Growing Cebu's art community
Behind the colors and canvases of Tubo, Cebu’s first art fair, is yet another inspiring story of the efforts organizations have been taking to nurture the art community in Cebu. The fair happened last Aug. 17 to 19, where over 50 artists from Cebu and Bohol—composed of established and first-time exhibitors— showcased their artwork in an open gallery in the Activity Center of Ayala Center Cebu.
With the abundance of creative minds in Cebu, Allen Arvin Tan (Tubo’s project chairman and one of the trustees of the Arts Council of Cebu) said that the Arts Council wanted to offer Tubo as an avenue for these creative minds to convene.
“Our local artists are so talented but don’t get a chance to show off what they can do and be in a room with their peers. We wanted to be able to bring in a new generation of collectors by making the art as approachable and non-intimidating as possible,” said Tan.
“We had a non-stop flow of guests from mall opening to closing—there were curious ones and art lovers as well,” said Tan, who was impressed with what he described as an incredibly encouraging turn-out for the event.
He added that the Arts Council of Cebu was always looking for worthy projects to promote cultural life in Cebu, having done events for music, dance, theater and film.
“Tubo started from a desire to put the spotlight on visual artists and give them a platform to showcase what they can do for Cebuanos.”
Tubo Art Fair is planned to be an annual event, so Cebu can definitely look forward to future installments in the years to come. “With the encouraging results, we are definitely going to see everyone again next year. We’re also in talks to collaborate on some exciting special projects that can benefit the artists,” said Tan, hinting at more to come for the Cebu art scene.
Simultaneous to the art gallery was a three-day program that included performances such as the Tubo Opening (with Sinfonia Academy Orchestra featuring Mary Anchit and Vincent Eco), Cabaret and Spoken Word (with Cebu LitFest and Little Boy Productions), The Addams Family Musical Excerpts (with Vaudeville Theatre Company), Choreographer’s Showcase (with Cebu Centre for Dance) and A Night of Broadway Music (with other artists). A Mixed Media Workshop (with Artastic! Art Enrichment Program) and talks about “How to Start an Art Collection” (Ambeth Ocampo), the Visayas Art Scene (Golda King, Mar Vidal, Steven Seno and Palmy Pe-Tudtud), and Cebu Visual Arts History (Radel Paredes) were also highlights of the art fair.
“Aside from helping out the visual artists, we were happy to also be able to showcase musicians, actors, singers and poets. Their coming together really made the event come alive. We also hosted talks that surveyed Cebuano art history— connecting our master artists with the new contemporary ones coming up in the scene. We also connected with Boholano artists who sent a delegation. Space permitting, we will have more of our neighbor provinces as guests in the future,” added Tan.
Thanks to the Arts Council of Cebu, appreciation of art in all its forms was the essence of the Tubo Art Fair—the first, and definitely not the last, of its kind in Cebu.