Celebrate National Arts Month by supporting Ballet Manila and local art galleries.

Every February is National Arts Month in the Philippines, where everyone is encouraged to celebrate the artistic excellence and diversity of Filipino artists as well as heritage and cultural workers. As a hub for cultural and artistic experiences, Shangri-La Plaza is observing National Arts Month with its own curation of art-related activities that aim to bring Filipino talent and creativity to a wider audience and rally more support for artists.

Ballet Manila, the most prolific and sought-after ballet company in the Philippines, is giving a preview of its anniversary performance season Ballet Manila @ 3o: The Pearl Year, which highlights its commitment to the highest standards of classical ballet and the company’s Russian Vaganova roots, on February 18 at the Grand Atrium.

Co-hosted by seasoned singer-actress and comedienne Mitch Valdes and prima ballerina and Ballet Manila CEO and Artistic Director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, the Shang preview will be excerpts from three of the company’s productions, The Pearl Gala, Swan Lake and Don Quixote.

True to the month’s celebration, Shang’s own lineup of galleries has also prepared a stack of must-see art events.

At Gallery BiG, art aficionados can catch a selection of vibrant Cubist-inspired drawings by New York-based Fil-Am physician and nuclear medicine expert Dr. Wilfrido Sy with Renditions of Epicurean Delights until February 24. The exhibit features the self-taught artist’s works from the early 1980s to the late 1990s that emphasize the era’s epicurean ethos of seeking pleasure and worldly delights. Find Gallery BiG at the Art Plaza on Level 4, Main Wing.

Galerie Stephanie is serving a triple treat this February. Visit the gallery and catch Swimming in my Head by Indonesian artist Imam Santoso, who colors mundanity in a surrealistic palette, as well as Breaking to Mend, a solo exhibition by Brazil-born pop surrealist Ciane Xavier that narrates human relationship and its intricacies through handmade porcelain plates.

Complete the trip with What We Carry, What We Grow that captures the minute movements of life through the works of Filipino visual artists Shireen Co who primarily creates paintings, Jem Magbanua whose practice is grounded firmly in drawing, and Thea Quiachon whose works showcase the impasto technique, as well as Italian artist-anatomist Nunzio Paci. All three shows are running until March 2 at Level 6, East Wing.

Asian contemporary art space Cartellino presents In the dust of this planet, an exhibition with Marybob Arce and Regina Reyes running until March 2. It features a series of collage works and paintings that convey places in unsteady and transitory states. Cartellino is located at Level 6, East Wing.

This National Arts Month, take a curious break from the daily grind and immerse yourself in the arts at Shangri-La Plaza—and experience how it reflects our culture, promotes self-expression and connection, and even inspires action.

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