PH Book Festival 2025 | Meeting Tablay Creators

This year’s Philippine Book Festival has made changes, and not only the venue, but the way the floor plan is getting used to. The last day was bustling with last-minute activities, book sales, and something you’d expect in a book expo or anything that a large event would do during its last few minutes before everyone had packed their stuff and dismantled their booth. Heading to the venue, my initial thoughts were just to pick up the preview comic book of Tablay and just go as planned. I didn’t expect that the author and artist would still be there. I’ve been supportive of Komiket from afar and have been to their last event in February. But this was just too good to see both Kat Olan and Paul Medalla.

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.

Cartellino Art | New Territories

Collaboration is not just about working out the differences, but also facing challenges in putting together a portfolio that would match together two different styles in an art form or any particular partnership that avoids overlapping each other’s work for a harmonious flow of creativity that would convey an organic equality in making something fresh and new to the eyes of those who would discover it. It’s like conquering “New Territories” that continue to be relevant, and subjective, and have the inspiration to present new vibrant things that continue to scale the heights of their newfound artistry that they have not done individually, which is the latest two-artist exhibit with CABNOV & Haraya Ocampo-Tejido.