New Ways of Seeing: The 2026 MADE Awardees

The 2026 Metrobank Art & Design Excellence Awardees turning perspectives into possibilities.

Words Art+ Magazine Team
Photos courtesy of MADE
September 28, 2026

Artwork Hinahalal, Binabanal (The Chosen, the Sanctified), 32.5 cm x 33.5 cm x 56 cm, Resin, marble powder, fiber glass, stainless steel, marine epoxy, and acrylic paint, 2026 by Grand Awardee Aldrin B. Olaguir

What happens when artists look beyond what is familiar?

For the 2026 Metrobank Art & Design Excellence (MADE) grand awardees, the answer takes shape in paintings, mixed media, and sculpture that examine power, perseverance, identity, and human connection. Drawing from personal experiences and observations of the world around them, the artists offer works that challenge perspectives, reveal overlooked realities, and open up new ways of seeing.

*Metrobank Foundation President Philip Francisco U. Dy. | Photos by MADE*

“This year, MADE received over 600 submissions from artists across the country, reflecting the diversity, talent, and vitality of the Philippine art community. Their works remind us that Filipino artists continue to engage deeply with the world around them and contribute fresh perspectives to the conversations shaping our society,” said Metrobank Foundation President Philip Francisco U. Dy.

Through different materials and creative approaches, the three grand awardees followed distinct artistic paths—turning questions, observations, and lived experiences into works that invite audiences to pause, reflect, and look again.

Imagining lives beyond our own

Grand Awardee for Oil or Acrylic on Canvas Vince Martin A. Macatangay explores the vast, unseen worlds carried by every person in Sonder: Sa Bawat Mundong ’Di Ko Matahak (Sonder: In Worlds Beyond My Reach).

*Sonder: Sa Bawat Mundong 'Di Ko Matahak (Sonder: In Worlds Beyond My Reach), 121.92 cm x 91.44 cm, Oil on canvas, 2026, by Grand Awardee Vince Martin A. Macatangay*

The painting brings together multiple figures and gestures, suggesting countless lives unfolding at the same time. Its distorted forms reflect the complexity of individual realities while prompting viewers to consider the lives they encounter but can never fully know.

Sonder refers to the realization that every person has a life as rich and complex as one’s own—complete with relationships, ambitions, routines, and worries. Macatangay first encountered the concept when someone described him as “sonder-coded.” The person later passed away, but the idea remained with him and eventually became the foundation for the work.

“Sa painting, hinihigop ang simuno patungo sa siklo ng walang hanggang daloy ng oras, sumasagisag sa walang katapusang interaksyon sa di mabilang na buhay (In the painting, the subject is drawn into the cycle of the endless flow of time, symbolizing the infinite interactions among countless lives),” explained Macatangay.

The courage to keep moving

For Mixed Media Grand Awardee Kennette A. Luague, resilience takes center stage in Taya (Bet).

*Artwork Taya (Bet), 91.5 cm x 91.5 cm x 6.5 cm, Wood, epoxy, oil paint, billiard cloth, bearing, on wood panel, 2026 by Grand Awardee Kennette A. Luague*

Inspired by workers who make sacrifices and take risks for their families and their hopes for the future, the work depicts a figure caught within a chaotic system yet determined to move forward. For Luague, that choice to keep going despite uncertainty is a measure of courage.

“Bagaman tila nakapako sa gitna ng sistema, ang alab sa kanyang isipan ang nagsisilbing mitsa ng pag-asa. Hindi siya biktima ng pagkakataon, siya ay isang manunugal na may sapat na giting na harapin ang hamon (Although seemingly stuck in the middle of the system, the fire in a person's mind serves as a spark of hope. He is not a victim of circumstance, but a gambler with the courage to face the challenges before him.),” shared Luague.

Using seemingly ordinary materials such as wood and billiard cloth, Luague creates a work that speaks to the risks, aspirations, and hope of Filipino workers.

Making the familiar unsettling

Grand Awardee for Sculpture Aldrin B. Olaguir takes a recognizable religious object and transforms it into something more unsettling in Hinahalal, Binabanal (The Chosen, the Sanctified).

At the heart of the work is a holy water font. Instead of holding water, however, its basin contains a hardened formation, while a crocodile figure looms behind it, evoking associations with power and corruption.

The work examines the idea of the “necessary evil” and how choices made repeatedly can gradually become normalized, justified, and even treated as sacred.

By shifting the meaning of an otherwise familiar object, Olaguir encourages viewers to reconsider the things they may have learned to accept as normal.

“Growing up in the Philippines, I am influenced by survival conditions, inherited moral systems, and fragmented histories shaped by colonial interruption and cultural layering. These experiences drive me to construct symbolic systems and narrative frameworks that reinterpret erased or distorted cultural histories,” shared Olaguir.

Creativity in motion

The three winning works embody the spirit of TRAVERSE: Creativity in Motion, this year’s MADE theme, which recognizes the many ways artists move through ideas, experiences, and forms of expression.

*Artwork Echoes Beneath My Skin, 60.96 cm x 91.44 cm, Oil on canvas, 2026 by Special Citation Arvin C. Cantalejo Jr.*

Though their subjects and approaches differ, the works share a common impulse: to look closely at the world and ask questions about society, identity, and the human experience. In doing so, they create opportunities for audiences to see familiar realities from another angle and engage in deeper reflection and dialogue.

MADE supports this creative journey by providing artists with opportunities to pursue their artistic vision, present their work to wider audiences, build sustainable careers, and connect with a community of fellow creatives.

“What I appreciate most about the 2026 MADE Competition is its open theme. It gives artists the freedom to create works that truly align with their own practice and vision, while also becoming a platform to showcase the best of their craft. For me, it encourages artists to stay true to themselves,” shared Olaguir.

Recognizing creative excellence

Each of the three 2026 MADE grand awardees received PhP500,000 worth of prizes—PhP350,000 in cash and a PhP150,000 scholarship to the Eskinita Art Residency Program in 2027—along with the coveted “More” trophy, sculpted this year in copper by renowned artist and 2007 MADE awardee Juan Sajid.

Metrobank Foundation also recognized artists whose works closely contended for the grand awards with Special Citations:

Raphael Daniel O. David, Sculpture, for Mirror of Consequence: Millisecond Before Light
Richard D. Montero, Mixed Media, for Puno ng Kwento (Full of Stories)
Arvin C. Cantalejo Jr., Oil or Acrylic on Canvas, for Echoes Beneath My Skin
Artgiveson C. Arreglado, Oil or Acrylic on Canvas, for To Weather With You

Each Special Citation recipient received PhP100,000 and the MADE trophy.

The awardees were honored at The Metropolitan Museum of Manila (The M) on September 17, 2026, marking the opening of the 2026 MADE exhibition.

Running from September 18 to October 18, the month-long exhibition is free and features nearly 100 works by artists from different parts of the country whose entries advanced to the semifinals of the competition, including works by this year’s grand awardees.

Free guided tours may be arranged through The M’s website. For updates, follow MADE at @metrobankartanddesign.

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