Celebrated every March, National Women’s Month highlights the importance of women empowerment and inspiring women and girls to continue changing the world for the better while fighting for gender equality. With the theme “We Make Change Work for Women,” this year’s celebration puts the spotlight on women as active contributors to the continuous development of the country.

If you’re looking for different ways to celebrate International Women’s Month, why not visit art exhibits that reflect the way women have helped develop the country’s art scene over the years? Here are six exhibits that showcase all the ways women have helped contribute to the growth of the local art scene.

Is What You Are Now, Mono8 Gallery

G/F Casa Tesoro, 1335 Mabini St., Ermita, Manila
Feb. 18 to Mar. 18

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9QkhRtBiMU/

The recall of memory involves the brain replaying a pattern of neural activity originally generated in response to a particular event. Shiela Molato and Roselle Perez’s latest exhibit, “Is What You Are Now,” explores the process of how our memories are reshaped and rewritten depending on our perception of the present at the moment we access these memories through video installations and assemblages.

Do You Hear It?, Artinformal Makati

The Alley at Karrivin, 2316 Chino Roces Ave. Ext., Makati City
Mar. 5 to 28

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Vr8LaHDiG/

Science has constantly yielded discoveries and raised more questions about the world—one of which has been the discovery that cells can emit sounds. Using ink and water-based paints in a wide array of colors mixed with water and glue, Atsuko Yamagata uses this new discovery to illustrate her thoughts on the voices of marginalized communities and poses the question: “Do you hear it?”

La Vue de deux Horizons, Alliance Française de Manille

209 Nicanor Garcia St., Bel-Air II, Makati City
Feb. 27 to Apr. 11

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8x8ht7HJqt/

Initially showcased in France as part of her residency program, Jill Paz’s “La Vue de deux Horizons” explores how the modifications and changes to the Fortifications of Vauban help collective memory through research and photography. This exhibit, in particular, uses techniques and printing technology that explores the relationship between an artist and their subject, and the personal and impersonal.

Performing My Self-archive, My Other Body, Silverlens Galleries

2263 Don Chino Roces Ave. Ext., Makati City
Feb. 22 to Mar. 21

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9gUQr_hVah/

Judy Freya Sibayan’s latest performance is a continuation of her 2018 exhibit “Moving House, Unpacking a Life of Critical Artmaking.” The performance is comprised of archival art, which Sibayan uses as a way to reclaim her past in the form of an archive for its present audience, while using it to investigate, research and engage viewers to determine how the archive can be performed as another body.

Grids, Artinformal Makati

The Alley at Karrivin, 2316 Chino Roces Ave. Ext., Makati City
Mar. 5 to 28

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Vr0fGnhk0/

Throughout history, the grid and its rigid nature has inspired artists to follow or subvert its structure through art. One of these is Manila-based contemporary artist Michelle Pérez, who uses the grid’s structure to continue her meditation on the materiality of painting and conversations in abstraction. Using paintings anchored on modern techniques, the artist uses her body of work as a way of questioning the construction of our philosophies.

Imogen, Modeka Creative Space

Warehouse 20A La Fuerza 1, 2241 Don Chino Roces Ave., Makati City
Mar. 5 to 28

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9glzqGhyF0/

The latest exhibit in Modeka Creative Space highlights the distinct qualities, techniques and skills that female artists from all over the country possess. “Imogen” brings together works by the likes of visual artist Beatrix Syjuco, as well as painter Monica Delgado and sculptor Ovvian Castrillo—all of which attempt to visualize how our understanding of ourselves is affected by the modern understanding of democracy.

Header photo courtesy of Artur Matosyan on Unsplash

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