Next time you’re in an SM Supermall, get some art inspiration and gaze at Metrobank Foundation’s prized art works in Art MADE Public. MADE, or Metrobank Art & Design Excellence, is an art and architectural design contest that has been around for almost 30 years now.
An initiative of the Metrobank Foundation, Inc. (MBFI), the traveling art exhibit kicked off on January 25 at SM Aura Premier in Taguig City. It’s in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), SM Supermalls, Manila Metropolitan Theatre and the United Architects of the Philippines.
Art MADE Public is a free-admission event featuring a series of exhibits, lectures and workshops on art and cultural heritage to be facilitated by well-known Filipino artists and architectural and heritage practitioners, in select venues nationwide.
A press write-up by MFBI notes that “MADE shall serve as the catalyst that weaves together its advocacy for the visual arts and cultural heritage through three interrelated components—Connections MADE, Meet the MET in MADE, and MASJID.”
MBFI president Aniceto Sobrepeña shared, “The exhibit aims to present the diversity and richness of influences between and among past MADE winners artists. It is also about tackling their themes, messaging, and styles that have changed and emerged among contemporaries over time.”
One of the featured works in the exhibit is a Roberto Feleo work that was among the contest’s first prized pieces of what was then known as the Metrobank Annual Painting Competition in 1984.
Other works in the traveling exhibit are by Elmer Borlongan, Emmanuel Garibay, and Mark Justiniani who were all members of a group called Salingpusa in the 80s to the 90s.
MADE and the Metropolitan Theater
Another component of the ongoing traveling art show is the Meet the MET at MADE: An Exhibition on the Restoration of the 85-year-old Manila Metropolitan Theatre or Met.
As part of the ongoing restoration program for the theater house, the exhibit also includes decorative elements of the Met and some costumes worn by actors during their performances at the venue.
The edifice was declared a National Historical Landmark in 1973 and a National Cultural Treasure in 2010 as it is the only existing Art Deco building of its scale and integrity in Asia.
2018 MADE: Call for entries
Meanwhile, the foundation is now accepting entries for its annual visual arts competition, the Metrobank Art & Design Excellence (MADE).
The popular art and design competition will have “Discover” as its theme, encouraging participants to give works with points of view that are unique and fresh even in the seemingly mundane things.
Here are the rules:
The MADE Painting Competition is open to all Filipino artists aged 18-35 years old who have not held a solo exhibition. The MADE Sculptor Competition, on the other hand, is open to all professional Filipino sculptors who have staged at least one solo exhibition.
Two Grand Prize Winners for the Painting Competition and One Grand Prize Winner for the Sculpture Competition will be chosen by a distinguished panel of judges. They will each receive a P 500,000.00 cash prize and the “Mula” glass trophy designed by visual artist and MADE winner Noel El Farrol to be awarded during Metrobank’s 56th anniversary in September. Grand Prize winners also become member of the MADE-Network of Winners (MADE-NOW), the alumni organization of past MADE awardees implementing pay-it-forward projects that benefit marginalized sectors.
Mindanao, lectures, and more
“Art MADE Public” will also visit the Mindanao region where it will display images of over 30 mosques, showcasing the anatomy of Islamic architecture and their aesthetic principles.
A lecture on the book entitled “Tropical Architecture for the 21st Century” will also be part of the line-up of activities in partnership with BluPrint magazine and the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP). Registered architects who will attend the lecture will get the Professional Regulatory Commission- Continuing Professional Development (PRC-CPD) accreditation.
Held within the National Arts Month celebration, which is February, “Art MADE Public” will run till March 21 in various cultural and academic institutions nationwide as well as in commercial spaces at the SM Supermalls. The exhibits will be followed by lectures and workshops on art, culture, and heritage.
Specific schedules are as follow: SM Aura Premier (January 25-February 2); SM City Bacolod (February 1-3); SM Seaside Cebu (February 8-10); SM Lanang Premiere, Davao City (March 1-3); SM Dasmariñas (March 8-12), and SM Manila (March 14-21).
For more details, interested participants may contact Lalaine Calicdan or Henri Palma at telephone number 898-8856; mobile number (+63) 942-559-8250; e-mail [email protected] / [email protected]; or visit MADE Competition on Facebook.
