Audacity: Outburst, the Benilde Multimedia Arts (ABMMA) portfolio exhibit, kicked off on July 24 at the Ayala Malls Circuit, running from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Featuring the works of 150 ABMMA student artists, the exhibit remained on view until its awarding ceremony on July 26, where judges Cholo Sta. Ana, Bruce Rojas, and Amper Melo named this year's winners.
With the theme of embracing the outburst, the exhibit pushes back against the structure and discipline multimedia arts students are trained to work within. Instead, it invites them to create without restraint. Framed as a break from the expected, it aims to bring together a range of perspectives that resist being boxed into anything too neat or easy to digest.
Cue the noise
ABMMA Chairperson Ms. Katrina Juane welcomed the student artists behind the exhibit, explaining that the show's title captures what the program strived to cultivate: "not only technical excellence, but [also] the courage to create with conviction."
She described the outburst as "the moment where creativity could no longer be contained," that behind every project on display is someone who "pushed beyond their comfort zone to create something meaningful." Ms. Juane closed by telling everyone, "Now is your outburst. Own it, embrace it, and let it be the beginning of a creative journey."
Keynote speaker Ms. Marci Delvin shared that the kind of audacity being celebrated was "The audacity to trust your own perspective, to create with intention, and to be unapologetically authentic." She closed with the hope that "[these] outbursts continue in every project you take on.”
Exhibit Director and ID123 ABMMA student Kirk Bertrand Canonizado introduced the exhibit's theme, describing it as a celebration of freedom: "To do whatever you want with your creativity." He noted that as artists grow, they slowly learn to embrace imperfection, prompting them to remember that "today is [a] celebration of the creative mind."
Closing the program, Exhibit Advisor Mr. Paul Samonte thanked the guests in attendance and commended the students for their hard work. He shared that what was on display reflected "the courage to turn [their] ideas into something useful and meaningful," giving viewers new perspectives.
On full volume
Canonizado shared in an exclusive interview with The Benildean that this year's theme was "all about breaking the rules," with a visual motif built around sound waves. “It's all about noise, it's all about being rough, and it's all about being unapologetic," he explained.
He also reflected on the meaning behind the exhibit's title. "Audacity is basically a willingness to take bold or risky actions," he said, adding that the theme was about "uplifting the unconventional" and using the artists' platform to challenge what's usually deemed conventional.
For Canonizado the goal of the exhibit was simple, which was to make both Benildians and the public see how powerful the creative mind really is. This message also felt more urgent to him in an age where artificial intelligence has been harder to combat and ignore, and a constant reminder how much value art has.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with The Benildean, exhibitor ID123 ABMMA student Clark Cuvin walked through the concept behind his piece. “THRESHOLD” is a motion graphics work built around three stages—restriction, expression, and defiance. "I really want to emphasize the growth of one person but through certain analogies such as the crystal," he shared.
Cuvin traced this piece through three stages—-a starting point of not yet knowing oneself is , before being moved into restriction, and eventually through release. To him, growth does not follow a linear state. Growth is cyclical, meaning it alternates between restriction and expression each round increasingly inching closer towards liberation.
What echoes
Visitor Kyle Cadiz, a fellow MMA student from another university, shared in an exclusive interview with The Benildean that what stood out most about Audacity: Outburst was its inclusivity. Cadiz shared that he was struck most with how the exhibit made room for everyone’s creative voice—no single style nor perspective was dominating. It was just a wide range of students being given the space to showcase what makes their work distinctly theirs.
If he could describe the exhibit in one word, Cadiz explicitly expressed that it was "mind-blowing,” explaining that, "sobrang extraordinary ng mga ginawa nila, especially since they worked very hard on this." He extended his commendation to the exhibit's organizers, facilitators, instructors, and director for pulling off a show he described as "memorable, remarkable, and spectacular."
Exhibitor Cuvin shared a similar hope for what exhibits like Audacity: Outburst represent for the future of Filipino multimedia arts. "In this day and age, we still have a stigma that you can’t get any stable money from art. But actually, in this day and age, slowly, we are proving them wrong."
On what makes art good, Cuvin shared that it can’t be determined on grand composition or complexity. To him, even a rough sketch counts, as long as one works hard for it, and the effort behind it is real. This, he believes, is the true measure of art.
Cadiz left incoming fellow MMA freshmen with a challenge by urging them to come in ready and to “be professionally excellent, be professionally creative, and be professionally ready" because boldness, he suggests, still has to be backed by discipline.
In a world that constantly asks artists to fit within expectations, Audacity: Outburst dares us to color outside the lines. As one chapter closes for these artists, another begins—one where the same boldness that filled these gallery walls will continue to shape the stories they choose to tell.
Let creativity speak without restraint with #BenildeMMA’s Audacity: Outburst and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. #AudacityOutburst
