Arts & Culture

LOOK: THE #MABUHAYARTISTS INITIATIVE IS A WELCOME BREAK ON OUR FEEDS

The local art community on Twitter has shed a little bit of light and color to our depressing feeds, temporarily replacing questions of "what?", "how?", and "WTF?" to beautiful images of modern Filipino creativity.

PAULINE NACAR / 20 August 2020

These times have pushed all of our mental states to the deepest and darkest corners of our minds, and each new piece of information we hear from the world just continues to remind us how bleak everything has gotten in 2020. Thankfully, the local art community on Twitter has shed a little bit of light and color to our depressing feeds, temporarily replacing questions of “what?”, “how?”, and “WTF?” to beautiful images of modern Filipino creativity.

The #MabuhayArtists hashtag first became a trending topic on the bird app on Monday and has continued to circulate since then all over the platform. Using the tag, aspiring digital artists shared their most inspired works in an act of unity within the art community, and a means to promote their personal craft. With the tag, on top of sharing inspiration from one creative mind to another, non-designer spectators like myself have also been presented with a directory of sorts, filled with a list of designers and artists to support and buy art from.

In August of 2017, a similar tag was also used with the same intent, #artph. Three years later, new posts are still being added to its growing collection of stunning displays of Pinoy talent alongside the #mabuhayartists initiative.

Scrolling through the tag is also a wonderful way to lose track of time in windows of how other people see the world. Famous personalities get an anime-inspired makeover, nostalgic feelings of elementary afternoons are immortalized in pixel art designs, favorite street food snacks mock us with soft brushstrokes and calling on us to get a taste of them ASAP, and so much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An initiative such as this to support the local art community is all the more important now, as art remains to be one of the few mediums and platforms in which we are free to express ourselves, spread important messages, and celebrate the unique way each of us make use of our creativity.

The tag alone is an impressive testament to the richness and uniqueness of art styles between creatives, showcasing how no two people think, see, and imagine exactly alike. Likewise, on the side of mere onlookers and consumers of these distinct works of art, this also reflects the fact that we all have our own preferences and tastes, and although not everybody will like the same things, there’s definitely always someone who will. The perfect reminder that there’s always room for more — and there’s always room for your art in the wide, wide world of creativity.

From then, to now, and to the indefinite future, we raise our flag to the champions of the art world — Mabuhay, artists.