De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) expressed its gratitude and support to its students and stakeholders by showcasing the Best of Benilde’s projects and funding the grantees of Benilde Open with the theme “Curious” in the Benilde Open Design+Art exhibition. The exhibit kicked off on May 22 where invited guests and visitors toured the different exhibits scattered throughout the halls of the Design+Art Campus.
Benilde Open and Best of Benilde are projects made as an initiative to celebrate the College’s 35th year. Spanning across a wide array of disciplines, the 11 selected Benilde Open entries will receive a grant of ₱300,000 each to fund their projects. Meanwhile, selected student participants from the Best of Benilde have the opportunity to exhibit their initiatives.
Diversity in talent and ambition
Different initiatives were showcased in the Design and Arts Campus as guests roamed around the College to listen to the innovations of students spanning from different programs of the institution. From an app that aids students in finding residences around Taft to a plan for an inclusive yoga and art center, the projects showcased in the exhibit are truly telling of the diverse Benildean identity.
Gela Mae Gamil, an ID123 Production Design student and one of the selected students for Best of Benilde, introduced her project “Hustlers” and her inspiration behind the project in an interview with The Benildean. Gamil found her love for service as a calling to start Hustlers–an application that acts as a freelance platform connecting physical laborers directly to clients.
“In the pandemic, nakita ko na maraming nahirapan makahanap ng trabaho especially when it comes to finding jobs in physical labor,” she expressed. Drawing inspiration from this situation, she started a program with the idea of helping those whose expertise lies in physical labor. She added she was also inspired by her father whose skill sets were in those specific fields.
Milestones and future projects
The Benilde Open project team was divided into two groups; the convenors and the selection committee. The convenors organizing the event were composed of faculty members, associates, and consultants of the College, in charge of organizing the event all together. On the other hand, the selection committee was composed of an array of artists and renowned individuals in the field—with no members being constituents of DLS-CSB—they were in charge of selecting the grantees out of all the entrees submitted.
The initiative can now be seen as a stepping stone into future endeavors of the College that provides a more direct approach to aiding national artists in and out of the institution. Mr. Ayi Magpayo, a consultant of the College and the producer for Benilde Open, shared the significance of this project.
“It’s the first time Benilde has done anything like this and across different disciplines, different departments, mixing both professionals and students so you see what it's like out there and what's in here and hopefully we learn from each other,” he explained.
Similarly, Ms. Dindin Araneta, an organizer of Benilde Open and a co-founder of ArtFair PH, shared that the main motivation behind such a project was because of the different and diverse ideas of current students and alumni of the College.
She affirmed, “Benilde, now that it’s in its 35th year, we’ve had a lot of graduates who are actually practitioners in the field and there are a lot of students who have all very interesting ideas. It’s a good time to showcase the school and to highlight what has happened over the past 35 years.”
Moreover, she underscored that being an educator in the College for 12 years, seeing students “write the proposal, submit it, without knowing whether they would get selected or not,” was something to be proud of in and of itself.
Marking the 35th year of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Benilde Open and Best of Benilde not only shines a light on the brilliant minds of the students of the College, but also the potential of the institution to contribute more to the creative fields of the Philippines by hosting this initiative that directly funds young innovators.
The exhibit will also be moved around different venues as revealed by Mr. Magpayo, saying, “We are in the process of planning that [referring to the relocation of the exhibit], the first stop should be at DLSU as they were also a major partner of Benilde Open.”
Feed your curious minds and visit the Benilde Open Design+Art exhibition for Benilde Open and Best of Benilde until June 30 at the Design+Art Campus.
For more information on the exhibit, check out the Benilde Open website, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
