With the crowds surging around me, it felt like Megamall a day before Christmas rather than the middle of July at the bastion of Philippine culture. Thirteen artists stood onstage, each one clutching what looked like mega-sized, brightly-colored, multi-layered snow cones. The ceremony marked the formal recognition of the triennial Thirteen Artists Awards, given to progressive artists below the age of 40, successors to the original Thirteen Moderns who had challenged the accepted notions of Philippine art seventy years ago. Continue reading