Filipino Artists Turn Everyday Realities Into Powerful Works at 2026 MADE

Filipino artists brought personal experiences, social realities, and questions about human connection into focus as the Metrobank Foundation recognized the outstanding talents of the 2026 Metrobank Art & Design Excellence (MADE).

More than 600 submissions from artists across the Philippines were received this year, reflecting the breadth of contemporary Filipino creativity. The winning works explored themes ranging from perseverance and identity to power and the complex lives people experience beyond what others can see.

Three artists emerged as Grand Awardees across MADE’s major categories: Vince Martin A. Macatangay for Oil or Acrylic on Canvas, Kennette A. Luague for Mixed Media, and Aldrin B. Olaguir for Sculpture.

Macatangay’s winning painting, “Sonder: Sa Bawat Mundong ’Di Ko Matahak,” examines the realization that every person carries a life filled with relationships, ambitions, routines, and struggles that others may never completely understand. Multiple figures and movements come together in the composition, suggesting countless individual stories unfolding at the same time.

For Luague, the everyday sacrifices of Filipino workers became the inspiration for “Taya (Bet).” The mixed-media work portrays an individual surrounded by a chaotic system but continuing to move forward. Using materials such as wood and billiard cloth, Luague created a visual metaphor for risk, courage, and hope among workers striving to build better lives for their families.

Olaguir, meanwhile, challenged viewers to reconsider familiar symbols through his sculpture “Hinahalal, Binabanal (The Chosen, the Sanctified).” Beginning with the recognizable form of a holy water font, the work replaces water with a hardened formation and incorporates a crocodile figure associated with power and corruption. It raises questions about how repeated choices can eventually become normalized, justified, or even treated as sacred.

Each Grand Awardee received ₱500,000 worth of prizes, consisting of ₱350,000 in cash and a ₱150,000 scholarship to the Eskinita Art Residency Program in 2027. They also received the coveted “More” trophy, sculpted in copper by artist and 2007 MADE awardee Juan Sajid.

Special Citations were also presented to Raphael Daniel O. David for Sculpture, Richard D. Montero for Mixed Media, and Arvin C. Cantalejo Jr. and Artgiveson C. Arreglado for Oil or Acrylic on Canvas. Each received ₱100,000 and a “More” trophy.

The awardees were honored at The Metropolitan Museum of Manila (The M) on September 17, 2026, coinciding with the opening of the 2026 MADE exhibition. Running from September 18 to October 18 with free public admission, the exhibition features nearly 100 works from artists who reached the competition semifinals.