DAVAO CITY—The annual Museums and Galleries Month was launched October 1 in Davao City at the 2024 Mindanao Art Fair inside SM Lanang.
This year’s Museum and Galleries Month carries the theme Honoring Traditions, Fostering Innovations which encapsulates the delicate balance of preserving the past and shaping the future.
With the theme, the public is invited to explore how traditional knowledge, practices, and values can be reinterpreted and applied to face contemporary challenges.
Teresa Rayos del Sol, head of the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) National Committee on Art Galleries in her speech at the national opening underscored the importance of museums and galleries.
“We value the creations of the mind and galleries offer a rich encounter through the many workshops, talks, performances and social events to create a sense of community and connection, enriching the lives of the artist and reducing social tension and isolation,” del Sol said.
She said the NCAG after the establishment of the Manila Art Fair, the committee thought of reaching out to Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
“Your NCAG has thought of covering the three major islands. We believe that there are more of you creatives that need to be tapped,” del Sol said.
Mindanao Art Fair or MinArt which hosted this year’s national launching of the NMG is the biggest art exhibit in Mindanao and featured over a thousand artworks from artists and galleries across the region. It is one of the flagship art fairs in the country during NMG; these included the ManilART, Luzon Art Fair, Tam-Awan International Arts Festival (Baguio City) and Visayas Art Fair.
The NMG is observed every month of October by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 798 s. 1991. It underscores the importance of arousing national consciousness and pride in our well-established and preserved Filipino culture and heritage that embodies the aspirations of the nation. (PIA/RGA)
