An explosion of colors and sounds of live music are ready to fill the landscapes of the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) as it celebrates the country’s first-ever mural-centric arts festival dubbed as the Art BGC NextACT ONE Festival. Bonifacio Arts Foundation, Inc. (BAFI) and the country’s #1 mobile brand Globe Telecom are teaming up to bring the first arts and culture initiative of this size and scope in BGC.
A week-long event that brings internationally-acclaimed artists to the Philippines to paint murals across BGC’s cityscape, the Art BGC NextACT One Festival hopes to create both a unique sense of place and build an experiential atmosphere for both local residents and international visitors to BGC. The aim is to showcase the inclusive nature of public art by creating murals that can be enjoyed by the entire city of Manila as well as an international audience.
Slated from May 22 to May 30, the first ever arts festival of its kind is done in collaboration with an L.A.-based art consultancy, LeBasse Projects. LeBasse Projects are most known for their works in USA and Asia.
Their creations will come to life on the building walls of One Global Place, Bonifacio Technology Center, Icon Plaza, C1 Building Bonifacio High Street Central, The Palace Pool Club, all the way to the smaller facades of Bonifacio High Street in BGC.
Coming from a highly successful art-driven event in 2014 with the opening of its new GEN3 stores in Quezon City and Cagayan de Oro, Globe brought art closer to more people through GEN3 Next ACT, which featured live art demonstrations that featured an original mural developed by over 20 local artists in the course of 3 months. Globe now takes on an even larger fete, bringing the NextACT to a bigger community in Bonifacio Global City as part of another much-anticipated milestone that is set to revolutionize the Filipino retail experience towards end of this year.
Also making the event possible are great brands like Nyogi Coconut Water, Vans, & illest. These brands have put together a “tropical survival kit” to equip these artists from around the globe with the necessities to survive in the tropical summer of Manila.
Public festivities will begin on Saturday afternoon, May 23, with a Watching Session at the open lot on the corner of 26th Street and 5th Avenue. Projections of the mural design will illuminate the area as the artists prepare to paint to the backdrop of soulful beats.
On May 27, more art and musical experience await visitors and participants. Guests can also drop by any of the locations any time from May 24 to 30 to watch these mural artists paint non-stop and let their creativity flow out into their given spaces.
The festival, which is open to the public, will also feature pop-up restaurants and interesting art activities, including freedom wall painting, photography contests, tours, and a public film fest.
For details and updates, visit artbgc.com/one or follow BGC on www.facebook.com/bonifacioglobalcityph, twitter.com/@ExploreBGC and @bonifacioglobalcity on Instagram.
