Since 2004, the Ateneo Art Gallery has hosted an annual awards ceremony that celebrates emerging Filipino artists. Through sponsored exhibitions, residencies, and community programs, the Ateneo Art Awards has honored past winners by helping boost their careers in the country’s creative scene. This year, seven more artists have joined the ranks of esteemed awardees.
For the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prizes in Art Criticism — which recognize writers for their scholarly research and thoughtful engagement with the arts — three recipients were awarded for their responses to this year’s theme, “Flight.” In the English category, Bea Belen-Ferrer was honored for her essay, “In Between Flight and Fallout: What Would Postwar Modernists Do?” Along with the prize, Belen-Ferrer was the recipient of both the Orange Project Naranja Residency Grant in Bacolod and the Indeks Residency Grant in Indonesia. In the same category, Pie Tiausas was awarded for her essay, “The internet is a space for the lonely.” In the prize’s Filipino category, Emersan Baldemor was awarded the White House grant in Zambales for his essay “Hindi Lahat ng Umaangat ay Naalala: Si Tandang Ano at ang Politikang Estetiko ng Paglimot.”
The Fernando Zóbel Prizes for Visual Art, which spotlight outstanding Filipino contemporary artists under the age of 36, recognized four winners. Uri de Ger’s exhibit Beauty is in the Eye of the Colonizer earned the No Space Residency Grant in Baguio. Silke Lapina’s Bakit Pa was awarded both the Project Space Pilipinas Residency Grant in Quezon and the La Trobe University – La Trobe Art Institute Residency in Australia. Jel Suarez’s As I Lift One Stone garnered five separate residency grants, while Hannah Reyes Morales’ Home Holds Still received the ABungalow Residency Grant in Talisay. Additionally, Morales was the recipient of the Embassy of Italy Purchase Prize.
An exhibition displaying the works of both winning artists and writers, as well as works from shortlisted exhibitions and essays, is currently open to the public at the Ateneo Art Gallery until December 7.
