We were proud to lead international communications strategy and implementation for the Philippine Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Our work included global media strategy, press outreach, relationshp management, and on-site communications support throughout the Biennale opening. Often described as “the Olympics of the art world,” the Venice Biennale is one of the world’s most prestigious international exhibitions of contemporary art, bringing together artists, curators, critics, collectors, and institutions from across the globe through national pavilions, curated exhibitions, and citywide programming across Venice.
Representing the Philippines at the Biennale, Jon Cuyson presented Sea of Love / Dagat ng Pag-ibig, curated by Mara Gladstone and organized by the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda. The exhibition marked the Philippines’ largest presentation at the Biennale to date and the first time a Filipina-American curator led the Pavilion.
Reflecting on the Philippines as an archipelago shaped by water, migration, and maritime labor, Sea of Love explored themes of intimacy, queer life, globalization, and ecological strain through immersive painting, film, and sculptural installation. Expanding painting into a navigable architectural environment, the exhibition transformed embedded panels, crustaceans, and found materials into a fractured spatial field shaped by what Cuyson describes as “mussel thinking.”
