CALL FOR ENTRIES: Ateneo Art Gallery - Marciano Galang Acquisition Prize and Exhibition (Works on Paper)

With the global health crisis in full swing, the cancellation of exhibitions and programs by museums and galleries have caused artists to lose economic stability. In solidarity with the Filipino community affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the Ateneo Art Gallery, with support from the Embassy of Italy, has organized the Ateneo Art Gallery - Marciano Galang Acquisition Prize Program to support artists that have been affected by the crisis.

This Acquisition Prize Program honors Marciano Galang (1945 - 2001), whose 1964 assemblage Cavite was the first work acquired through Fernando Zóbel’s Purchase Fund. The Purchase Fund was conceived in 1965 in line with Zóbel’s mission to build and strengthen the Ateneo Art Gallery’s contemporary art collection by funding the acquisition of new works by Filipino artists. With the help of Emmanuel Torres, then-curator of the AAG, the Purchase Fund became instrumental in the museum’s acquisition of social realist and contemporary works.

With the theme centered on COVID-19, artists are encouraged to submit works on paper which reflect the turmoils, struggles, initiatives made, and hopes during these trying times.

The Embassy of Italy, through Ambassador Giorgio Guglielmino, extends its support for this program by acquiring two (2) additional artworks for the Embassy’s growing collection of Philippine contemporary art.

The Ateneo Art Gallery, with support from The Embassy of Italy, hopes to extend assistance to the artist community in its capacity as a university museum and highlight the Filipino’s creativity, strength, and resiliency during these uncertain times.

PROGRAM MECHANICS AND GUIDELINES

I. ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTICIPATION

1. This Program is open to all Filipino citizens who are at least 18 years old and above. Entrants who are 17 years old must be 18 years old by June 14, 2020 in order to be eligible to participate.
2. No participation fee is required for this Program.
3. Entrants participating may provide a scanned copy of their valid government-issued document (such as, but not limited to: birth certificate, driver’s license, passport) as proof of age, citizenship, and residency upon submission of entries.
4. Employees of the Ateneo Art Gallery, the Ateneo de Manila University, and their affiliates involved in the implementation of the competition are not eligible to participate in the Program.

II. REQUIREMENTS & ELIGIBILITY OF ENTRIES

1. The artworks must reflect the theme of the Program. The Program’s theme is “Solidarity with the Filipino community during the COVID-19 crisis”. Keywords are as follows:

a. the “new normal”;

b. life in quarantine;

c. initiatives and efforts in raising funds, donations, reaching out to affected communities

d. frontliners/medical personnel’s efforts

e. government’s/non-government organizations’ relief efforts and response to the crisis

2. Visual art will be limited, for the purpose of the Program, to works on paper*, in the form of the following:

a. Paintings;

b. Collages;

c. Photographs (maximum of 5 editions);

d. Original fine prints (maximum of 25 editions**);

e. Drawings (not limited to charcoal, pen, and pencil);

f. Mixed media (maximum depth is 3cm)

3. Digital art will not be accepted. For the purposes of this Program, digital art is defined as a work that is produced and/or manipulated using digital software (e.g. Photoshop, Illustrator, ProCreate, etc.). Examples of such are digital illustrations, vector illustrations, digital collage, 3D rendering, etc.

4. Since photography is an established practice that involves digital processing, photography is exempted from digital art. Enhancements to the photo must be limited to basic post-processing only such as adjustments of contrast, minimal color, etc. Any digital manipulation that will significantly alter the photo is not allowed.

5. The artwork/s must be an original work, conceptualized and executed wholly by the artist. Artwork/s that reproduce and/or copy the composition of existing work/s will be disqualified if found rendered in a different style, medium, color scheme, or even if other elements have been added.

6. The artwork/s must be UNSIGNED upon submission. The jurors will anonymously select the artworks for selection and shortlisting.

7. The artwork/s for submission must not be currently published on any media platforms. Entrants must also refrain from posting their submitted entries on social media.

8. Size limit for the artwork/s must be within these dimensions:

• Minimum of 20.32 cm x 30.48 cm (8 x 12 inches) — around A4 size;
• Maximum of 30.48 cm x 40.64 cm (12 in x 16 in) — around A3 size.

9. The artwork/s must not contain added elements after submission. Any alterations on the work may be used as grounds for disqualification.

10. The artwork image/s must have an image resolution of 300 dpi, in TIFF, JPEG or PNG formats.

11. Entrants may include artist notes for their work/s, with 200 maximum word count.

*Artwork should be rendered on a paper-based surface or material available. Boards such as illustration boards and paper-based artist boards will be accepted. Low-quality paper such as manila paper and brown paper will not be accepted due to artwork conservation concerns.

**An original fine print is defined as a work of art processed (by the artist using ink applied onto) wood block, metal, cardboard, or plastic sheet. Types of prints include the following: relief (e.g. woodcut, linocut, rubber cut), intaglio (e.g. etching, mezzotint, aquatint), serigraph or silkscreen, and lithography.

III. SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES

1. Entrant is limited to submitting a total of two (2) artworks only. Any submissions by the artist exceeding beyond this limit will not be accepted.
2. Deadline of submission of entries is at 11:59 PM of 14 June 2020.
3. Entrants may accomplish the Google Form more than once, for a maximum of two artworks submitted for consideration. Succeeding submissions will not be considered.
4. Submission of entries in the Program will be done so online via Google Form only, at bit.ly/MGAP-Form. Data requested through the form will be handled securely by the Ateneo Art Gallery, and will only be used for the purposes of the Program.
5. The information provided on the Google Form submission accomplished by the participating artist must be true and correct to the best of his/her knowledge. Any false information provided will be grounds for disqualification of the entry.
6. The Ateneo Art Gallery will not accept submission of the actual works at the Ateneo Art Gallery Curatorial Office, in compliance with the extended community quarantine placed over Metro Manila.
7. Entrants whose works are selected for exhibition will be advised regarding transportation and logistics, to be advised on a later date.

IV. COPYRIGHT PROVISIONS

1. The copyright of the submitted work/s remains with the artist. Participating artists that will be selected for the exhibition give Ateneo Art Gallery the permission to reproduce images free of charge for record-keeping and marketing and communication purposes ONLY, such as:
   1. for exhibition materials such as the catalog, brochures and posters;
   2. for the website of the Ateneo Art Gallery and social media platforms for the promotion of the exhibition; and
   3. for press releases, newspaper and magazine features and other publicity for the exhibition.

V. SELECTION PROCEDURE AND PRIZES

1. From the pool of entries submitted, a panel of jurors will anonymously select at least fifty (50) artworks to be exhibited at the Ateneo Art Gallery. Each entry selected for exhibition will receive a monetary prize of Php 5,000.
2. Among the exhibited works, twelve (12) works will be selected to be acquired as part of the Ateneo Art Gallery permanent collection. An additional monetary prize of Php 15,000 will be given to each of the 12 artists whose works are selected for acquisition.
3. In addition, two (2) works from this selection will be purchased by the Embassy of Italy. Artworks selected by the Embassy of Italy will receive an additional monetary prize of Php 15,000.
4. All decisions made by the Jury with regard to the qualification of the submitted entries, the artworks submitted for consideration, and the winners, are final.
5. The exhibition schedules and announcement of prize recipients will be announced on a later date.

VI. OTHER PROVISIONS

1. The Ateneo Art Gallery will keep the names and works of the entrants, as well as the list of jurors for the Prizes, anonymous to the public until the opening exhibition day of the Marciano Galang Acquisition Prize. Announcement of the twelve (12) recipients will coincide with the opening of the exhibition.

Further questions may be sent to our email at aag@ateneo.edu with the subject “[INQUIRY] AAG — MGAP 2020”.