Several weekends ago, hundreds drove up to Museo Orlina in Cavite for Tagaytay Art Beat, an art and music festival. This year’s line-up: a great platter of local eats, a gallery of both rising and internationally acclaimed Filipino artists, and a tasteful selection of classic and emerging local musicians. The clear skies over the weekend gave attendees an unobstructed view of Lake Taal. The signature Tagaytay breeze, combined with art, made this weekend a breath of fresh air.

Art Beat was worth the trip up to Tagaytay. Art Beat speaks to the art often gone underappreciated in the mainstream: the old, the emerging, the niche and the literal screamo. It’s not about what sells necessarily but what makes you feel. Ning Orlina, one of the founders of Art Beat, said she wanted the event to make a statement about Filipino artists, to inspire audience members to make and support local art, and I felt it loud and clear.

To know more, and feed our curiosity about the event, we asked Ning about Art Beat’s history, aims and impact.

Interview by Miko Borje and Photos courtesy of Johnnie Walker

Why did you start Art Beat?

I started Art Beat as a way to get more of the younger generation to visit Museo de Orlina. Ever since my dad opened the museum in 2014, the guests attending his events and also the museum visitors were all of his generation. I knew there was a market for my generation but thought they probably just didn’t know about it. So I figured, a great way for them to come up here was to bring up-and-coming bands to perform.

Sounds a lot easier said than done – how did you do it?

During one event, my dad had a local Beatles cover band perform at the amphitheatre. I invited two of my close friends who happened to be musicians. One was Muriel Gonzales, the violinist from The Ransom Collective.

This was in February 2015, so TRC had just won Wanderland’s band competition. While dancing and singing along to the Beatles, I said to Muriel, pointing to the stage, “It’s my dream for you to play up there in front an audience dancing and rocking out to your music”. After telling her my plan, she introduced me to JB Balaquit of DocDef productions.

It was a perfect partnership because JB also had plans of organizing a gig or event out of town! I asked him if we could get around 5 performers. But after a few weeks, he came to me with a list of 16! That was the line up of the first Tagaytay Art Beat, back in September 2015.

Our partnership with DocDef has come to be a great one, because they’ve got lots of experience organizing gigs and shows around the metro. And at that time, Tagaytay Art Beat was around their 100th show! So I trusted them to take care of the music side, including stage production and band management.

But Tagatay Art Beat isn’t just a music festival right? How did you integrate the two – art and music?

I had the idea of making Art Beat more than just a concert. Since we were located in a museum and we housed our own gallery, Reflections Gallery, I decided to get my younger sister, Anna, involved and head the art side of the event. She had graduated from Multi-Media Arts in CSB and had experience working for an art gallery in Manila. She came to be the curator of every Tagaytay Art Beat exhibit. So in a way, JB, Anna and I are the core or “executives” of Art Beat.

We are at Tagaytay Art Beat 3 now, how has it changed over the years?

Tagaytay Art Beat has grown a lot since the first. One of the things I am most proud of is our own Mercato food market, which we didn’t have at the first one. We rent the space across the museum as the perfect place for around 13 vendors to sell different types of food and cuisines and it gives the attendees the chance to eat and load up on more energy for the festivities.

Aside from that, the variety in the line-up of both music and art has diversified each time. Every year, we try to make it a point to diversify – add new sounds and genres in the music and a more wide-range of mediums and styles in the arts. This year, we had more murals placed around the museum. Some of which included Jappy Agoncillo, Dee Jae Paeste, Miggy Antonio, Kris Abrigo and Aral Cru. As for the exhibitors’ works, aside from the various painting styles, we also had sculptures, photography, print, fabrics, and much more! Then for the music, JB curated the line-up in the way that there was a different vibe throughout the day. We started with singer-song writers, then introduced rap acts. We followed with rhythmic and percussive beats by Adrinka Lumads and Dayaw. Then we showcased the audience favorites, like Hale, Mayonnaise and Ben&Ben. We tried to spread out the different genres to keep the energy flowing throughout the day, since the festival lasted for almost 15 hours.

Our hope is for the attendees to get inspired by what they see and hear so that they too would want to pursue whatever talent or passion they have.

Let’s go deeper – what does Art Beat mean for you, local art and local artists?

The mission of Tagaytay Art Beat, aside from showcasing the works of Ramon Orlina and his museum, is to provide a platform for young and upcoming artists – musicians and visual artists, to showcase their talent and work to a greater and wider audience. Our hope is for the attendees to get inspired by what they see and hear so that they too would want to pursue whatever talent or passion they have. It also helps that Art Beat is located in a museum, built by a successful Filipino artist, which gives a setting for them to personally experience and witness the possibility of what one, who wants to pursue a career in the arts or music, can achieve.

This event means a lot to me because I am neither a musician nor artist, but I know how to appreciate art. This is my way of helping those who do have the talent to spread their work for more people to experience and appreciate.

And lastly, what else would you like our readers to know about Art Beat?

I think the reason why Tagaytay Art Beat has been so successful over the years is because it has a special intimate feel. Since the amphitheater isn’t as big other music festivals, it gives it a “backyard” vibe. The audience and performer are so close to each other, they feed off each other’s energies and get pumped up even more! It’s amazing. So not only do the attendees enjoy coming up to Tagaytay for Art Beat, but the musicians themselves also enjoy playing and performing on the Tagaytay Art Beat stage in front of some of their biggest fans.

The art exhibit from Art Beat runs until August 2018, so anyone can drop by Museo Orlina, open on Tuesday-Sunday 10am-6pm. They can still see the various works created by the exhibitors; the Johnnie Walker painted bottles, the murals, and the neon photo room. Visitors can buy the works of the Tagaytay Art Beat exhibitors too!