Some of the brightest Visayan artists and makers are coming together to celebrate the region’s vibrant arts scene in the first ever Visayas Art Fair 2021.
From November 25 to 28, visitors can check out over 1,000 works of art—from painting and prints, to sculpture, and even artisanal chocolate—at the Montebello Villa Hotel in Cebu City. With the theme “Connecting Islands Through Art,” the event will feature 400 artists, galleries, and art collectives from Regions 6, 7, and 8, along with select participants from Metro Manila.
The fair is spearheaded by Cebu Design Week (CDW), a non-profit group that advocates for the cultivation of culture and arts in the region.
“We aim to have a diverse set of participants and artisanal makers [in the Visayas Art Fair] to celebrate the creativity and craftsmanship of the Visayas Region,” CDW said in a statement.
Some of the featured events include demonstrations on Visayan cacao and artisanal chocolate with The Chocolate Chamber's Raquel Toquero-Choa, and a retrospective exhibit of works by Tito Cuevas, Cebu's Father of Abstract Expressionism. Additionally, over 40 complementary activities will be held throughout the four-day event, including pop-up markets, book launches, competitions, live performances, and a series of lectures by the Fashion Institute of Design and Art (FIDA) and University of the Philippines-Cebu.
Strict Covid-19 protocols will be in place throughout the event; all guests and exhibitors must be fully vaccinated, and non-vaccinated individuals are required to pay for and test negative in an on-site antigen test to enter the exhibit venues.
For those who aren’t in the region or want to view the works online, a digital exhibit will run simultaneously at the CDW website, where the public can also find more information about the participating artists and their works.
Tickets for the Visayas Art Fair 2021 are now on sale through ticket2me. Visit Cebu Design Week’s Facebook page for more information.
