2026 Metrobank Art & Design Excellence Awardees Turn Perspectives into Possibilities

Drawing from the world around them and their own experiences, the 2026 Metrobank Art & Design Excellence (MADE) grand awardees transformed themes of power, perseverance, and human connection into compelling works that invite audiences to reflect, see familiar realities from different perspectives, and consider new possibilities.

‘This year, MADE received over 600 submissions from artists across the country, reflecting the diversity, talent, and vitality of the Philippine art community. Their works remind us that Filipino artists continue to engage deeply with the world around them and contribute fresh perspectives to the conversations shaping our society,” said Metrobank Foundation president Philip Francisco Dy.

Through painting, mixed media, and sculpture, the artists charted their own creative paths, translating their observations and questions into works that speak to the world around them.

Imagining lives beyond our own

Grand Awardee for Oil or Acrylic on Canvas Vince Martin Macatangay’s “Sonder: Sa Bawat Mundong ‘Di Ko Matahak (Sonder: In Worlds Beyond My Reach)” asks viewers to consider the lives they can never fully know and their own place within the much larger stories of others. The work brings together multiple figures and movements to evoke countless stories unfolding simultaneously, while its distorted figures reflect the complexity of realities.

“Sonder” describes the realization that every person one encounters has a life as complex and vivid as one’s own, filled with their own relationships, ambitions, routines, and worries.

Macatangay encountered the concept through someone who described him as “sonder-coded” before that person passed away. The idea stayed with him and evjutentually became the foundation for his painting.

“Sa painting, hinihigop ang simuno patungo sa siklo ng walang hanggang daloy ng oras, sumasagisag sa walang katapusang interaksyon sa ‘di mabilang na buhay (In the painting, the subject is drawn into the cycle of the endless flow of time, symbolizing the infinite interactions among countless lives),” explained Macatangay.

The courage to keep moving forward

Receiving the Grand Award for Mixed Media, Kennette Luague's work, “Taya (Bet),” draws from the lives of workers who make daily sacrifices and take risks for their families and their future. At the center of the work is a person caught within a chaotic system, yet still choosing to move forward, which for Luague is the true measure of success.

“Bagaman tila nakapako sa gitna ng sistema, ang alab sa kanyang isipan ang nagsisilbing mitsa ng pag-asa. Hindi siya biktima ng pagkakataon, siya ay isang manunugal na may sapat na giting na harapin ang hamon (Although seemingly stuck in the middle of the system, the fire in a person's mind serves as a spark of hope. He is not a victim of circumstance, but a gambler with the courage to face the challenges before him),” shared Luague.

Luague used simple materials – including wood and billiard cloth – to create an artwork that symbolizes hope for his fellow Filipino workers.

Making the familiar unsettling

Winning the Grand Award for Sculpture, Aldrin Olaguir’s “Hinahalal, Binabanal (The Chosen, the Sanctified)” begins with a familiar religious object: the holy water font. But instead of water, the basin holds a hardened formation, with a crocodile figure behind it suggesting power and corruption.

The work explores the idea of a “necessary evil” and how choices that are repeatedly made can eventually become accepted, justified, or even treated as something sacred.

By changing the meaning of an object people may recognize, Olaguir creates space for viewers to question what they have come to accept as normal.

"Growing up in the Philippines, I am influenced by survival conditions, inherited moral systems, and fragmented histories shaped by colonial interruption and cultural layering. These experiences drive me to construct symbolic systems and narrative frameworks that reinterpret erased or distorted cultural histories,” said Olaguir.

This year's winning works reflect the spirit of TRAVERSE: Creativity in Motion, exploring diverse pathways of thought, experience, and artistic expression that continue to shape contemporary Philippine art.

Together, the three works demonstrate how artists transform observation, experience, and inquiry into meaningful reflections on society, identity, and our shared human experience.

While grounded in distinct perspectives, they invite deeper understanding, dialogue, and connection.

MADE supports this journey by giving artists the freedom to pursue their vision, opportunities to showcase their work, pathways for sustainable careers in the arts, and a community where they can exchange ideas and be inspired by different creative approaches.

“What I appreciate most about the 2026 MADE Competition is its open theme. It gives artists the freedom to create works that truly align with their own practice and vision, while also becoming a platform to showcase the best of their craft. For me, it encourages artists to stay true to themselves,” noted Olague.

The 2026 MADE grand awardees each received P500,000 worth of prizes (P350,000 in cash and P150,000 scholarship to the Eskinita Art Residency Program in 2027) and the coveted “More” trophy sculpted this year in copper by the renowned artist and 2007 MADE awardee Juan Sajid.

The awarding ceremony was held on Sept. 17 at The Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

For their creative excellence that closely contended with the grand awardees, Metrobank Foundation also awarded Special Citations to Raphael Daniel David for Sculpture for “Mirror of Consequence: Millisecond Before Light”; Richard Montero for Mixed Media for “Puno ng Kwento (Full of Stories)”; and Arvin Cantalejo Jr. and Artgiveson Arreglado for Oil or Acrylic on Canvas for “Echoes Beneath My Skin “and “To Weather With You,” respectively. Each of them received P100,000 and the More trophy.

The 2026 MADE winners were selected by a distinguished panel of art practitioners, curators, writers, and creative industry leaders, chaired by sculptor Reginald Yuson. Joining him were painter and former MADE awardee Mark Andy Garcia; mixed media artist Ling Quisumbing Ramilo; MADE 2026 exhibition curator and University of the Philippines Diliman Department of Theory associate professor May Lyn Cruz; art writer and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Creative Industries Program officer-in-charge Lara Acuin; Vinyl Gallery co-founder and co-director Gaby dela Merced; and Cultural Center of the Philippines Visual Arts and Museum Division officer-in-charge Rica Estrada.