Art exhibitions usually ask visitors to look. Traverse: Creativity in Motion, the 2026 Metrobank Art & Design Excellence (MADE) exhibition, asks them to move, choose, and discover.
Featuring nearly 100 paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works, the exhibition transforms The Metropolitan Museum of Manila into a landscape of different perspectives on power, hope, human connection, and everyday life.
At its center are works by the three MADE grand awardees, selected from more than 600 submissions by artists from across the Philippines: Aldrin Olaguir, who won in sculpture; Kennette Luague, in mixed media; and Vince Martin Macatangay, in oil or acrylic on canvas.
Their works approach contemporary experience from markedly different directions.
Olaguir examines systems of power through a reimagined holy water font, giving a familiar religious object a new context. Luague turns to the hopes and aspirations of workers with a wall-mounted, rotating work, while Macatangay captures the countless lives unfolding around us through shifting figures and a sense of movement on canvas.
The diversity of approaches reflects MADE’s broader role in the Philippine art scene: nurturing artistic excellence while supporting emerging artists as they establish meaningful and sustainable careers.
“The works featured in the exhibition remind us that art remains a powerful way of helping us better understand ourselves, one another, and the society we aspire to build,” said Metrobank Foundation president Philip Francisco Dy.
Yet Traverse is not intended to be experienced simply by walking from one artwork to the next.
Curated by May Lyn Cruz, an associate professor at the University of the Philippines – Diliman College of Fine Arts, the exhibition gives visitors their own routes through the works. At the Discovery Concourse, they can answer five questions to determine their “Explorer Archetype”—cartographer, scout, or pathfinder—before following a suggested path through the exhibition.
The idea is that there is no single way to experience the show.
Visitors can collect stamps at six stations, complete their journey tickets with craft punches, turn the finished tickets into souvenir bookmarks, and unlock a special MADE sticker. Their individual routes also feed into a growing visual map, bringing together the different ways people have navigated the exhibition.
For some visitors, the freedom to choose a route becomes part of the artwork experience itself.
“I really liked the different routes, it made the experience more special,” one visitor said.
The interactive elements also make the exhibition accessible to audiences who may not typically approach contemporary art through a traditional gallery experience.
“Best competition exhibit I have attended. The interactive nature of it was a great experience for me and my 5-year-old. Congrats to the curator and Metrobank Foundation,” another visitor said.
In this sense, Traverse places as much emphasis on the viewer as on the artwork. The exhibition’s title becomes both an invitation and a description of the experience: to move through different ideas, perspectives, and forms of Filipino creativity, while deciding what to stop and look at along the way.
The 2026 MADE exhibition is free and open to the public until October 18 at The Metropolitan Museum of Manila. It is open from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, and from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Stay updated—follow Philippines Today on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe on YouTube for more stories.