows he gets the spotlight with his works. This is Diko’s second show following a two-artist exhibit with Mimaaaaaaaaw at the Grey Space Gallery in September of the same year. For this exhibit, Diko let his visitors express themselves through art using chalk on the floor, which you don’t see in most exhibits as the artist wants to show his visitors their hidden artistry.

Galerie Joaquin | Arcoiris

Whenever a new exhibit has opened it must bring good vibes and a sense of interest that invites not just only those who appreciate art, but also random people from all walks of life. For Jomike Tejido, it must be second-hand to his ever-growing work to express his thoughts and to communicate through art. It’s not just those who have known him for so long, but also those who discovered his work in the art gallery. Another solo art exhibit for Jomike in the books, but this one doesn’t just stop at one part of the gallery featuring his work. But the entire gallery has dedicated every space of it featuring all his paintings and his wooden art toys that have become part of the show for almost a year now and it continues to be impressive even internationally.

Vinyl on Vinyl | Sheepskin

Change is good and character growth is defined by how someone evolves into a better person by being true to themselves. There is also consistency in how their personality defines their work. The passion that still burns in their eyes shows their adoration for their craft wanting to keep their feet on the ground while soaring to greater heights by shedding their skin or “Sheepskin.” Iyan De Jesus sums up as one of those local visual artists who have been working on her craft for more than a decade. She continues to define the odds and challenges of life in finding love for her work as it feels like the first time, which shows how her artwork has evolved over the years like she is telling her story beneath her works.

Vinyl On Vinyl | Strange Times

Sometimes, the best inspiration can be found on the internet. It could be a meme or a recently viral post on a social media platform. Cyberspace has become this vast ocean of visual diversity from the child-like innocent to the unregulated content that children below the age of 13 are not allowed to see. It’s something to take in if you have a stomach or a pair of eyeballs that can withstand random content not innocent eyes. It can be entertaining, and yet if you have a vast look at anything virtually and reality it is something to take in in these “Strange Times,” which is the title of this solo show featuring Chalk Zaldivar at Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery. The presentation for his latest solo show is both entertaining and visually inspired on the internet.

MoCAF 2024 | Very Good Gallery

There are art galleries out there from the underground-type to the ones located in warehouses. But there’s one that taps into the grassroots and at the same time makes sure that art is accessible to everyone not only those who can afford it. But to those who can find inspiration to create something beyond just art that can be considered a universal common ground for everyone and between social classes. The Very Good Gallery is an artist-run space by two local artist scenes that are making their presence at the same time while discovering new talent that will be showcased by their newly opened art space that opened its doors early this year. This is also their first time to participate at MoCAF.

MoCAF 2024 | Vinyl on Vinyl

Vinyl On Vinyl showed up at this year’s MoCAF (Modern Contemporary Art Fair) showcasing some of the best visual artists in the country together with their in-house artists who continue to flourish in the local contemporary art community. MoCAF is relatively a new event that caters to local artistry since 2022 and continue to grow every year with its lineup for galleries participating. This year, VoV takes a subtle route in a small section in one of the event booths that featured some of the best and brightest artists in the local scene. But the entirety of the MoCAF event is certainly an overload of visual perspectives, and VoV is one of the standouts when featuring some of the artists that had their exhibit with the local gallery that has been around since 2010.

Galleria Nicolas | Hirameki: Cloudscapes

Cloudscapes can be viewed from Earth and often include just enough landscape to suggest scale orientation weather conditions, and distance (through the application of the technique of aerial perspective). Cloudscape and skyscape are sometimes used interchangeably, although a skyscape does not necessarily require a view of clouds.** It is an art by itself of a view of clouds or the sky. Rarely, if you would define one if you live in a densely populated city. But while living in another country in a small city in Adelaide, there are directions you can see the clouds or if you are outside of the CBD you will see cloud formations and most of it during the “golden hour” such as defined by a part of the title of Jomike Tejido’s latest Solo Exhibition.

Galerie Stephanie | Flourish

There are so many contemporary artists today that you might have overlooked some of the up-and-coming talents. You may find inspiration in their works when you randomly come across them while you are in a local shopping centre or just casually notice many people gathering to see what was the commotion over something colourful and inviting. This is where Kim Borja “Flourish” in her latest solo art show for Galerie Stephanie, which just had a reception early this evening taking you to a special place that is warm and bright with full of glow emanating from the optimistic look at her works as one of the latest exhibits for the gallery despite the weather the poured in the city.

Vinyl On Vinyl | Make A Wish

There’s a place where you go and “Make a Wish” hoping for good tidings and finding the inspiration to keep moving. It sounds surreal for those fascinated with fantasy and fiction, and sometimes an art installation may take you to that far-off place that no one has ever heard of. It may sound cliché to those who never get to that dream, but this solo show by an up-and-coming artist will inspire you to do so. The artist who can make your wish is Mimaaaaaaaaw in an artful perspective way as she represents her first solo exhibit with Vinyl On Vinyl as one of the headliners of contemporary artists that are opening their reception for the gallery. This is not Mimaaaaaaaaw’s solo show as she has done a two-artist show and group shows.

FCBD 2024 | 2nd Round with Fully Booked

Free Comic Book Day is an annual gathering of fans, geeks, nerds, and those who can’t get enough of the world of fiction. For some, it is considered “Christmas in May.” It is celebrated every first Saturday of this month. However, since Fully Booked in 2009, they have been organizing this event on the second Saturday instead of what was an intended celebration since 2003. In the Philippines, FCBD goes back to the early days, and it’s not Comic Odyssey that started their tradition, which was in 2007. For Fully Booked, it was always the second Saturday until they collaborated with Comic Odyssey from 2013 to 2019, and for the last time in 2023. This year is a fresh restart for Fully Booked,