Ella, a 28-year-old Filipina anthropologist, travels to Rikuzentakata City for her estranged father Emman’s funeral, where she navigates the cultural and emotional complexities of his second family, including her Japanese half-sister, Reina. As they confront their intertwined histories, Ella and Reina find solace and connection, each reevaluating their perceptions of their father. Their journey of self-discovery intersects with Rikuzentakata’s post- 2011 earthquake and tsunami recovery. Discovering their father’s photographs propels them on a path of rediscovery, exploring their relationships and individual identities. This poignant narrative explores themes of family, loss, identity, and renewal, reflecting deeply on the Filipino diaspora amid a backdrop of historical trauma.

The Fat Boys is a docu-series that offers a unique perspective on global culture; exploring the intersection of culinary arts, wellness, fashion, and lifestyle through intimate encounters with international leaders in industry, creativity, and innovation. This series transcends the conventions of traditional travel programming, presenting an authentic, real-time chronicle of the experiences of two close friends. Employing a dynamic blend of documentary filmmaking and immersive animations, The Fat Boys captures the organic and often unpredictable nature of their journeys. Each One Teach One is an extended segment from Mr. StarCity and Splashman LV’s adventure in the Philippines. They visit environmentalist and conservationist Toby Tamayo at his remarkable mountain top home, a formerly abandoned rice farm. Toby meticulously reforested the farm over the past decade with indigenous flora and fauna—sharing invaluable ancient ecological traditions. He explains the intricate symbiotic relationships within this thriving eco-system, offering insights of profound relevance to contemporary audiences. Each One Teach One is presented as an exclusive engagement for Art Fair PH 2025, serving as a heartfelt tribute to the Philippines and its people. This thoughtfully curated presentation reflects a deep respect for the nation's heritage and a forward-looking vision for its future.

The National Museum of the Philippines has a long history of facilitating global connections through art and culture. Since the late 19th century, the institution and its predecessors have played a key role in showcasing Filipino artistic excellence on the world stage—from the participation of Filipino artists in international expositions during the Spanish and American colonial periods to groundbreaking exhibitions in major institutions worldwide. This presentation explores how NMP continues to preserve memory and promote our National Collections while actively engaging with contemporary artists and creative industries, serving as a vital bridge between creators and the public. Emerging from pandemic recovery, NMP's vision and mission have become more dynamic and growth-driven, placing audiences at the core of the museum experience. Through collaborative opportunities, it ensures that both artistic heritage and contemporary practice remain central to conversations and initiatives shaping progressive and sustainable artistic futures.

Artist couple Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan talk about how their artistic practice is intermingled in their lives as migrants. Their projects utilize recycled materials and encourage community participation, with themes of migration, family, and cultural displacement central to their works. They have participated in numerous exhibitions and have their works housed in collections of institutions such as the Singapore Art Museum, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Japan, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Thailand, among others. About the Speaker/s ISABEL AQUILIZAN y GAUDINEZ (Manila, Philippines, 1965) and ALFREDO JUAN AQUILIZAN (Cagayan, Philippines, 1962) is a Filipino artist-couple who emigrated to Australia in 2006. As a result of their personal experiences, migration, family and cultural displacement are the central themes that they address through their projects. Their artistic language prioritizes the use of recycled materials and community participation. They have participated in numerous exhibitions, biennials, and their works are part of outstanding international collections such as the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Japan; The Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation in Australia, The Singapore Art Museum; MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Thailand, or The Lopez Museum Foundation in the Philippines, among others. Isabel Aquilizan completed her degree in Communication Arts at the Assumption College in 1986 and taught at the Philippine High School for the Arts. Alfredo Aquilizan earned his fine arts degree from the Philippine Women’s University in 1986 and his Master’s from the Polytechnic University in Norwich, England. He is currently pursuing his doctorate at the Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia."

In this conversation, visual artists Manuel Ocampo and Manny Garibay talk about social realism and their distinct approaches to tackling sociopolitical issues

The conversation with Lilledeshan Bose, Christopher Y Lew, and Kawayan de Guia provides a glimpse into the life and artistic practice of Santiago Bose and marks the official launch of the book co-published by ArtAsiaPacific and Silverlens.

Ning Chong, a respected art advisor and the co-founder of Family Office for Art (FOFA) and The Culture Story (TCS) based in Singapore, and Christoph Noe, founder of LARRY'S LIST and a published author based between Milan and Hong Kong, share their journeys through the evolving art world. Ning specializes in advising clients on art collection management, estate planning and legacy building, while Christoph's work focuses on reporting and analyzing global art collecting topics and developments. Together, they reflect on their unique career paths, their shared passion for connecting people through art, and their ongoing commitment to shaping the industry with insight and purpose.

In line with a forthcoming book, Amb. Guglielmino presents his insights on the factors that impact the artists’ careers and the art market. Reactors: Ling Quisumbing Ramilo and Louie Bate About the Speaker/s Christina Quisumbing Ramilo examines and reimagines objects and their contexts through comprehension of material and site specificity. Her artistic practice involves an interest in and respect for the life and history of objects. With minimal intervention on their surfaces, she arranges them or reconfigures their parts, presenting other perspectives to their forms and functions. Often using unconventional materials (construction discards, architectural fragments, casts, recycled paper), and utilizing objects themselves as material (mirrors, bottles, old frames, clothing), most of which have been collected for years, she constructs the works in parts over long periods of time, never completely finished. Conferred with titles that employ wit and humor, they ultimately express her personal poetries. Ramilo lives and works in the Philippines as a full-time artist.

Among the featured artists for #ArtFairPH 2025, Jezzel Wee, Ryan Rubio, and Goldie Poblador all work towards expanding the boundaries of art-making that is experimental, interactive, and even multi-sensory. About the Speaker/s JEZZEL WEE Jezzel Wee finds inspiration in the complexities of organic forms and relates them to the changing landscapes we interact with. She is a ceramic artist based in Quezon City and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of the Philippines with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts major in Painting. She is the first Filipino to finish a 3-year apprenticeship from the Tsugaru Kanayama Pottery, Aomori, Japan in 2017. Through the years, she has worked and exhibited with various local & international ceramic artists. She is currently teaching at the UP College of Fine Arts, serves as the Ceramics Studio Coordinator, and is taking her master’s degree at the UP School of Archaeology. Last April, she finished her field school in Dewil Valley, New Ibajay, El Nido Palawan, and reconnecting with her hometown. Her works have been exhibited in various art spaces and institutions across the Philippines as well as in Australia, Japan, and Thailand. RYAN RUBIO A 2005 graduate of Fine Arts - Advertising at the Technological University of the Philippines, painter and sculptor Ryan Rubio is currently based in Camarines Norte, Bicol Region. Known for his rock and stone sculptures that often resemble totem poles with expressive faces that alternate from the stoic to the surprised, Rubio’s works are either silent witnesses or tight-lipped guardians to all that is going on around them. His understanding of his chosen material can be seen in how each piece retains its unique qualities. Rubio hardly carves a rock to change its appearance or made to look like something else; he works with the natural shape and color of the stone or pebble and etches each figure’s face based on the stone’s form. He reveals that his affinity to this type of material stems from his childhood. "I grew up in a village where the main source of livelihood was small and large-scale mining," he shares. "I lived near the sea, and all around me were rocks. That was memorable to me, because each rock tells its own story." GOLDIE POBLADOR Goldie Poblador (b.1987) uses glass blowing, performance, video, installation, and scent when considering themes of feminism, the environment, and decolonization as it relates to the body. She received her BFA in Studio Arts from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and her MFA in Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Her work has been exhibited at the Singapore Art Museum, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Museum Atelierhaus Mengerzeile, Lopez Memorial Museum and Library, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, The National Museum of the Philippines, and The Cultural Center of the Philippines. She received a grant from the New York-based Foundation of Contemporary Arts and a President's Scholarship from RISD. She completed residencies at the Corning Museum of Glass, Oakspring Garden Foundation, Wassaic Project, The Hambidge Center, MASS MoCA, La Fragua and the Cité International des Arts. Poblador was selected for the Immigrant Artist Mentorship Program awarded by the New York Foundation of the Arts, received a President's Scholarship from the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Philippine AIR Prize organized by the Alliance Française de Manille. In 2024, Poblador was featured in the 'Serial and Massively Parallel' exhibition for the 6th edition of S.E.A. Focus in Singapore and in the same year, her work 'Squalor' entered the permanent collection of the Corning Museum of Glass.

The roundtable discussion uses the themes and topics explored in the experimental multidisciplinary Markets of Resistance project staged in Baguio (2014) and Manila (2015) and its convergent relationship to the forthcoming book of the same title as the departure point. With the visual aids of a 17-minute Markets of Resistance documentary film and samples from the four-volume book set, we hope to engage the audience in a lively decolonizing discussion around the question: How can cultural, alternative pedagogical and art/public art practices/projects impact community, identity and art politics? The dialogue endeavors to stimulate critical thinking about art as practice/art as business, the concept of kapwa and cultural currency.

In this talk, professor and historian Ambeth Ocampo talks about Fernando Zóbel through archival images that reveal the artist-patron’s scholarly curiosity and artistic practice. Fernando Zóbel (b.1942 - d.1984) contributed greatly to the emergence of modern art in the Philippines. Zóbel was the founding donor of the Ateneo Art Gallery, establishing the university museum as the first Philippine modern and contemporary art museum in the country. His experiments across a variety of art forms and education overseas informed his practice. As an artist, he set up exhibitions for Filipino contemporary modernists. As an educator, he taught courses on art appreciation and art history at the Ateneo Graduate School Program.

This session brings together three private art institutions -- the Lopez Museum and Library and the Ateneo Art Gallery, both celebrating its 65th anniversary, and Ayala Foundation’s Project Contempo, a contemporary art space set to open in 2027. Each presenter will share directions of future programs that impact on artistic practice and art education.

In an age where digital technologies reshape our reality at an unprecedented pace, how do we create—or dismantle—the mythologies that define our existence? Between data center heat, dying game worlds, link rot, the dead internet theory, and AI model collapse, worlds come and go. Artists act as modern mythmakers, navigating—or blurring—the boundaries between virtual and physical realms. In this panel, we bring together artists who employ technology and worldbuilding in their work. Keb Cerda mixes augmented reality with traditional paintings inspired by video game worlds. Christina Lopez interrogates image-making, where perhaps building a world is simply altering one's perception of reality. Chris Fussner's tropical futurisms imagine divergent, distributed ways of living amidst climate collapse. Finally, moderator Chia Amisola's practice looks at the atmospherics of our online environments. This conversation will examine how technologies shape our collective mythology—imagining what new worlds might emerge from our digital debris. About the Speaker/s KEB CERDA Keb Cerda has never seen a divide between art and video games. Growing up in an artistic household, video games and traditional painting all felt like natural forms of storytelling. Instead of choosing one, he brought them together, creating art that doesn’t just sit still but moves, reacts, and invites participation. His latest project, Dopamine Dash, a motion-based video game projected onto a painting. It transforms the canvas into a chaotic, non-stop social media landscape. Players grab positive reactions to keep their Dopamine Meter from running out while avoiding negative ones, only to find themselves caught in a cycle that mirrors the exhausting pursuit of validation online. For Keb, art is not just about creating something to be looked at. It’s about connection and interaction. He blurs the lines between traditional and digital, inviting audiences to step inside his work, not as passive viewers but as active participants in an experience that challenges, immerses, and makes them think." CHIA AMISOLA Chia Amisola (b. 2000) is an artist and technologist devoted to the internet’s ambiences and its loss, love, labor, and liberation. Their games, performances, and websites explore the intimacies of infrastructures, the labor of tools, and the poetics of machines from the domestic to the divine. They organized Developh towards poetic technologies in the Philippines. They graduated from Yale University with a BA in Computing & the Arts in 2022. They’ve exhibited internationally at the V&A; and Somerset House, London; Tai Kwun, Hong Kong; WSA & TRANSFER, New York; CHRONIQUES, France; Künstlerhaus Bethanien and panke.gallery, Germany; and Gray Area & Game Developer Conference, San Francisco. They've been featured in The New Yorker, Forbes, Frieze, BOMB Magazine, et. al, and are a Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia recipient & Lumen Prize Winner. They are based between San Francisco and Manila.

The conversation revisits Pagtitipon-tipon, an exhibition and gathering of artists united by a shared belief in art's transformative power. It recognizes that different communities—much like the art world itself—are in a constant state of evolution, challenge, and reinvention. At its core, this engagement seeks to expand the very idea of community. What once may have felt like a fleeting "sense" of belonging is now a dynamic, evolving force—one that is poised to grow, thrive, and ultimately safeguard art's legacy for future artists and cultural leaders.