Beyond the Recognition: Ateneo Art Awards 2025 Recognizes Filipino Creatives
Ateneo Arts Awards define and affirms long-term support for artists and writers.
Words by Piolo Cudal
Photo courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery
October 08, 2025
The Ateneo Art Awards 2025 opens its latest edition with an exceptional ceremony at the Ateneo Art Gallery in Quezon City. More than recognition, this year’s edition reflects the expanding ambitions of the awards program on deeper international exchange, sustained critical dialogue, and long-term support for emerging artists.
With residency grants, publication opportunities, and a growing network of global partners, the Ateneo Art Awards affirm that recognition is only the beginning.
Media excellence
One of the hallmarks of the Ateneo Art Awards is its recognition of writers through the Purita Kalaw Ledesma (PKL) in art criticism. At a time when sustained art writing is becoming increasingly rare, the award underscores the essential role of criticism in shaping conversations around art and its place in society.
This year, three winning essays were selected from a pool of submissions written in either English or Filipino. Pie Tiausas won the PKL prize for the Philippine Star for their essay titled, “The internet is a space for the lonely.”
Ateneo Art Awards 2025 Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prizes in Art Criticism Shortlisted Writer (English Category) Pie Tiausas. Photo by Clefvan Pornela, courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery.
Bea Belen-Ferrer received the PKL prize for ArtAsiaPacific Magazine for her piece, “In Between Flight and Fallout: What Would Postwar Modernists Do?”
Ateneo Art Awards 2025 Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prizes in Art Criticism Shortlisted Writer (English Category) Bea Belen-Ferrer. Photo by Clefvan Pornela, courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery.
Emersan Baldemor was awarded the PKL Prize for Katipunan Journal for his Filipino-language essay, “Hindi Lahat ng Umaangat ay Naaalala: Si Tandang Ano at ang Politikang Estetiko ng Paglimot.”
Ateneo Art Awards 2025 Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Prizes in Art Criticism Shortlisted Writer (Filipino Category) Emersan Baldemor. Photo by Clefvan Pornela, courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery.
Each writer has also been granted a month-long residency. Belen-Ferrer was selected for the Orange Project – Naranja Residency in Bacolod and Indeks in Bandung, Indonesia. Baldemor was selected for The White House in San Antonio, Zambales.
The PKL Prizes are co-presented with the Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation Inc., continuing the legacy of Ledesma, a key figure in the promotion of Philippine art criticism.
Meanwhile, for visual arts which was awarded biennially, Fernando Zobel Prizes honor outstanding exhibitions staged within a two-year period. From 159 eligible exhibitions held between May 2023 and May 2025, twelve artists were shortlisted.
Four were selected as winners:
Jel Suarez - As I Lift One Stone (Blanc Gallery)
Installation shot of "As I Lift One Stone" of Ateneo Art Awards 2025 Shortlisted Artist Jel Suarez. Photo by Clefvan Pornela, courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery (2025).
Silke Lapina - Bakit Pa (Edoweird)
Installation shot of "Bakit Pa" of Ateneo Art Awards 2025 Shortlisted Artist Silke Lapina. Photo by Clefvan Pornela, courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery (2025).
Hannah Reyes Morales - Home Holds Still (Tarzeer Pictures)
Installation shot of "Home Holds Still" of Ateneo Art Awards 2025 Shortlisted Artist Hannah Reyes Morales. Photo by Clefvan Pornela, courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery (2025).
Uri De Ger - Beauty Is In The Eye of the Colonizer (KalawakanSpacetime)
Installation shot of "Beauty is in the Eye of the Colonizer" of Ateneo Art Awards 2025 Shortlisted Artist Uri de Ger. Photo by Clefvan Pornela, courtesy of Ateneo Art Gallery (2025).
Each artist was also selected for one or more residency grants, designed to provide creative time, space, and international exposure.
Suarez was awarded five, including placements at Koganecho Area Management Center (Yokohama), Monsoon Southeast Asia Collection & LASALLE College of the Arts (Singapore), OCAD University (Canada), Liverpool Hope University (UK), and CASA San Miguel (Zambales).
Lapina was selected for Project Space Pilipinas (Lucban, Quezon) and La Trobe Art Institute (Bendigo, Australia). Morales will take up the ABungalow Residency (Talisay, Negros Occidental), and also received the Embassy of Italy Purchase prize, presented by Ambassador Davide Giglio. Uri De Ger was chosen for No Space (Baguio, Benguet).
The awards’ expanding residency partnerships highlight the growing network of support for artists working across the media discipline.
Beyond the recognition
The accompanying exhibition, which gathers shortlisted artists and writers will run until December 7, 2025 at the third-floor galleries of the Ateneo Art Gallery located at Ateneo de Manila’s arts and innovation complex.
The awards program continues to spotlight some of the most promising artists in Philippine contemporary art and criticism. It marked excellence not only in artistic production, but also in cultural inquiry and engagement.
A preview of the Ateneo Art Awards 2025 is on view at the Grand Atrium, Shangri-La Plaza, from August 19 to 25, 2025. Photo by Clefvan Pornela, coutesy of Ateneo Art Gallery.
This year’s AAA also marks the addition of new residency partners, including Indeks (Indonesia), Koganecho Area Management Center (Japan), and Monsoon Southeast Asia Collection & LASALLE College of the Arts (Singapore).
The event is further supported by the Ateneo Art Gallery, Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation Inc., and The Philippine Star, with media publication partners including ArtAsiaPacific, Katipunan Journal, and the Embassy of Italy in the Philippines.
The Ateneo Art Awards continue to serve not only as a recognition platform but as a support system. One that goes beyond the event and into the ongoing creative practices of artists and writers.
