Whether it’s a date with your significant other, a bonding day with your best friends and family, or just some quality alone time now that you’re on break, a trip to an art gallery to immerse yourself in some thought-provoking pieces is always a fulfilling adventure. What’s also great next to supporting the artists and curators is that most of these galleries have free entrance fees! Check them out:
Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery
2241 Pasillo 18
La Fuerza Compound 1
Chino Roces Ave., Makati
Open Tuesday to Saturday, 12PM to 7PM.
As an art gallery dedicated to showcasing “modern-day pop culture artists,” Vinyl on Vinyl aims to feature a “distinct perspective on South East Asian Art” as well as other overshadowed genres. With its wisely-occupied two-floor gallery, expect works that are outside the conventional art forms, as the gallery exactly promises that.
UP Vargas Museum
Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City
Open Tuesdays to Saturdays (excluding Holidays), 9AM to 5PM.
You can hit two birds with one stone by going to the Vargas Museum, where a detour around the UP-Diliman campus (especially the renowned Sunken Garden) after looking around the museum can be a perfect day for you and your company. The Permanent Exhibitions is currently closed for some renovation, but various exhibitions like Vargas x Met is still ongoing until July.
Finale Art File
Warehouse 17, La Fuerza Compound (Gate 1),
2241 Chino Roces Ave., Makati City,
Philippines
Open Monday to Saturday, 10AM to 7PM.
Neatly tucked inside the La Fuerza compound in Makati, Finale Art File houses a Tall Gallery, an Upstairs Gallery, and a Video Room. Featured artists this June are Abi Dionisio, Carina Santos, and David Viray. The gallery also has a library and storeroom where you can look through portfolios of various artworks.
Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD)
Ground Floor, Benilde School of Design and Arts Campus
Dominga, Malate, Maynila, 1004 Kalakhang Maynila
Open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am to 6pm, and Sundays, 10am to 2pm
As a part of the community of the wildly talented artists of College of Saint Benilde’s School of Design and Arts, MCAD exhibits contemporary art “with a focus on Manila, Philippines as context.” You may also consider going on a Happy T adventure in Taft with your friends after some art viewing, as MCAD is just a street away from the area.
Ateneo Art Gallery
Arts Wing, Areté
Ateneo de Manila University
Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights
Quezon City, Manila, Philippines 1108
Open Tuesdays to Saturdays 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Sundays 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Located in the newly opened “creative hub” of the Ateneo, Areté, Ateneo Art Gallery is currently exhibiting “LOVE IT AND LEAVE IT: A Legacy of Gifts to the Ateneo Art Gallery,” as well as other exhibitions until January 2019. Ateneo Art Gallery is also known for their Artist Talks, so make sure to check out their website for the schedule. If you’re lucky enough to catch the ISO cafeteria open, do try out the famous sisig that students have been raving about for years.
Provenance Gallery of Modern Art
Shangri-La at the Fort
2nd Floor
Main entrance 30th Street, corner 5th Avenue
Open daily, 9AM to 9PM.
The Provenance is the gallery just inside the beautiful Shangri-La at The Fort. With new exhibits almost every month aimed to promote the best of our art scene, The Provenance definitely earned its title of “an art lover’s dream.” As the gallery is located in the heart of Bonifacio Global City, lunch or dinner in various restaurants around the area or the famous night market Mercato Centrale is a must.
Bonus: The National Museum
What’s better than these six galleries is, of course, our very own National Museum. With three different branches to boast Filipino painting, sculptures, and archaeology—the National Art Gallery, Museum of the Filipino People, Planetarium, and the Regional Museums—you are given a refresher to some of the best art that the country has produced, like Juan Luna’s Spoliarium. Also, don’t miss the opportunity to drop by the newly opened National Museum of National History! InqPOP!/Bea Constantino
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