How often do you get richer with a post on your social media? Here’s your chance today: Look around, rediscover your surroundings and spot any form of art. Because your next post about art is your ticket to win PHP 450,000 jackpot in #ArtLotto, an advocacy by PublicisJimenezBasic, E. Zobel Foundation, and 4As Creative Guild of the Philippines that aims to raise consciousness and appreciation for Filipino art and eventually intends to make you richer both in the pocket and in the mind.
Mr. Raymund Sison, co-creator of #ArtLotto and a creative director at PJB, said the idea came up after observing that you can actually find art everywhere in the Philippines. “It’s in underpass tunnels, along highways, in coffee shops and restaurants, in offices, in schools, on streets practically everywhere. Through #ArtLotto and in collaboration with artists, we hope to make more Filipinos pay more attention to all the art around.It’s an attempt to democratize art, to make it more inclusive instead of exclusive, and ultimately make people from different age groups and walks of life be more conscious of art everywhere,” he said.
“It’s a fun, playful way to do art consciousness among Filipinos,” says Ryder Aquino, co-creator of #ArtLotto. Mr. Aquino explained that they made the project mechanics as simple as possible using social media a channel that is accessible to most Filipinos and has become part of most people’s daily life. “#ArtLotto is open to anyone with a Twitter or Instagram account. To join, you just need to snap a photo or take a video of an art, upload it on Twitter or Instagram and then add the hashtag#ArtLotto in your status post. It’s as simple as that!This automatically serves as your ticket towin P450,000 which will be raffled off in January 2016” he said.
Adding the #ArtLotto hashtag also allows the post to be part of a people-curated online art gallery found at www.artlotto.ph. This websitehouses images and videosof all forms of art captured by netizens from visual to theater to dance to literature to film to architecture to music.
The project #ArtLotto hopes to ride on the growing openness of the Filipinos to various art forms as demonstrated by recent successes of contemporary art fairs, cinematic productions and stage plays that enjoyed wide support and even commercial success.
When asked about #ArtLotto, notable Filipino artists all agree that the project presents art consciousness in a new light to people who are usually oblivious to the arts.
Internationally-acclaimed filmmaker Brillante Mendoza said: “The best thing about Art Lotto is it makes people be more aware and more conscious of art, not just the educated ones, but people from all walks of life.”
Famous sculptor and contemporary artist Leeroy New said: “Art Lotto is a great platform to engage people in the field of creatives. It’s a good starting point to help people realize that art can be seen and applied everywhere.”
Fine Arts Professor and Founder of Blue Room Art Gallery said: “Art Lotto is the marriage of two different things – art is more popular among the upper class while lotto for the masses. You bring them together and you have an explosion in the dissemination of art among the people. It’s intriguingly beautiful.”
Filmmaker and actor Dennis Marasigan recognized the novelty of the idea behind #ArtLotto. He said, “I think art in the Philippines always needs more help than what it is getting now. So, any effort to help the arts and help our people understand and appreciate art better is greatly appreciated. Art Lotto will help the arts in a way that no other initiatives have done before.”
Artistic Director of Ballet Philippines Paul Alexander Morales said: “AngPilipinas ay isangbayan ng mgaartista. ItinayotayosaNoli Me Tangere, Magkaisa, Bayan Ko. Nasapusonatinangsining, kaya dapatsuportahannatinito. Please support Art Lotto. Isangmagandangproyekto.”
Award-winning Filmmaker RemtonZuasola said: “We are a nation of islands. We have unique ways of living our everyday life, different ways of expressing ourselves through various art forms. As a people, we need to open our arms wider and embrace the diversity of the different art forms from different regions of our beautiful archipelago. That’s why I’m encouraging everyone to support Art Lotto. Share the art around you and help spread the love for Filipino art.”
Creator of #humansofmanila and big supporter of art Emil Tapnio said: “Art is not just for the rich and the educated, art is for everyone, for every Filipino. And that’s exactly what Art Lotto aims to achieve.”