Back in 2018, I boarded a plane and went to Manila to attend Art Fair Philippines. It's the biggest Art Fair in the country where a parking building was turned into a venue for galleries to exhibit works from top artists. The top galleries, artists, collectors were there, as long as art enthusiasts and students. It happens every year and from what I remember, this one (2018) lasted about 3 or 4 days.

As an artist based in Mindanao, it's pretty hard to get exposure and connections to the Manila art scene given the obvious distance and there's just really not much galleries that exist here. That said, it's pretty hard to 'penetrate' the Manila art scene unless you start basing in Manila.

When I went there, the place was pretty CROWDED. It's full of guests that they have to limit your ticket for around 3 hours each. If you want to be there the whole day, you have to purchase multiple tickets. So you can already imagine how big this is and how much exposure an artist can get with just this event.

I dreamed of joining Art Fair but was quite impossible that time as I had no idea how to do it. I wasn't pushing it either as I took my 2 year hiatus in the art scene and just started doing Hive (Steem back then) stuff where I found friends and incredible support.

At that time, it was just a dream that I wanted to be a part of one day.

Fast forward to 2021

Art Fair NFT

_{Screenshot taken from Art Fair Philippines' website.
https://artfairphilippines.com/how-to-access-decentraland/}

This year is really just incredible.

With the rise of NFT popularity and with the current pandemic, Art Fair decided to have their show online (with satellite exhibitions in galleries). Their main focus this year is NFTs and the Metaverse.

I was pretty stoked when Narra Gallery reached out to me to invite me to make the commemorative NFT of the fair. You can just imagine my excitement lol. I was really truly honored to be making the very first Art Fair PH NFT.

I recommend you to visit the site btw, so you'll get a chance to win this NFT!
https://artfairphilippines.com/how-to-access-decentraland/

First national talk

_{Screenshot taken from Art Fair Philippines' website.
https://artfairphilippines.com/category/projects/}

I also was able to talk in front of the fair's audience via Zoom the other day. I was really nervous because it's my first national talk but it went really well. I was with other Filipino artists xlvrbk, Shelly Soneja, and Narra Gallery owner/curator Gabby Dizon and Tropical Futures curator Chris Fussner.

_{Photo during the talk. It's the best that I got, sorry XD}

It was definitely an amazing experience. Even though I was nervous at first, that feeling immediately went away as I became comfy as there wasn't like a spotlight in each of us haha and you just answer questions.

Was also glad there were plenty of questions from the audience. I'm glad more and more people are getting interested in NFTs and were very curious about our experiences. I'm happy they learned something.

NFT Showcase at Narra Gallery

_{My avatar in Narra Gallery, Decentraland.}

Narra Gallery also exhibited a bunch of Filipino works in Decentraland. You can visit to see the works here: https://play.decentraland.org/?position=93%2C-36

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I'm really happy that two of the worlds, the traditional (physical) and digital (metaverse), are now merging together. Years ago, we (digital artists and crypto enthusiasts) were seen as outsiders, "nerds", and being excluded in general as most believe we aren't dealing with a "real thing".

Now that their attention and interest is slowly turning towards the space, we will do our best to introduce them to the concept of decentralization, ownership, transparency, etc.

Most think this is still a fad, but soon enough they'll understand the concept and the importance of crypto in general. In the next few years, we will see NFTs (not just art) being used widely.