Fringe Manila aims to shake up the local art scene

MANILA, Philippines - Manila joins over 200 international Fringe Festivals around the world as it prepares to launch the first ever Fringe Manila Festival on Feb. 12, 2015. Registrations to be a Fringe artist are now open and participants will be accepted until Nov. 3 only.

Fringe Manila is an open-access, artist-driven, uncensored arts and community festival that will showcase fresh, daring, and groundbreaking work. It will highlight the unique point of view of emerging and established artists from the Philippines and all over the world in theater, literature, music, dance, visual art, film, cabaret, performance art, circus and every other artistic genre in between.

From Edinburgh to London, New York to Philadelphia, Hong Kong to Taipei, South Africa to Melbourne, and numerous global cities with vibrant arts and culture scenes, Fringe represents the voices of artists and artistic genres that both challenge and reflect traditional and contemporary art forms. It opened doors to well-loved shows like 12 Angry Men, Stomp, Dani Girl, and Potted Potter. The Fringe Festival model has been replicated and reinvented in cities and countries throughout the world, and the Philippines is now taking its place in this extraordinary revolution. Fringe Manila’s executive producer Brett McCallum said, “With Philippines’ rich heritage and evolving appreciation for local and international arts, Filipinos are now more than ready to embrace this global celebration of arts.”

According to a study conducted by BOP Consulting during the 2012 Perth Fringe (Australia) inaugural program, 98 percent of artists and audiences believe that Fringe is an important addition to the cultural life of a city. “There is a growing renaissance of art by future movers and shakers in the industry that create work driven by their experience and social consciousness,” says festival director and cofounder Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan. “The art that we see right now is bold, new, and unapologetic — a reflection of how far we’ve come in expressing our identity as Filipinos, and more importantly as art practitioners,” he adds.

Fringe Manila is the perfect platform for emerging and local established artists to take risks and share their work to diverse audiences. The team behind the festival is excited to be joining a worldwide collective of independent arts festivals, united under the banner of Fringe. Artists may register by visiting www.fringemanila.com and clicking the “Register my Event” tab.

Fringe Manila is also on the lookout for venues in the city of Manila, both conventional and unconventional, to showcase arts practice in all its forms. The aim is to help venues access new audiences, encourage audiences to explore their own neighborhoods and its communities, and help venues consider how they can support cultural practice throughout the year to the benefit of the venues themselves, the artists and the community at large.

In addition, the festival and Orange Segment Print and Design Studio are calling on artists and graphic designers to submit entries of poster designs that reinterprets the classic Filipino delicacy, the halo-halo, into an iconic design or image that will brand and identify the Fringe Manila 2015 festival. Special prize and recognition awaits the contest winner.

For details and inquiries, call hello@fringemanila.com or call/text +639985543200. Follow Fringe Manila on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @FringeMNL for updates.