Jaehwa Bernardo

Auction of an artwork at Tops ArtFest 2025. Handout

Article (news)

Over 300 artists to join Tops ArtFest 2026 in Cebu this October

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786852503506TAF 2025 Auction Photo.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Auction of an artwork at Tops ArtFest 2025. Handout</div>More than 300 artists are expected to participate in a four-day art festival in Cebu City this October.The Tops ArtFest 2026 will be held from October 22 to 25 as a &quot;celebration of art, creativity, and ideas,&quot; organizers said in a press statement.This year&#x27;s theme is &quot;Building and Breaking Norms,&quot; which &quot;invites audiences to look at the world around them with fresh eyes.&quot;&quot;It is about the things we inherit, the traditions and ideas we choose to carry forward, the conventions we dare to challenge, and the possibilities that emerge when we are willing to see things differently,&quot; organizers said of the theme.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1786852483944TAF 2026 Official Poster.jpg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div>The event involves exhibits, installations and performances. The festival&#x27;s main artists this year are Junyee, hailed as a pioneer of installation art in the country, and painter Nune Alvarado, known for incorporating social activism into his work.They will be joined by other prominent artists such as Ronald Ventura, Romulo Galicano, Demi Padua, Charlie Co, Randalf Dilla and Dino Gabito.&quot;Some works may feel familiar. Others may challenge what audiences expect art to be. Some may invite quiet reflection, while others may encourage conversation, surprise, or even a little discomfort. And that is part of the point,&quot; said festival director Lorenzo Miguel Dino.&quot;At Tops ArtFest 2026, we believe that art does not have to give us all the answers. Sometimes, it simply gives us a new question. Sometimes, it helps us see something we thought we already knew in an entirely different way,&quot; Dino added.

More than 300 artists are expected to participate in a four-day art festival in Cebu City this October.

More than 300 artists are expected to participate in a four-day art festival in Cebu City this October.