ARTEFINO, the artisanal trade fair founded by Maritess Pineda, Mita Rufino, Susie Quiros, Cedie Lopez-Vargas, and Marimel Francisco, is cooking up new things this year (possibly more than before).

The fair will take place from July 31 to Aug. 3 at The Fifth at Rockwell, while the ArteFino Lounge opens at the Balmori Chef’s Table earlier on July 26. ArteFino Lounge will feature recipes by Angelo Comsti and Don Baldosano, while displaying items in furniture, homeware, and jewelry.

At the fair’s launch on July 9 at the SoFA Design Institute at Rockwell, Makati, we saw new creations by Jor-El Espina in a collection inspired by Patis Tesoro, called Heirloom. Camille Villanueva lends her signature dresses, jackets, and tops as a canvas to muralist Tara Soriano; while other ArteFino stalwarts showed completely new designs, and expanded lines for children, men, and home.

A collaboration that Ms. Francisco is personally excited about is Earthbound by Steffi Cua, Geraldine Javier, and Marionne Contreras, which explores the use of eco-printed local textiles and new forms of zero waste designs.

Ms. Francisco, in an interview with BusinessWorld, said, “The brief to them has always been, ‘Nothing new? Sorry.’

“There really has to be something new,” she said.

As for the Lounge concept, she says, “We wanted to expand the fair beyond The Fifth. One of the spaces that we decided to get was The Balmori,” which is also at Rockwell. “It’s a place where our patrons can sit, relax, shop, have a good meal,” she said. “From experience, The Fifth gets quite crowded. It’s really a breathing space.”

MAKING THINGS ACCESSIBLE
There are expanded lines that are more inclusive (beyond the women who usually shop at ArteFino), she said, “It’s really a complete Filipino lifestyle. It’s taking all these products and imbibing it into every aspect of your home; what you carry, your clothes, your shoes… it’s really that conscious mindset of patronizing Filipino and really having that lifestyle.”

ArteFino has been one of the forces that has put forward the Filipino aesthetic as finally cool. The key to this, according to Ms. Francisco, has been to target the young. “We always want to reach or appeal to the younger generation. Because then… they’ll be the ones to patronize all these products eventually,” she said.

“I want it to be more accessible,” she said, responding to the notion that the products in ArteFino can be costly. “They want to buy something there: one piece, even if it’s costly — costly is different from expensive, because it’s costly to make — it takes time.

“One piece, and they look at it as an investment. That’s okay for them. It doesn’t have to be a lot of something. One special, unique piece.”

ArteFino has been around since 2017.

TOMORROW THE WORLD?
“I want it to be in every household,” said Ms. Francisco, talking about the Filipino-first attitude ArteFino products seem to convey. However, after the Philippines, they’re eyeing the world — but it’s still just a distant twinkle. “We have been approached for LA, New York, San Francisco,” said Ms. Francisco.

However, “I have to be honest, it’s really something that always comes up, and we think about it, of having a show abroad and taking our brands global. We feel that a lot of them are very ready. In fact, a lot of them have done it on their own,” she said. “It’s something that’d be nice to showcase on a global scale. But to create something like this — it’s a whole logistical operation. We need to have partners to help us with that side of it.

“Maybe one day; I’m not losing hope on this,” she said. “It’s my dream.”

Entrance to ArteFino will cost P150. One hundred percent of the ticket sales go towards HeArteFino, their non-profit arm that awards grants to small artisanal brands. — Joseph L. Garcia