The country’s premier design and lifestyle event is back this April.
Asia’s pioneering trade show Manila FAME, presented by the Department of Trade and Industry, through the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), is slated on April 21-24, 9 am to 6 pm, at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
Manila FAME features carefully curated furniture, home furnishing, fashion items, holiday gifts and décor, all products of the ingenuity and creativity of the Filipino designers, craftsmen and artisans.
Conceptualized as a one-stop shop for high-concept products using indigenous and local materials and an exclusive platform for business matching between exporters and buyers, Manila FAME will highlight this April its Boutique Edition which features a tighter-curated list of exhibitors for a more exclusive feel to the event. The trade show will also stage two unique features that will highlight the works of two notable Filipino personalities notable in their respective artistic fields.
“Spring Forward’ will feature the work of Ito Kish that take inspiration from the season of spring, for both indoor and outdoor home décor and accessories. Kish has been constantly featured in design trade shows both here and abroad, among them the Philippine International Furniture Show and Maison et Objet Asia in Singapore in 2015.
Kish has also won awards, including an Asia Talents award given by Interni Magazine Thailand and a Katha Award for Best Product Design at the October 2014 edition of Manila FAME. His designs have also been featured in magazines and publications such as Elle Décor, Architectural Digest Italia, Erablago Russia, Home Journal Hong Kong, and Habitus Australia. Kish has 25 years of experience in the field of visual merchandising. He was behind the success of Urban Effects during its early years, afterwhich he established his own brand KISH, showcasing his unique designs and rendering design consultancy for residential and commercial spaces. Among his works are the Amanpulo, Globe Telecom, and Antel model units.
Veteran curator Marian Pastor-Roces is the genius behind Y’ARI, a new Manila FAME feature which will present a careful selection of village artisans and designers working together to co-create high-end, limited production bespoke products. Roces is the founder of TAO, Inc., an agency specializing in museum and exhibition curatorship and development, and she enjoys recognition and respect as a critical commentator in the international contemporary art, museology and cultural theory communities. Her lectures and analyses published worldwide, including a major essay which develops her critique of international art exhibitions published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press (2005) and Bergen Kusthalle, Norway (2010). She has also been a recipient of a €50,000 grant by the Prince Claus Fund of the Netherlands and an Asian Leaders fellowship awarded by the Japan Foundation and International House. She is currently completing a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Cultural Research at the University of Western Sydney.
Now on its 63rd edition, Manila FAME has evolved into a world-class trade show where exhibitors and participants discover globally-responsive networks and products, all contributing to the color and richness of Filipino culture.
“Buyers who come to Manila FAME on a regular basis always comment that they enjoy and benefit from the multi-dimensional experience that only Manila FAME offers,” states Rosvi Gaetos, executive director of CITEM.
