Seven Lakes Komiks Festival at ManilART'26
ManilART’26 expands its reach through Taguig partnership, satellite exhibitions | From its partnership with Taguig City to partner events and satellite exhibitions outside Metro Manila, ManilART’26 expands the ways audiences can experience Philippine art.
TAGUIG CITY — ManilART’26 expands its engagement with the arts community through a co-presentation with the City of Taguig, bringing the city’s artists and cultural initiatives into the annual art fair. The collaboration is part of a wider network of exhibitions and cultural activities that extends the experience of art beyond the main venue.
The 18th edition of ManilART runs from October 14 to 18 at the SMX Aura Convention Center in Taguig City. With the theme Where the Line Begins, the fair brings together galleries, artists, and collectors, alongside exhibitions, workshops, talks, and educational activities. Partner events and satellite exhibitions offer further opportunities to encounter art during National Museums and Galleries Month.
Taguig takes the spotlight
The Taguig Pavilion presents visual artists from the city alongside initiatives highlighting Taguig’s efforts to support the arts and cultural sector. It places local creative practice within the wider gathering of galleries and artists at ManilART while connecting the fair to its host city.
The partnership also focuses on a strong educational component. Approximately 1,000 Taguig public school students are expected to take walking tours of the fair. Other school groups may also book tours in advance by contacting the art fair Secretariat.
A teacher-training workshop will bring together Taguig MAPE trainors and teachers, supporting arts education in the city’s schools. Through the pavilion and these educational activities, the partnership connects the fair with local artists, educators, and students.
Highlights at the fair
The ManilART Lounge features pocket exhibits devoted to Larry Alcala and Patis Tesoro, offering visitors a glimpse into two distinct contributions to Filipino culture.
Alcala, National Artist for Visual Arts, is remembered for his illustrations and comics, especially his keen observations of everyday Filipino life and his ability to turn familiar experiences into visual narratives. His work highlights the enduring place of illustration in the country’s artistic landscape.
Tesoro, newly proclaimed National Artist for Design, is known for her work in fashion, textiles, and the interpretation of Filipino cultural heritage through design. Her practice also encompasses drawing and illustration, reflecting interests that span materials, techniques, and forms of expression.
On October 17, the Department of Education will present a special reception honoring Tesoro. The program will include the unveiling of a collaborative coloring book project, created as the artist’s legacy to future learners.
Filipino komiks, games, and audience participation
The Seven Lakes Komiks Festival and Komikero Komiks Museum bring the history and continuing development of Filipino comics to the ManilART stage through Komiks from Then and Now. The program features talks on the legacy of Mars Ravelo and komiks history, a panel discussion with representatives of estates of comics pioneers including National Artist Francisco Coching et al, and readings of works including Puno’t Dulo, Windmills, Puso Negro, and School Run. Together, these activities explore komiks’ influence on popular culture and its evolution across generations of creators.
The fair also brings art and play together through Larong Atin, a board-game design studio whose games highlight the cultural significance of Filipino traditional gameplay and its creative possibilities. Open play game sessions invite visitors to explore familiar forms of recreation as spaces for storytelling, imagination, and shared experience. Its much-anticipated Encantadia board game, based on the television series, will launch at the fair on October 18.
In AU NATUREL, artist Gromyko Semper turns audience suggestions into a live drawing performance. Visitors write prompts on paper for Semper to interpret through drawing. Described as a form of “Aesthetic Intelligence,” the performance playfully recasts artificial intelligence as a human creative process shaped by memory, experience, instinct, and hand.
Other activities include a pastel workshop at Quatro Arts, on-the-spot sketching, and book talks. The full calendar of activities will be announced through ManilART’s social media channels.
Art in situ: Beyond the fairgrounds
While ManilART brings a range of artistic practices together under one roof, partner exhibitions extend the experience to other places and communities, where art is shaped by local histories, creative networks, and cultural contexts.
The San Pablo Art Circuit brings together 13 member venues for Artstravaganza 26. Participating spaces include Patis Tesoro’s Verbena Gallery, Ugu Bigyan’s Pottery Studio, and Villa Escudero Museum, connecting audiences with a wider network of art, craft, and cultural heritage venues within and around the Makiling-Banahaw (MakBan) corridor.
At the House Legislative Museum in Batasan, Unified Spectrum is a ManilART partner exhibition and part of the kickoff of National Museums and Galleries Month, bringing the celebration of the arts into a national institutional setting.
In Rizal, Alab ng Sining, featuring the Starry Starry Group, runs at Angkla Art Gallery from October 10 to November 30. The exhibition offers another opportunity to encounter Filipino artists in their local setting.
The Cavite Art Fair 2026 takes place October 20–22 at the New Provincial Government Center in Trece Martires City, extending the wider calendar of art events into the latter part of Museums and Galleries Month.
ManilART’26 is co-presented by the ManilART Foundation and the City of Taguig as a banner event of National Museums and Galleries Month, with support from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Ladder Events Production, Vision Prime Media, Phoundry, SMX Convention Center Aura, SM Aura, Via Mare Catering, Purefoods Deli, Grentek Solutions, Quatro Arts, Art Caravan, Ticketbooth.ph, Museo Orlina, DB Coffee Roasters, Sebastiao Cocktails, Jade’s Temple Brewery, and BDO Credit Cards. Media partners include Inquirer.net, POP, Alike Media, The Manila Times, Manila Standard, Manila Bulletin, WhenInManila.com, BusinessMirror, HueTV, Experience Travel and Living, and Negosentro Media.
Visit ManilART’26 from October 14 to 18 at the SMX Aura Convention Center, Taguig City. Tickets are available through Ticketbooth.ph. For group bookings and school tours, email manilartsecretariat@gmail.com. For announcements, schedules, and updates on activities and partner events, follow ManilART on its social media channels.
