Art is everywhere. It takes various forms, kindles all the senses, evokes different emotions, and spurs great ideas. We live and breathe it every day, and even love it to the point of wanting it. Art then becomes an investment, from creating emotional connection to realizing its worth, its market value—from making it a part of your life to turning it into an asset. And when the opportunity to invest in the works of well-known or budding artists presents itself, this can easily entice collectors to waste no time in buying what they like.

“Art is personal. When you decide to purchase art, you must buy art that speaks to you, or reflects what you want,” said Cathy Santamaria, BPI SVP and Chief Marketing Officer said. With Art Fair Philippines 2019 just around the corner—which is the country’s premier platform for exhibiting and selling the best in modern and contemporary visual art—BPI advises potential art investors to keep in mind a few tips so they don’t commit mistakes. “As with anything that involves putting your money in, you need to know the art itself – the artist, his skills, and his style,” she added.

Santamaria shared that art can be a part of anyone’s investment portfolio, which typically includes properties, bonds, stocks, mutual funds, or UITFs (unit investment trust funds). However, making art as investment doesn’t end with the actual purchasing of an artwork. She also recommends art investors to consider insuring an art piece, for security and piece of mind. “In the future, you may choose to sell it, or pass it on to future family generations,” Santamaria noted.

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Interactive Art

Promoting art and its value as an investment, BPI partnered with some of the galleries at Art Fair Philippines, wherein credit card users can purchase art pieces using their cards. This makes purchasing artworks in the fair convenient and much more secure. BPI is also presenting the work of internationally-acclaimed Filipino artist David Medalla to the Art Fair. 

Now on its seventh year, the Art Fair, together with BPI, will present a new iteration of ‘A Stitch in Time,’ the first in David Medalla’s series of participatory works. He will give his audiences the opportunity to participate in the making of the piece by allowing them to stitch a trace of themselves onto a huge swathe of canvas. Medalla’s artwork, which was conceptualized in 1968, will be placed at the fair’s central exhibit space. David Medalla, who resides and works in London and Berlin, is recognized as a significant contributor to the development of installation, kinetic, and participatory art. His works usually contradict the concept of a solid, timeless, and monumental sculpture, and instead creates objects that constantly change in form and can never be repeated.

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With BPI’s participation in the Art Fair, Santamaria said “Other than creating awareness on art as an investment, we hope to create awareness of art in its various forms, and appreciate the effort and process that go with every piece, especially considering that art is a wise investment, "We want to start with our clients as we help them see art not only as a thing of beauty, but also as an investment. We believe investing in art can be part of increasing one’s assets if done right.”

She added, “And once the art piece has been purchased, there are a handful of trusted insurance providers such as BPI/MS Insurance, which you can turn as your partner in safeguardingthose masterpieces that can be considered as assets.”

As part of the partnership with Art Fair Philippines, BPI Gold and Platinum cardholders will also enjoy free entrance to the three-day event. Cardholders will simply present their card at the Reception. Aside from Medalla’s masterpiece, ArtFairPH will also feature ‘Step on the Sand and Make Footprints,’ an award-winning installation by legendary CCP curator Ray Albano, prints and drawings by Malang Santos, and Liv Vinluan’s ‘NungGambalain Yung Sayawan.’

Other artists for the ArtFairPH/Projects include Ryan Villamael (Behold a City), Oca Villamiel (Cheap Medicine), Ian Fabro (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso), Christina Quisumbing Ramilo (Forest for the Trees), Olivia d’Aboville (Everything, Everywhere, Everyone), and MM Yu (Subject/Object).

To get a glimpse of Philippine Tatler's coverage of the exclusive preview of the fair, watch this video: 

Art Fair Philippines will run from February 22 to 24 at The Link in Ayala Center, Makati City. As one of the biggest and most anticipated art events in the country, it continues to represent the country’s vibrant local art scene and helps Filipino visual artists to generate support and reach a wider audience.

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