art industry in the Philippines

[Guest key-ghie]

hi! juz new here... i need your help in answering my questions for my research project regarding Filipino Visual Artists..please give me some datas regarding this...

What are the needs and problems encountered by the Filipino artists?

Is there enough support and opportunity for the Filipino artists here in the Philippines?

Do you have an idea of what is the population of the artists in the Philippines in this year 2006? Is it increasing or decreasing per year?

Does the works of the artists can suffice their everyday living or does they need alternative source of income?

What is the type/class of the major buyers or clients of artworks in the Philippines? (Is it foreign buyers, sectors of the society, government agencies or personalities)

[smb]

Welcome to the artfreaks.com forums!

ok...

I guess the needs and problems of Filipino artists will be the same the world over. If they are "struggling artists," the hardest thing is to make enough money to live on. If they are successful, it might be hard to break away from their "genre" paintings and come up with something new?

I think that Filipino artists are well supported by the NCCA http://www.ncca.gov.ph/ , the CCP http://www.culturalcenter.gov.ph/ , newspapers like the Philippine Star http://www.philstar.com and the Philippine Daily Inquirer http://www.inq7.net - and many of the private galleries in the Philippines.

I would imagine that it is impossible to say exactly how many artists there are in the Philippines. If you include all the amateurs and students, I would hazard a guess at about half a million?? Whatever the true figure is, I am sure that it is increasing!

Most artists who paint for a living are able tro get by on the earnings from the sale of their artworks - but many have to get out on the streets - selling to tourists and passers-by.

In Ermita, Manila, locally produced art is sold roughly 50 / 50 to tourists and locals. I would immagine that in galleries outside the Ermita / Malate tourist belt, the greater proportion of the sales would be to middle class and wealthy locals.

With the export market, a lot of Philippine art goes to expatriate Filipinos (OFWs who have settled abroad) - although there are big markets for Philippine art amongst the local populations in places like Hong Kong and Singapore, Germany and the USA

Hope this helps!