Latest news with #MariecarJara-Puyod
Gulf Today
27-05-2025
- Business
- Gulf Today
Philippine delegation presents its ‘Handcrafted for the World'
Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter Following a six-year hiatus resulting from the constricting Novel Coronavirus 2020, a delegation of Filipino furniture, furnishings and fashion designers are participating at the ongoing 'Index Interior Design & Furniture Exhibition' in Dubai World Trade Centre. Through the theme 'Handcrafted for the World' that pronounces the Philippines as the place to be for the sought-after enduring strength of craftsmanship and quaint-yet-universal creativity of handmade products, the participation of the 10 enterprises, is the answer of the Department of Trade and Industry-Centre for International Trade and Expositions and Missions (DTI-CITEM) to the interest of three of the largest organisations of furniture manufacturers to 'return to Index.' DTI-CITEM-Service Business Department manager Marjo Evio, from the inauguration of the DESIGNPhilippines' 90-square metre pavilion on Tuesday, told Gulf Today that it was some time in 2024 when the 'largest of furniture manufacturers in Manila, Pampanga and Cebu paid a courtesy call' to the then newly-appointed DTI-CITEM executive director Romleah Juliet Pulido Ocampo. Among the discussed were the international trade fairs the group may participate in. One is the Index; the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 'being lucrative and promising, and all the contract hospitality taking place.' Second time pavilion curator from 2019, Ito Kish, himself a Metro Manila furniture designer-manufacturer/visual merchandiser since 2012, described the delegation composition - seven in furniture from Manila and the Central Luzon provinces of Tarlac, Bulacan, and Pampanga, two in fashion, one in home accessories, and another in components - as 'a mix of different styles. It is important that each company bears its own identity.' The thrust is for the world to know that as Filipino furniture and furnishing designers, such as Kenneth Cobonpue, have penetrated barriers - having been featured many times over in internationally glossy magazines - the Philippines and Filipino artisans - with the confluence of the diversity of indigenous tribes among Spanish, American, Asian and Arabic persuasions - have been behind numerous aesthetically-designed hand made products. 'These are our two selling points. So every piece is going to be different from the other even if of the same item. We are a hand-crafted country. Our edge is that what we produce is always by hand. Everything that we produce from all the natural and raw materials, including the waters that surround us is special,' said Kish, adding that based on his experience at the 'Manila FAME' since 2012, skilled Filipino furniture, furnishings and fashion/accessories workers deliver, as the world demands. Began in 1983, Manila FAME, the home, fashion, and lifestyle trade show, is one of two oldest trade fairs in Asia. First-time international trade participant half-Bahraini Arksmith chairwoman Ruwa-ina Al Qaseer-Del Rosario, born-and raised in the Philippines, thought she was a minimalist. Until reading 'Maximalist' by Indonesian Lufti Hassan: 'I realised that I am not, with my Middle Eastern and Filipino roots. We are a proud nation. We have a very rich culture. Bright and colourful. We are not definitely black and white. Definitely not plain and simple. We are loud and proud. Ornate and detailed.' Citing that all featured at the pavilion are hand-crafted with Philippine-sourced materials, the licensed interior designer/furniture maker, also said: 'With all the issues on tariffs and it is difficult to compete with China in terms of mass production. We cannot commit to mass production. That is not us.' 'What we lack in capacity, we can show with our craftsmanship, with our Filipino identity. Statement pieces,' Al Qaseer-Del Rosario continued. Total market value of the interior and design and furniture sector in the MENA is projected to be at $10.35 billion by 2029. Philippine Embassy-Abu Dhabi Charge d' Affaires Arvic Arevalo, Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Marford Angeles, Philippine Consulate General-Assistance-to-Nationals Vice Consul Aleah Marie Gica, and Middle East Trade Attache Vichael Angelo Roaring inaugurated the pavilion.
Gulf Today
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
Philippine Pavilion unveiled at World Art Dubai 2025
Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter Inspired by a space through which colour nor creed pollutes; where hollowness dissipates; and the nurture for even the lowliest and the humblest births; 45 visual artists - from a variety of backgrounds and orientations -- have come together to the UAE for the landmark Philippine Pavilion at the 'World Art Dubai (WAD) 2025.' 'It is a privilege to be among the chosen at an international platform for those who have made it,' said Kolor Han Biswal Art Nga Waraynon (Leyte Province) founder mixed artist Dante Enage. He described youngest member, surrealist Keenan Garrido, 21, second-time exhibitor, 'a fast learner.' Describing the Philippine arts market as 'excellent' whereby primera clase connoisseurs 'are very supportive of the local talent,' Ouvre Gallerie (Metro Manila) curator of 13 multi-awarded artists Mariya Anna Mata, fashion designer-cum-third generation artist, had eyed Dubai as the next stop after her first international market try in Jakarta because 'Michael Cinco is an inspiration and every opportunity spells success.' 'The exhibition ignites my passion to share stories of my personal journey and the Philippine cultural heritage,' said long-time UAE resident, Susan Villanueva de Guzman. Her Higher Colleges of Technology Art & Design mentees have qualified for the Emirates Skills-GCC Skills-World Skills Asia-World Skills International technical and vocational skills competitions. UAE-based friends of third culture Italy-born 'Kayumanggi' series acrylic painter, Kath Magpantay, encouraged her to try her luck at the largest contemporary/pop/fashion art fair in the Middle East and North Africa. She, who has found herself interpreting her own poetry of the 'Brown Filipina,' was overjoyed: 'Good thing the jury selected me.' Profuse expressions of gratitude too, to the leader of the band, Carlo Garrido, art collector of the unsophisticated to the most brain-piercing, since his 2005 UAE residency, that spawned the establishment of his own Dubai-based art studio, Spectro Lucid, leading to the WAD 2024 engagement. Garrido was the 'lone Filipino gallery.' Independent exhibitor was Filipina contemporary artist Gene Villasper, famous for her cubist and surrealist interpretations of women. 'I was truly amazed at the pavilions of other countries. I felt that our country was very under-represented,' said the businessman-psychologist, adding that the six-figure UAE Dirham sale of the 4 feet by 5 feet 'First Steampunk Rebellion' in oil - the Philippine Arts Awards 2018-Metro Manila first prize - by Cavite-Province-based surrealist Nestor Perez Ong, was another sign for the Philippine Pavilion 2025. For the historic unified Philippine representation, centerpiece is the 5 feet X 9 feet oil on wood and canvas 'Pecto's Inferno,' akin to the Italian narrative poem, 'Dante's Inferno,' and the seven-layered hell. Except that it has clowders of cats, illustrative of the 'main artist' Ong, who lives with 12 cats. The art work, which Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso Ferdinand Ver and Ong's Sharjah resident eldest, Nigel, unveiled during the April 16 'VIP Night,' was completed within six months and 6,000 hours, with the assistance of five engineers. Count in the artistic contributions of Garrido, himself an artist, and that of nurse/University of the Philippines-Diliman Campus (Quezon City) Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture student, Ding 'Dingroy' Royales, recognised for his 'vivid, mural-sized works' at the Manila Ocean Park (Manila) and Santuario de San Pedro Bautista (Quezon City), among other public areas in his motherland. MENSA International member Ong who used to be a regional art director in Dubai is the 'the lead and primary focal artist in Spectro Lucid, so-called because this art gallery is home to the neuro-divergent and those in the autism spectrum, including myself,' according to Garrido. Inclusivity and universal appeal determined the over 45 Filipino obras, also from the USA and Canada. Dive into the coloured pencil 'Through My Eyes, The World Dances' panoramas of Filipino-Swiss non-verbal autism spectrum young man, Thierry Bouvard, who begins his well-defined impressions of his surroundings, from one corner of his canvas sans the aid of instruments. Architecture graduate contemporary artist-gallery owner Ombok Villamor, who once manufactured side cars for survival in Samar Province, brought with him two of his metal undersea-inspired sculptures.
