ON AUGUST 18, the Ateneo Art Gallery (AAG) recognized the winning writers and artists of the 2019 Ateneo Art Awards (AAA) at the Suthira B. Zalamea Lobby in the Areté.
The event opened with a message from University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ, who explained that art must lead its audience towards transcendence, saying “our experience of art is an experience of ecstasy, [… of] being taken out of this stasis.”
For the past 16 years, the AAA has contributed to this artistic experience by “[giving] recognition to contemporary artists and art writers.” With over 85 submissions, the event awarded grants and prizes to two writers and five visual artists.
From four shortlisted essays, the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma (PKL) Prize jurors, which consists of editors, artists, and professors, selected two pieces for the award.
John Alexis Balaguer’s essay “Everywhere is Here: The Museum as Heterotopia in Mark Lewis Higgins’ Gold in Our Veins” received the PKL Prize in Art Criticism: Art Asia Pacific Magazine.
Meanwhile, Mariah Reodica was chosen for the PKL Prize in Art Criticism: The Philippine Star for her essay entitled “Saltwater Trajectories: Bisan Tubig Di Magbalon, and Viva Excon as Cartographer.”
Balaguer and Reodica are currently set to contribute to their award’s sponsor publications.
On the other hand, the Fernando Zóbel Prizes for Visual Art went to Costantino Zicarelli for “Years of Dust Will Build A Mountain,” Keb Cerda for “Super Nardo: False Profits,” and Archie Oclos—also the winner of this year’s People’s Choice Poll—for “Lupang Hinirang.” The artworks ranged from art installations to murals, among others.
Oclos, Zicarelli, and Cerda were also awarded eligibility for international artist residency grants funded by the Ateneo Art Gallery and its partner institutions La Trobe University in Australia, Artesan Gallery + Studio in Singapore, and Liverpool Hope University in the United Kingdom, respectively.
Isla Inip by Doktor Karayom (Winner, Embassy of Italy Purchase Prize)
For his interactive art installation “Isla Inip,” Rasel Trinidad, better known as Doktor Karayom, obtained the Embassy of Italy Purchase Prize. This award gave his piece a place at the Italian embassy’s Philippine Contemporary Art Collection.
The shortlisted artworks will be on display at the third floor of the AAG until October 27, 2019.
