Submerged histories and shimmering hopes: A voyage to ‘Dagat ng Pag-ibig’ at the 61st Venice Biennale

“I wanted to capture that delicate tension between the love that drives one to leave and the love that anchors them back home.”

Luis Espiritu·12 May 2026, 11:39 pm

Submerged histories and shimmering hopes: A voyage to ‘Dagat ng Pag-ibig’ at the 61st Venice Biennale — Luis Espiritu

In the sun-drenched corridors of the Arsenale, where the weight of history meets the whisper of the tide, the Philippines makes a sophisticated, quiet splash at the 61st Venice Biennale.

Sea of Love / Dagat ng Pag-ibig is a fluid, atmospheric homecoming featuring the contemplative work of Manila-based artist and filmmaker Jon Cuyson. The pavilion sheds the loud, often frantic tropes of national identity for something far more poignant: the intimate, salt-stained reality of the global Filipino.

NANAY Cleo’s Dream, 2021.
Photographs courtesy of Sea of Love of Jon Cuyson

PAVILLION of the Philippines at the 61st International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia.

Title: Sea of Love / Dagat ng Pag-ibig
Commissioner: National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda.
Curator: Mara Gladstone
Exhibitor: Jon Cuyson

This cultural homecoming is a powerhouse collaboration, commissioned by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in a tight-knit partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda. Marking the nation’s sixth consecutive appearance at the Biennale Arte since its triumphant 2015 return, Sea of Love / Dagat ng Pag-ibig stands as a luminous realization of Senator Legarda’s long-standing advocacy to re-establish and broadcast the Filipino creative spirit on the world’s most prestigious stage.