Around a dozen young Filipino artists and gallery owners participated in this year’s edition in Hong Kong of a leading international contemporary art fair at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 18-20 May 2018.

The sixth edition in Hong Kong of Affordable Art Fair, one of 13 such fairs organized in 9 countries in Europe, Asia and North America, showcased artworks priced at HK$1,000 to HK$100,000 from three galleries run or exhibiting works by Filipinos: Kambal Gallery and Floren Gallery in Hong Kong and Buenaventura Art Gallery in Bangkok.

During the pre-opening event on 17 May 2018, Consul General Antonio A. Morales praised the artists and gallery owners for demonstrating the best of Filipino young talent in the annual event. 

In particular, mixed media sculptor Ram Mallari Jr. was recognized as one of 12 outstanding new artists exhibiting at the 115 local and international galleries participating at the Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong 2018.

Mallari’s work was featured in the booth of Kambal Gallery, whose owners, twin sisters Irene Bernarte Haagen and Anna Bernarte Pendry, introduced Consul General Morales to the pieces of artists Rovi Jesher Salegumba, Sam Penaso, Salvador J. Ching, Buds Convocar, Norlie Meimban and Jojo Ramirez.

Floren Gallery featured Iloilo-based surrealist painter Cezar Arro. The gallery, run by artist and art restoration expert Florencio Caintic, specializes in “innovative emerging Filipino art” on the historic Po Hing Fong street in Sheung Wan in Hong Kong’s Central District.

Buenaventura Art Gallery is owned by self-taught abstract artist Adeline Buenaventura, who has worked in Paris and Antibes, France before settling in Bangkok.

Apart from the yearly event in Hong Kong, the Affordable Art Fair, which was launched in London’s Battersea Park in October 1999, holds a triannual event in London, biannual events in New York, and annual events in Amsterdam, Singapore, Brussels, Hamburg, Milan, Stockholm and Bristol.