Public programs and catalogue launch
June 27–November 22, 2026, 3pm
Arsenale
Venice
Italy
The Artistic Team of the Philippine Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale announces the launch of the Paglalayag Series of public programs developed in conjunction with the exhibition Sea of Love / Dagat ng Pag-ibig, which runs through November 22.
Sea of Love / Dagat ng Pag-ibig features work by the Manila-based visual artist and filmmaker Jon Cuyson. Essential forms from the artist’s 30-year practice, including paintings, videos, and sculptures, pay homage to the Filipino seafarers who populate our global waterways. The exhibition is curated by Mara Gladstone, a California-based curator and educator.
The programming begins with a launch event for the official exhibition publication in Venice at the Artiglierie, Arsenale on Saturday, June 27, from 3–5pm. Join the Artistic Team including Jon Cuyson, Mara Gladstone and designer Jessica Fleischmann in a conversation. Attendees can RSVP at the link here.
The exhibition catalogue is designed by Jessica Fleischmann of Still Room, Los Angeles, and printed by Grafiche Veneziane, a cooperative company that has operated in the historic center of Venice for more than 50 years. This 160-page publication features contributions from international scholars exploring maritime history, contemporary art practice, seafaring cultures, and marine ecologies alongside installation images by Filipino photographer Bien Alvarez and Italian photographer Clelia Cadamuro. The publication is edited by Mara Gladstone and Jose Mari Cuartero, research associate for the Philippine Pavilion. The publication will be available on-site in Venice and online as a digital publication beginning June 27.
Catalogue contributors include Roderick Galam (Oxford Brookes University), Kris Alexanderson (University of the Pacific), Kale Bantigue Fajardo (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities), Anthony Ocampo (CalTech, Pomona), Eli Guieb (University of the Philippines-Diliman), Alfonse Chiu (Centre for Urban Mythologies), Lilibeth Salvador Reyes, Machel Malay, Joshua Allen Canlas and Michelle Marie Ochoa (University of the Philippines, Marine Sciences Institute), Jon Cuyson, Mara Gladstone, Jose Mari Cuartero, Jessica Fleischmann, Senator Loren Legarda, and Commissioner Eric B. Zerrudo.
In collaboration with the Su Xiaobai Foundation, Cuyson will participate in “Moonlight Halo, Lunar Cycle,” a film screening and conversation presented by curators Francesco Urbano Ragazzi with Guglielmo Bottin, with Jennifer West, artist and 2026 Guggenheim Fellow on July 1, 8:30–10pm at Palazzo Soranzo van Axel.
The Paglalayag Series continues at the Port Tonic Art Center in France, where Cuyson is Artist in Residence, expanding ideas he developed for Venice. The PTAC Artist Residency is housed in a former shipyard directly on the Gulf of Saint-Tropez. His residency culminates in an exhibition opening to the public on July 16.
At the Archipelagic Tongues Annual Philippine Studies Conference at SOAS University of London, August 21–23, Cuyson presents “The Films of Sea of Love.” Further programs continue with screenings in Paris in September, a curator tour in Venice in October and programs in Vienna in November.
The Paglalayag Series amplifies the ideas in the exhibition on a variety of platforms, including the publication, Bloomberg Connects digital guide, and conversations. “The Tagalog word paglalayag is defined as ‘movement at sea’ and can be an ocean voyage or the act of sailing,” says Cuyson. “It also conveys a sense of a continuous journey, one that signals and sings the transient nature of existence over time. We see the Paglalayag Series as the exhibition’s journey, and a way to share moments from this project in Venice to those elsewhere while the exhibition is on view.”
“Programs and publications extend the reach of our project beyond the exhibition site and timeline, allowing us to engage with audiences around the world,” says Gladstone. “Our research has led to rich connections with global scholars and new friends beyond Venice. We thank Philippine Airlines for making possible these collateral public programs in Europe, Asia and North America.”
The entire exhibition can be explored through the Bloomberg Connects guide for the Philippine Pavilion. The guide features additional content including artist and curator tours, excerpts from the catalogue, bilingual commentary, installation images and public programming details through the Bloomberg Connects app.
The Paglalayag Series is supported by Philippine Airlines, the official travel partner of the Artistic Team of the Philippine Pavilion, Bloomberg Connects, LEF Foundation, and individual supporters from Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The Philippine Pavilion is commissioned by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
About the artistic team
Jon Cuyson is a Filipino interdisciplinary artist whose practice exists across installation, painting, sculpture, books and moving images. His work has been exhibited in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Cuyson studied at the University of the Philippines, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and Columbia University and is based in the Philippines, where he continues to live and work.
Mara Gladstone is a curator and educator who is committed to creating transdisciplinary, welcoming spaces for art that nurture connections between people and the environment. Gladstone holds degrees from the University of Rochester and Brown.
Media inquiries
Thomas Brown Communications
thomas@thomas-brown.info
