Ayala Art Tents 2023: A Stage for The Factory’s Story

In February 2023, Art Tents returned to Ayala Centrio Mall, transforming its event center into a ten-day art showcase of local creators, crafts, performances, and installations. The mall’s event hall became a canvas for Cagayan de Oro’s creative scene to breathe and be seen. [CDODEV PROGRESS WATCH]

That year, I was invited not just as a photographer but as a speaker. I shared my journey with The Factory — how the studio started, the failures, the breakthroughs, and how each image is part of a larger narrative. It was fulfilling to move from behind the camera to the mic, to let people in on the process, the struggle, and the vision.

Art Tents has always been more than just an exhibit. It’s a gathering — a place where artists, designers, musicians, and photographers share work, ideas, and the realities of building a creative life in Mindanao. In 2023, the event transformed Centrio’s activity center into a living gallery. Booths filled the space with paintings, handcrafted pieces, and installations that reflected the energy of Cagayan de Oro’s creative community.

Art Tents has always been more than just an exhibit. It’s a gathering — a place where artists, designers, musicians, and photographers share work, ideas, and the realities of building a creative life in Mindanao. In 2023, the event transformed Centrio’s activity center into a living gallery. Booths filled the space with paintings, handcrafted pieces, and installations that reflected the energy of Cagayan de Oro’s creative community.

That year, I stood in front of an audience not as a photographer, but as a storyteller. I shared the story of The Factory Studio — how it started from an idea, how it evolved through challenges, and how it became a space for collaboration and meaning.

I talked about failure, about starting from nothing but curiosity and drive, and about the people who helped shape the studio into what it is now — stylists, artists, designers, and friends who believed in the same vision: that photography can be more than image-making. It can be storytelling, community, and memory.

Standing there, talking about art instead of making it, I realized something — The Factory was never just a studio. It was always meant to be a movement.

Art Tents 2023 reminded me why I started in the first place. The laughter of people passing by the booths, the conversations between strangers who shared a love for creation — that was the art. It wasn’t confined to the walls or the frames. It was alive in the people who showed up.