Don Papa Rum’s Victory With A Splash: The 3rd Annual Art Competition
Victory coupled with a celebratory splash of rum is almost as sweet as its source. It’s that time once again to welcome our nation’s talented hands. Now on its 3rd year, small batch label Don Papa Rum has launched its annual bespoke canister label art competition. In alignment with the brand’s mission to support homegrown artists this year’s winner is also in for another treat. The grand prize is an artistic residence sojourn in New York City. Since Don Papa’s first run of bespoke label competitions in 2015, it has won numerous awards around the globe for its designs as well as its sweet and aromatic rum.
In 2016, the Don Papa art competition saw the rise of petite yet profound Grand Prize Winner, U.P. Fine Diliman Fine Arts Graduate Henrielle Pagkaliwangan. With her accomplishment “Field Notes For Papa Isio”, a daintily rendered taxonomic display of botany and wildlife in Negros, Henrielle’s work evokes Sugarlandia’s historical nostalgia in a heartbeat. “Nung narinig ko yung [tungkol] sa competition nasa Negros ako doing our art residency sa Talisay. Inaaral ko yung sugar-cane, paano na-shape yung mga buhay nila by the sugar industry. So doon talaga tumatakbo yung buhay ng mga Negrense.”
What intrigued her in particular about this Visayan festival is that at a time when the sugar industry hit an all-time low the Masskara celebration was established to uplift the morale of discouraged locals. Nainsipire ako dun sa Masskara festival kasi masaya siya na festival pero ang dark ng history niya.”
At the bright age of 22, Henrielle was the previous competition’s youngest contender. Her 2016 grand prize was the artistic residency in Florence, Italy that included roundtrip airfare, accommodations, pocket money, and the very best part, multiple artistic immersion experiences in various locations there. “Our homebase was in Florence We stayed in Europe for one month pero lumipat din kami ng Rome, Venice, and Prague as well. I’m very thankful sa Don Papa, may opportunity akong makarating ng Europe for the first time and yung sa art parang mas na-broaden yung horizons ko…”
On Henrielle’s part, her educational background was already an artist’s academic arsenal and quite indicative of her talent. She is a Philippine High School for the Arts Graduate in 2011 as well as a Magna Cum Laude honors graduate from U.P. Diliman’s College of Fine Arts in 2015. “Nagstart ako mag-draw before ako nag-start mag-basa (laughs). So I don’t know [when I started] siguro mga 5 or 6 I guess. Yung mga drawing na yun mga laro-laro lang. Pero yung formal training ko mga 8 years old… pero nag-start ako with painting on canvas not paper.”
For those interested in Don Papa's 2017 art competition, here are the contest mechanics for for joining:
3rd Don Papa Art Competition Details:
Criteria for Entry:
- Must be based in the Philippines, a Filipino resident, and a Filipino citizen
- Must be at least 21 years old
- Must be represented by an art gallery
- Medium must be a two-dimensional, landscape format, and flat
- Must have a valid passport of at least one year
- Must go through online registration
Accepted Artwork:
- Painting/Drawing
- Photography
- Print Making
- Digital Art
Mandatories for Artwork:
- Space for Don Papa Rum logo (to be placed by Don Papa Rum upon digitizing)
- Horizontal landscape format
- Two-dimensional
- Accepted sizes: 2 ft. x 4 ft. / 3 ft. x 5 ft. / 4 ft. x 6 ft.
Deadlines:
- December 8, 2017 – Online registration
- January 18, 2018 – Submission of digital entries
- January 18-29, 2018 – Physical artworks may be requested from the artist
For more details and updates on the competition, check the Don Papa Rum Facebook page and Don Papa’s 3rd Annual Art Competition Event page on Facebook.
