Celebrating Women in Print: ILOMOCA’s Print Festival 2023

October 7, 2023

ILOILO CITY – As part of the National Museums and Galleries Month festivities, the Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Arts (ILOMOCA) in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is unveiling three captivating exhibits under the banner “Proven and Printed: ILOMOCA Print Festival 2023.” The focus? Celebrating the profound impact of female artists in the realm of printmaking.

Museum director Maricel Montero emphasized the significant role women have undertaken in nurturing and expanding printmaking as an art form. Montero envisions ILOMOCA, distinguished as the inaugural museum championing modern and contemporary arts from Visayas and Mindanao, to emerge as a pivotal space for printmaking’s evolution and appreciation.

“Through this festival, we aim to enlighten the community on the intricacies of printmaking and emphasize the pivotal role Filipina artists play in its flourishing landscape,” Montero shared during the exhibit’s unveiling.

Echoing this sentiment, Dennis Marasigan, CCP’s artistic director and also the chairperson for the CCP Gender and Development Committee, expressed his pride in highlighting the contributions of women in printmaking. He commented on the remarkable involvement of female artists in establishing the Association of Pinoy Printmakers and how their distinctive artistic flair enriches the appreciation of this art form.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York defines printmaking as the art of transposing designs from a source medium (like wood, metal, or glass) onto another, typically paper or fabric. The MET elaborates, “While traditional techniques encompass woodcut, etching, engraving, and lithography, contemporary artists have incorporated methods such as screen printing. One of the printmaking’s allure is its ability to produce multiple replicates from a single source, except for monotypes.”

Of the three showcased exhibits, “Potential, Potency, and Women Printmakers” will be on display till March 2024. It offers a curated array from the CCP’s 21st Century Art Museum’s collection spotlighting female artists, orchestrated by Con Cabrera. “Bakas/Filipina Imprints” will grace the Hulot Gallery till January 2024 with Marika Constantino and Georgina Luisa Jocson at its curatorial helm. Lastly, “Print Exchange” spearheaded by Angela Silva will be viewable until December.

Marasigan articulated the CCP’s enthusiasm for this collaborative venture with ILOMOCA, noting, “We’re extending beyond the CCP confines and branching out nationwide. Partnering with ILOMOCA enables us to make these artistic treasures more accessible to a wider audience.”

For additional information and further reading, refer to the original article here.