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October 18, 2026 | 1:11pm
MANILA, Philippines – Before form, color, texture and volume — and way before composition of elements, brush strokes, and artistic styles even mattered — there was the line.
The basic line that started every drawing, doodle or sketch. The all-important line that defined an eye or nose in a portrait, served as foundation for a sea of cubes in an abstract painting, transformed into the adorable cartoon character in a comics strip, and created a visual representation of a heritage-inspired dress playing in the mind of a fashion designer.
With this in mind, ManilART 2026, which runs at the SMX Aura Convention Center in Taguig City from October 14 to 18, 2026, presents “Where the Line Begins” for the 18th edition of this annual event. Acknowledging the line as the fundamental language of visual art, this year’s exhibit celebrates the line as the first gesture that transforms thought into image, imagination into form, and ideas into visual reality.
This year’s event brings together galleries, artists, collectors, cultural institutions, and creative communities for five days of exhibitions and special features across the visual arts. There are more than 35 large pavilion booths featuring a roster of over 600 artists, thus giving ManilART one of its broadest presentations to date. The scale of the venue allows galleries and artists to roll out major works rarely seen in conventional settings — from huge sculptures and ambitious installations to monumental paintings and other significant pieces.
Going down to details, one of the major highlights of ManilART 2026 is its celebration of the Filipino comics tradition, where the drawn line became character, movement, humor, and story. Presented with the Seven Lakes Komiks Festival, it is supported by the Komikero Museum, the first museum of Filipino comics, which is based in San Pablo, Laguna.
The feature pays tribute to pioneering figures who shaped Philippine comics, led by National Artist Francisco V. Coching, the celebrated “Dean of Filipino Illustrators”; Mars Ravelo, creator of Darna; Gerry Alanguilan, a leading figure in the Philippine comics renaissance who championed the preservation of the country’s Golden Age of Komiks; Tony Velasquez, widely regarded as the father of Filipino comics and creator of Kenkoy; and Alfredo Alcala, whose extraordinary draftsmanship and imaginative worlds, including Voltar, earned him recognition in the Philippines and abroad. Alanguilan also founded the Komikero Komiks Museum and worked extensively to preserve the work of earlier Filipino komikeros.
Featured partner Larong Atin brings the comics tradition into contemporary play with games based on beloved Filipino characters, including Darna, Lastikman, and Combatron. Its latest project, "Encantadia: War of Gems," based on Original Filipino Intellectual Property with multi-generational following of the GMA fantasy series "Encantadia," will make its much-awaited launch at ManilART 2026.
Larong Atin has also taken Filipino game design to international fairs and markets, and co-organized the inaugural Asian Board Games Festival Philippines this 2026.
The five-day exhibit also highlights the works of the late Larry Alcala. For those who missed "Return to the Popular: Drawing the Filipino Imagination," the centennial exhibition of National Artist Larry Alcala held at the Metropolitan Theater, ManilART 2026 offers another opportunity to catch the production in a special roadshow feature, as it celebrates Alcala’s enduring contribution to Philippine popular visual culture, from his iconic Slice of Life cartoons to the distinctive characters and observations that made his work part of the Filipino visual memory.
The spotlight is also given to Maria Beatriz “Patis” Tesoro, who was recently conferred the title of National Artist for Design. She is celebrated for her lifelong work with Filipiniana fashion, indigenous textiles, and traditional craftsmanship.
At ManilART 2026, a selection of her illustrations and visual works reveals another dimension of her practice, featuring colorful Filipiniana themes rendered in a playful, naïf-inspired illustrative style.
Tesoro’s participation also coincides with the launch of a coloring book project developed with the Department of Education (DepEd), featuring her illustrations and bringing Filipino visual culture and creative expression closer to young learners. The project extends Tesoro’s continuing work of connecting cultural heritage with the next generation through art and education.
For the 18th year, ManilART Foundation is co-presenting ManilART 2026 with the City of Taguig, with the partnership expanding into a city-wide celebration as Taguig headlines its National Committee on Art Galleries and Subcommission on Cultural Heritage for Museums and Galleries Month (MGM) program. ManilART 2026 serves as a banner event of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) celebration this October.
Throughout October, a calendar of satellite exhibitions, cultural activities, and art programs around Taguig will connect the art fair with the city’s museums, galleries, cultural spaces, schools, creative communities, and other venues. In effect, it extends the ManilART experience beyond the SMX Aura Convention Center.
"ManilART 2026: Where the Line Begins" is ongoing until today, October 18, 2026.
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