Written by Angelie Yu | Photo by Belha Puso
The University of the Philippines Cebu joins the Tubô Cebu Art Fair in its ninth-year run of expanding the space for Cebuano art. This year, the fair centers on resonance and hinges on allowing art to echo the community’s collective experiences across different generations. Through the involvement of its faculty and students, the University of the Philippines Cebu demonstrates its place in and service to Cebu’s art scene.
For Enric Callangan, one of the creative hands behind Tubô’s Image of the Fair and a UP Cebu Fine Arts Program alumnus, the growth of the Cebuano art scene rests on keeping the space open. Callangan hopes to see a more empowered new generation of Cebuano artists given the space to develop their own visual languages and find their place within a scene that continues to evolve.
The growing participation of young, emerging artists reflects Tubô’s continued endeavor to cultivate an art community that will always have room for new artists. At the University of the Philippines Cebu, this culture of openness is familiar and is reflected in Joya Gallery, the student-run gallery of the University of the Philippines Cebu’s College of Communication, Art and Design (CCAD).
At this year’s Tubô, the Joya Gallery booth brought together the creativity of the three winners of the 49th Joya Awards, Phil Angelo Sevilla, Yohan Ungria, and Ian Bless Miguel Gilbolingo, alongside seven finalists, Jasper Villacin, Rhou Ann Lopez, Dorothy Ouna, Vince Tesing, Samantha Nicole Sanchez, Dwayne Canoy, and Germie Tub. As a collective, their works offer a portrait of a new generation of artists finding its footing in Cebu’s art scene, each bringing their own distinct artistic language from the experiences of their own generation.
When asked for his hopes for the Cebuano art scene, UP Cebu faculty member and this year’s Tubô Cebu Art Fair chief curator, Assistant Professor Jay Nathan Jore, distills it in one word: sustainability.
For Jore, sustainability extends to ensuring the Cebuano art scene’s enduring growth through building a community that carries the art scene beyond a niche audience or the marketplace. Creating spaces where artists, collectors, aficionados, and the curious public can seamlessly connect, the Tubô chief curator says, is inseparable from the flourishing of Cebuano art.
This vision of Tubô Cebu Art Fair resonates with the University of the Philippines Cebu. Home to the oldest tertiary Fine Arts Program in the Visayas, the university carries a half-century-long commitment to nurturing the region’s creative community. The University of the Philippines Cebu continues to provide a space for emerging artists to find their artistic footing, established artists to share and pass on their knowledge, and students and its members to explore their local identity through arts and culture education.