Viewing Room
Welcome to AAF’s virtual viewing room. The pieces highlighted here are part of a promised endowment of artworks to the Foundation. They reflect a story of persistence, resourcefulness, and ultimately, of a singular vision to repatriate individual creativity and collective memory.
Pre-2000 Collection
AAF’s initial collection is built on mid-20th century artworks by Filipino artists who are often described as members of the so-called Mabini School. Never a formally organized group of artists, the Mabini School derived its name from the art galleries in the Mabini area of Manila City. Relegated in the sideline these past years, they have since garnered renewed interests, providing another lens with which the decades following World War II may be examined.
Post-2000 Collection
Half of AAF’s initial and core collection are comprised of pieces by contemporary artists who self-identify with Philippine heritage. Working on a wide range of materials and subjects, and informed by their respective immediate milieus, these artists work with or against intersectional identities to produce compelling works that can be read in many ways. It is AAF’s hope that these pieces be a springboard for engaging private and public conversations.
International / Transnational Artists
This collection represents works done by artists across the globe. Transcending borders, nationalities, and societies, these artists, often in motion, tackle subjects that showcase the overlapping concerns in otherwise disparate locations.
Other Collections
World War II
American visual artists were part of the force deployed in the Pacific theater during World War II. This collection of various media not only shows the horrors of war but also testifies to the tenacity of the human spirit.
Folk and Outsider Art
Folk and outsider art are valued in AAF’s collection as much as those of academically-trained artists. Blurring the distinction between art and craft, this grouping includes works by artisans, street artists, persons in confinement, people in forced migration, folk art practitioners, and self-taught individuals.
Photography
AAF’s photography collection disregards the distinction between art, journalism, fashion, and daily documentation of life. This group includes pieces from galleries, photographer studios, press archives, as well as unknown origins.