For the second time ever, the Philippines will have a pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The country’s participation in the 2015 Venice Biennale was announced by the Filipino Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Department of Tourism, in partnership with the Office of Filipino Senator Loren Legarda.
The last time the Philippines participated was during the 32nd Venice Biennale, in 1964. A US-based Fulbright Scholar and Ford Foundation fellow, Dr. Pearlie Rose S. Baluyut will curate the pavilion. According to Art Radar Asia, “Dr. Baluyut has extensively studied and researched on modern and contemporary Filipino art, and her interests include visual culture within the contexts of colonialism, nationalism, diaspora/exile, art patronage and propaganda in popular media.”
A panel of five art professionals will choose artists whose work aligns with the curatorial theme. Neither jurors nor artists have been chosen, but the DFA has issued an open call for Filipino artists.