An Exploration of the Unseen

Art

Sep 4

What’s often unseen is the greatest teacher of experience. This the guiding ethos of Cristina Mejias’ latest display at the UP Vargas Museum.

Words Rica Mae Labbao
Photos courtesy of Geric CruzandUP Vargas Museum
September 4, 2026

*Cristina Mejias, Cantantes Silenciosa, 2025. Installation and dual-channel video. 26 mins. Courtesy of the artist and the UP Vargas Museum | Photo by Geric Cruz.*

The mystery of nature often lies in the whispers of the wind, the singing of the birds, and the rustle of the leaves. Sometimes, it is also in the deepest swirls of waves or the highest peaks of terrain.

But artist Cristina Mejias captures these sounds and movements in tangible and visual art with her Embracing the wind, Cradling the water exhibit at the UP Vargas Museum.

*Exhibition Opening of Embracing the wind, Cradling the water, UP Vargas Museum, 2026 | Photo by Geric Cruz*

From May 22 until September 5, Cristina’s showcase presents Cantantes Silenciosa (2025), Knot a Tongue, Grasp a Stream I (2018-2021), Temps Vécu (2014-2015), and her wood and metal installation pieces that invites the audience to discover both the intricacy and simplicity of knowledge situated in the most ordinary places often overlooked.

*Installation view of Embracing the wind, Cradling the water, UP Vargas Museum, 2026 | Photo by Geric Cruz*

With an expertise in creatively mimicking the loud silence and vast form of transformation present in space, she arranges deep sensory intervention in reflection and installation that gently holds even the tiniest mechanisms of life.

Holding her degrees in fine arts from Madrid and the NCAD in Dublin, Cristina creates an art legacy that encourages a transmission of knowledge in its rawest procedure: experience.

Her works were recently exhibited at Matadero (Madrid), AbiertoxObras (Madrid), La Panera (Lerida), C3A (Cordoba), the Patio Herreriano Museum (Valladolid), RoyalMount (Montreal), and Párraga Art Centre (Marcia), among many. She has also received numerous awards, including the El Ojo Crítico Prize for Visual Arts 2025, the Illy ARCO Prize 2023, and the IX International Obra Abierta Prize, to mention a few.

Embracing the wind, Cradling the water is the latest collaboration of Cristina and UP Vargas Museum head curator Tessa Maria Guazon. It is an exhibit displayed by the museum with the support of the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, ACID and Instituto Cervantes de Manila.