Himbon’s Pinta sa Papel Exhibit strengthens arts in Iloilo City

By John Noel E. Herrera

Himbon Contemporary Ilonggo Artists Group, in partnership with SM City Iloilo launched an art exhibit dubbed “Pinta sa Papel” on Oct 19, 2022 at SM City Iloilo.

Over 20 selected Himbon artists participated in this year’s exhibit that showcased their works inside the mall which is also part of this year’s Iloilo Arts Festival.

Mostly made of watercolor and acrylic paint, the artworks showed different phases of life and society as artists paint the papers, not just with colors, but emotions and ideas coming from their own experiences in life.

Himbon explained that one of the reasons why they try to incorporate paper as a material in their artworks was to challenge themselves as using it “will require your full attention as in one sitting, you need to finish your work.”

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, who also graced the event, emphasized that the city government will continue pushing for the promotion of arts awareness and appreciation to the public and to add more attractions for visitors to experience during their vacations.

“We have to support this because we have to ensure nga padayon ang pag-cultivate sang aton soul. Because we can only claim that we can again become the Queen City of the South if we strengthen the soul of Iloilo City and we can only do that by supporting our artists,” Trenas added.

The event and this year’s celebration of arts festival also aims to bring arts closer to the people and support the local artists who are making the city vibrant through their talents.

The exhibit will also run from Oct 19 to Nov 6, 2022 at SM City Iloilo Northpoint.

Himbon is a word that means “to gather together,” making the group a collective of artists from all over Panay engaged in multi-disciplinary art forms.