Alt Art 2026: All you need to know

Alt Art is back this year, and promises to be better than ever.

In what is dubbed the biggest edition of the art fair, an exciting weekend is set for art enthusiasts and curious souls alike.

Here is all you need to know about Alt Fair.

The basics

Alt Art will be held on Valentine’s weekend, from February 13 to 15 at Halls 1 and 2 of the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City. It is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Tickets are now available via Tickelo or you may purchase onsite at P500 for regular and P250 for students.

It is Alt Art’s fourth edition and promises to be the biggest one yet with nine galleries and more than 300 artists are participating in this year’s fair.

The space

Alt Art promises an immersive experience, with the 5,000-meter space built and designed on the artists’ needs in order to make their pieces shine.

Exhibits will not be placed within four walls, instead they will be displayed in spaces for a lot of room and play.

According to designer Baby Imperial of All At Once they created the space to “put Philippine contemporary practice front and center.”

“[The] most important part is how the public encounters art, how they are able to view it, and how they are able to appreciate art,” she said during the media roundtable in Makati City on Tuesday.

There are also sidelines that once viewers enter, prove to be expansive, “and art embraces you at the beginning,” Imperial said.

There is also a convergence area for the public to engage in conversations with gallerists, the collective, and more, “because art is meant for sharing and engaging.”

“The space, we hope—in collaboration with the gallerists—is able to provide that space that can serve the artists in what they want to share in terms of what is going on in this new millennium,” Imperial said.

The collective

Alt Collective is composed of nine galleries — Artinformal, Blanc, The Drawing Room, Galleria Duemila, Finale Art File, MO_Space, Underground, Vinyl on Vinyl, and West Gallery — that came together with a “pro-artist” ethos. 

“In 2020, nine galleries came together with a clear understanding that existing formats no longer reflected how we worked, how we thought, or what we wanted to place at the center of contemporary art practice. Alt emerged from that alignment not as a reaction, but it’s a considered decision to shape the space on our own terms,” Cesar Villalon Jr. of The Drawing Room said at the media roundtable.

Villalon added that Alt Collective’s intent is to allow the nine galleries to present their programs, focus on their artists without compromise, and engage with the wider public.

What makes Alt Art different

Among the art to look forward to would be the inaugural Discoveries Section. Curated by Alt Collective, the new section aims to offer fresh new perspectives through established and rising artists.

The platform spotlights JC Mariategue, Jomari T’leon, Joar Songcuya, Allyza Tresvalles, Eric Bico, Gelo Cinco, Joanolasco, Rhaz Oriente, and Marco Ortiga.

“In a sense, you’re getting a glimpse of what they have to offer or what they see,” Vinyl on Vinyl’s Gaby Dela Merced said during the media roundtable.

The artists will showcase their various expressions and ideas and present different forms of media and subject matter, ranging from paintings to sound art.

Dela Merced adds in an interview with GMA News Online that what makes Alt Art different from the rest would be how it is “really more of a huge showcase of nine galleries because we don’t invite anyone else. It’s really just us and our vision and how we present it.”

“We, as a collective, decide on everything together, you know. We created this space together, so it extends to our relationships with our artists, where we really want to put in the forefront of this massive showcase,” she said.

The space plays a big role in the fair, as it is not the usual square or cubed space, allowing interactions between gallerists, artists, and visitors.

Dela Merced also hopes that the public can have a work imprinted on them.

“Sometimes you just need one work and it makes a difference,” she said.

“It could be as incredible as [someone wants] to be an artist or that’s the reason why 15 years from now, this kid decided to take up the arts [after going to Alt Art]. To, you know, seeing this work, it made the person’s day,” Dela Merced said.

“Or learning something because a lot of the works have deep roots on research and experimentation. So it’s getting a bit a little nugget of knowledge. I do hope someone, everyone gets to go home with this.” — LA, GMA Integrated News