Ateneo Art Awards 2023 Fernando Zóbel Prizes for Visual Art – Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prizes in Art Criticism

The Ateneo Art Awards (AAA) returns to Shangri-La Plaza this 23 August 2023!

(Open for public viewing 4:00 PM onwards on August 23, and following regular mall hours from 24 – 30 August 2023)

See a selection of artworks from this year’s Fernando Zóbel Prizes for Visual Art Shortlisted Exhibitions, and browse through Shortlisted Essays from the Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prizes in Art Criticism at the Grand Atrium, Shangri-La Plaza on 23 – 30 August 2023. The full exhibition will then move to the third floor galleries of the Ateneo Art Gallery, on-view from 11 September – 2 December 2023.

Guests also get the chance to vote for their favorite shortlisted exhibition in our People's Choice poll. The Ateneo Art Awards 2023 Awarding Ceremony is on 24 September 2023, Sunday at the Ateneo Art Gallery, Areté, Ateneo de Manila University.

Launched in 2013 with the Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation, Inc. and The Philippine Star, the AAA - Purita Kalaw-Ledesma (PKL) Prizes in Art Criticism celebrates its 10th year with entries centered on the theme of “Risks.” This resonates with the efforts of Purita Kalaw-Ledesma, art patron and founder of the Art Association of the Philippines (AAP), who believed in art criticism’s vital role in the development of art movements in the post-war years. Essays are framed as critiques about artists, artworks, exhibitions, projects, or art events that reflect on “Risks,” construed broadly. “Risks” calls to mind danger or peril. On the other hand, it also alludes to possibilities.

The inclusion of the PKL Prizes in Art Criticism in 2013 expanded the Ateneo Art Awards to two prizes, distinguishing the visual art prize as the Fernando Zóbel Prizes for Visual Art which honors AAG’s founding benefactor Fernando Zóbel de Ayala.

This year, we commemorate 20 years of celebrating outstanding works and exhibitions by young, Filipino contemporary visual artists. Furthermore, the AAA - Fernando Zóbel Prizes for Visual Art is now a biennial program covering two exhibition cycles between May 2021-2022, and May 2022-2023.

The Ateneo Art Awards 2023 is co-presented by Ateneo Art Gallery, Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation Inc., and The Philippine Star; in partnership with ArtAsiaPacific, Katipunan Journal, and the Embassy of Italy in the Philippines; venue partner Shangri-La Plaza; residency partners Orange Project, Bacolod, ABungalow, CASA San Miguel, No Space, Project Space Pilipinas, La Trobe University, OCAD University, Liverpool Hope University, and Artesan Gallery + Studio.