MAKATI CITY – Metro Manila’s largest and most-awaited multi-arts festival is back! From February 7 to 25, the 2018 Fringe Festival celebrates Philippine Arts Month by programming creative hubs with some of the most dynamic interdisciplinary performances and groundbreaking new works in contemporary arts. For its fourth year, the festival is presented by Pineapple Lab, a Poblacion-based creative hub dedicated to finding innovative ways to present the works of Filipino art-makers, international artists and collaborators.
Under the umbrella of the internationally-acclaimed World Fringe Network, Fringe Manila is an open access, artist-driven community celebration that showcases fresh, daring, and groundbreaking work by emerging and established artists from the Philippines, as well as, international participants in theater, music, dance, visual art, film, cabaret, performance art, burlesque, spoken word, comedy, magic, workshops, and every other artistic genre in between.
Since its inaugural run in 2015, Fringe has hosted over 30,000 audiences in 45 venues, featuring more than 500 performances and exhibits of more than 1,000 artists across numerous venues all over Metro Manila. Truly a city-wide collaborative effort, Fringe highlights the emerging art scene in Manila’s artistic landscape.
“Fringe’s mission is to make art accessible to audiences here in Manila who want to engage with the arts through fresh lenses and experience works that resonate with them. We built this festival as an inclusive platform for artists here in the Phillippines, Fil – X artists (i.e. Filipino-Canadian, Filipino-American, Filipino-European, etc.), and international creatives to present original works that celebrate the diversity of talent that converge in the Metro,” shares Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan, Fringe Manila’s founding board member and Festival Director.
This 2018, festival-goers can expect the comeback of Fringe favorites such as Deus Sex Machina, SPIT, ADHD Productions, Burlesque PH, Airdance, and more fresh, exciting local and international artists coming together for one reason – to celebrate the arts.
Fringe is thrilled to showcase newcomers to the festival. San Diego International Fringe Festival’s “Artists’ Pick” and “Outstanding Comedy” awardee Theatre Group GUMBO from Japan, with their show “Are you lovin it?” A surreal romp with dancing Japanese businessman, crazy cartoon mascots, and fast food satire, GUMBO brings their gut-busting, award-winning, hilarious sense of humor to Manila. “Karera”, PUP Maharlika’s first dance theatre production. With choreography by Daloy Dance Company’s Buboy Raquitico and costume design by Daloy and Maharlika’s very own Jomari Cruz, “Karera” is inspired by the urban rat race and is an expression of the proverbial survival of the fittest in society. Also new to Fringe is Phi Palmos, presenting Eljay Castro Deldoc’s “Nobenta Nostalgia”, an unfinished live documentation about the 90s TV we dearly love and fondly miss – told through interviews, monologues, and songs.
Fringe will stage the championship round of the long-running live-painting competition, Art Battle, where painters battle it out for audience votes and the chance to compete in Art Battle International. Following Art Battle are performances from Kulintronica, a California-based musician who fuses the sounds of the traditional Philippine kulintang with modern electronic music, and “Pagbalik”, another California-based act performing a sound and dance narrative that reflects on the meaning of being a Filipino-American, along with the memories, history, and beliefs that the two words embody.
Fringe highlights the variety and volume of workshops available to audiences at this year’s festival. Award-winning, Filipino-British alternative cabaret performer Sam Reynolds will be introducing workshops and performances aimed at assisting artists in developing their own cabaret pieces through the support of the British Council and Arts Council England. Among the roster of workshops are those being held by Filipino-Canadian yoga instructor and Lululemon Athletica ambassador Kaye Peñaflor at Beyond – Rockwell, focusing on techniques involving Philippine folk dance, partner yoga, and aerial yoga. Fringe also welcomes Andreas Vierziger, with the support of the Austrian Embassy in Manila, who is conducting a series of workshops to help develop awareness of contact points between music and various disciplines or industries (such as different musical genres, crossover, dance, visual arts, tech, and coding).
Jodinand Aguillon, the festival’s Creative Producer and Fringe artist himself says, “It’s so important for these types of Festivals to exist. By bridging independent creatives with small businesses and working with cultural institutions – Fringe works closely with its communities to make the arts a vehicle for meaningful collaborations, and a safe space for ideas and expanding networks.” The 2018 team has worked closely with Creative Hubs contributing to the culturally dynamic character of Barangay Poblacion and the City of Makati. Among these venues are Commune, Dulo, Kapwa, The Social, and Humble Heron, as well as Century City Mall, Beyond Rockwell, NEST, Yuchengco Museum, Alliance Française Manille, Lokal Hostel, 20:20, Green Sun, and Power Mac Center Spotlight Theatre. Included as well are satellite venues at the Philippine Educational Theatre Association (PETA) and The PARC Foundation.
Tickets will be made available at TicketWorld (891-9999) or at www.ticketworld.com.ph for some performances.
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