Jon Cuyson, artist-in-residence at Port Tonic, represents the Philippines at the 2026 Venice Biennale
The official announcement of the Paglalayag Series and the full programme can be found on e-flux : 👉 Sea of Love — Paglalayag Series sur e-flux
It is with great pride that Port Tonic Art Centre shares some news of international significance: Jon Cuyson, who is currently in residence at our centre as part of this year’s artist-in-residence programme, is representing the Philippines at the 61st Venice International Art Biennale, one of the world’s most prestigious contemporary art events.
His exhibition, Sea of Love / Dagat ng Pag-ibig, is on display at the Philippine Pavilion, within the Arsenale complex, from 9 May to 22 November 2026. This marks the Philippines’ sixth participation in the Biennale since the country’s return in 2015.
A work dedicated to Filipino seafarers
Jon Cuyson, an interdisciplinary artist born in Manila, has been developing a practice spanning painting, sculpture, books and moving images for the past thirty years. Sea of Love brings together this range of creative expressions in an immersive environment, conceived according to the logic of the sea.
The exhibition pays tribute to the hundreds of thousands of Filipino seafarers who sail the world’s oceans and, behind the scenes, keep global maritime trade running. Through the figure of the seafarer, their family, ships and shells — with the mussel serving as a recurring motif and metaphor — the work gives form and visibility to a line of work that has, for the most part, remained unseen.
Conceived in collaboration with curator Mara Gladstone, the installation unfolds like a shifting horizon, comprising freestanding painted panels, sounds and films, and invites visitors to slow down, listen and wander. The narrative is structured around four perspectives: the sailor, his mother, his lover and a ‘sea of echoes’.
The Paglalayag Series stops off at Port Tonic
To complement the exhibition in Venice, Jon Cuyson and his team have devised the Paglalayag Series, a programme of events that extends and disseminates the ideas behind Sea of Love far beyond Venice. In Tagalog, paglalayag means ‘movement at sea’: a crossing, the act of sailing, but also the sense of a continuous journey.
It is in this spirit that Jon Cuyson’s residency at the Port Tonic Art Center takes place. Our centre thus becomes one of the stops on this artistic journey, alongside a series of international events taking place throughout the year, notably the ART TONIC 2026 exhibition, which opens on 16 July 2026, before the artist goes on to give lectures, screenings and curatorial tours across Europe, Asia and North America.
For Port Tonic Art Tonic, welcoming Jon Cuyson at a time when his work is making its mark on the global stage is both an honour and a confirmation of our mission: to offer contemporary artists a space for creation, connection and sharing.
Further reading
The Philippine Pavilion can also be explored via the Bloomberg Connects digital guide, which offers audio tours, extracts from the catalogue, installation views and bilingual commentary.
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