Portia (Maria Portia Olenka C. Placino, b. 1984) is a curator and independent arts writer based in Manila, Philippines. She currently runs the JCB Gallery at Philippine Women’s University. Her writings appeared in ArtAsiaPacific, ArtReview, Art & Market, Art+ Magazine, Spot.ph, Esquire Philippines, and several local and international academic publications. She received research and writing residencies and grants in the Philippines, Germany, Korea, and Belgium. She scrutinizes and situates marginal and off-center art practices including regional contemporary art, feminist perspectives, and sociopolitical currents in her curatorial work. Her writing projects examine the position of contemporary art in an embattled society.
LinkedIn, Academia, contact@portiaplacino.com
#FacultyFridays Episode 4: Ms. Portia Placino | CIIT Philippines
Meet Ms. Portia Placino, Arts Educator and Writer | CIIT Philippines
Curatorial Projects [2024 Catalog]
Framed Truths, a solo exhibition featuring the experimental documentary process of Veejay Villafranca, JCB Gallery, 2025.
Kaloob, a solo exhibition featuring a single-piece crochet installation work of Aze Ong, JCB Gallery, 2025.
Ang Kabuhi Sang Gaga, a solo exhibition featuring prints, paintings, and memorabilia of feminist and KASIBULAN founder Brenda Fajardo, JCB Gallery in partnership with Tin-aw Art Management, 2024-2025.
Artistic Research Exhibition: 2024 PWU Research Festival, a group exhibition featuring artistic research projects of the Sint Lucas Anterpen School of Arts, Karel de Grote Hogeschool grantees, HZB Hall, 2024.
White Elephant Project, a solo exhibition featuring the printed photographic representation of architectural remnants of dictatorships in installation form by Jomar Galutera, JCB Gallery, 2024.
Best@SFAD2024: Tribute to Legacies, a group exhibition for the shortlisted artists for the annual awards of the School of Fine Arts and Design, paying tribute to Egai Talusan Fernandez, Araceli Limcaco Dans, and Rosario Bitanga-Peralta, HZB Hall, 2024.
“Tayong Dalawa” Pekeng palabas mula sa Argentina Pop-up Show, a solo show featuring works on paper and collection objects across territories by Joaquin Goldstein, JCB Gallery, 2024.
Imprints, a solo exhibition featuring prints utilizing various processes across four decades by Noëll EL Farol, JCB Gallery in collaboration with MARS Center for Printmaking, JCB Gallery, 2024.
Someday This Will All Make Sense, a textile experimental and participatory project featuring Ged Unson Merino with Works by Aze Ong, JCB Gallery, 2024.
Budhi, a solo exhibition featuring the experimental and non-figurative works of regional artist Anthony Nañola, JCB Gallery, 2024.
Publication Highlights
“Forging New Paths at the Jose Conrado Benitez Gallery.” In Check-in 2025, 164-168. Singapore: Art & Market, 2025.
Sabangan, JCB Gallery Special Issue, Manila: Philippine Women’s University, 2025.
“Framing the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Collection.” In Kaban: 50 Years of Investing in Philippine Cultural Heritage, 19-47. Manila: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, 2023.
“Imelda Cajipe Endaya: The History is Female (cover feature),” ArtAsiaPacific, May 1, 2023.
“Manila: Resurgence of Site and Critique,” ArtAsiaPacific ALMANAC, January 2, 2024.
“Contemporary Positionalities of Women in the Arts: Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Nena Saguil, and Pacita Abad,” Esquire Philippines, 2024.
“Ironies of Colonialism and Diaspora in Contemporary Art,” Esquire Philippines, April 22, 2024.
“How (Not) to Reread the Colonial Archive,” ArtReview Asia, Winter 2023.
“Julie Lluch: Feminist and Activist,” Art+ Magazine, October 3, 2023.
“Horror Vacui: Complexities of Philippine Art,” Naware Magazine, Madrid: 2023.
“Dreaming in Indigenous Cultures and Contemporary Art,” Naware Magazine, Madrid: 2023.
“Exhibition Review: ‘Crackling for a Piece of the Moon’ and ‘Pro-Forma,’” ARTSG, May 30, 2022.
Talks
Speaker and facilitator for “Essays and Assays: Approaches and Experiments in Art Writing,” Department of Art Studies and OICA, University of the Philippines, Quezon City, February 17 & 24, 2025.
Special lecture on Philippine Art for the Department of Philosophy, University of Sto. Tomas, Manila, November 19, 2024.
Convener and Presenter in International Training Program Artistic Research Exhibition and Presentation – Philippine Women’s University, October 9, 2024.
Special lecture on AI and digital media for the League of Corporate Foundations’ Corporate Social Responsibility Expo, Dusit Thani Hotel, July 4, 2024.
Moderator for “Point to Point: Art and Digital Connectivity” with Ateneo Art Gallery and Purita Kalaw-Ledesma Foundation, Inc., June 27, 2023.
Moderator for “Recipients of the 2022 Artist Residency Grant” with Art Fair Philippines, February 17, 2023.
Presenter in La Salle-Singapore 5th ANCER Conference – Cultivating Sustainable Regional Art Space: Orange Project and Art District, December 2-4, 2022.
Speaker for “Perspectives in Art Writing” with Orange Project, June 27, 2022.
Moderator for “ArtSpeak Online: The Creative Process and Collaborations” with Ateneo Art Gallery, February 23, 2022.
List of Publications
Features
“Love, Grief, Resistance: Pio Abad’s Chronicle of Historical Memories,” Esquire Philippines, 2025.
“Pagtitipon-tipon: A Gathering of Regional Art Spaces and Initiatives,” Esquire Philippines, 2024.
“Framing Women Artists in the Philippines,” Spot.ph, March 31, 2024.
“Rethinking Land and Labor Through Art,” Spot.ph, March 27, 2024.
“Beauty and Ugly: Complexities in Philippine Art,” Spot.ph, August 12, 2023.
“How an Artist-Run Space in Teachers Village Brings the Community Together,” Spot.ph, June 11, 2023.
“Rethinking Philippine Muslim Art and Culture With the “Father of Sablay”,” Spot.ph, May 21, 2023.
“Reimagining Sugilanon: Negros’ Legends as Told Through Art,” Spot.ph, May 1, 2023.
“Orange Project and Art District: Creating Bacolod City’s Contemporary Art Hub,” Spot.ph, March 25, 2023.
“Beyond the Kiping: Project Space Pilipinas Makes Space for Contemporary Art in Lucban,” Spot.ph, January 15, 2023.
“Nunelucio Alvarado: Sugar and Salt of Life,” ArtAsiaPacific, July-August 2022.
“Kidlat Tahimik: History Through the Bamboo Camera,” ArtAsiaPacific, March-April 2022.
“Forging on by the Mountainside,” Vitalpoints, Purita Kalaw Ledesma Foundation, 2021.
Profiles
“Quiet Monuments: Maria Taniguchi,” Art+ Magazine 2025.
“Celebrating Brenda Fajardo,” Art+ Magazine 2025.
“The Orlina Family: Crafting a Legacy,” Art+ Magazine, 2025.
“Geraldine Javier: Lightness in Death,” ArtAsiaPacific, March-April 2024.
“Artistic Labor: Len-Len reframes being a woman, artist, and mother,” Art+Magazine Issue 88, January 2024.
“Jose Tence Ruiz: Fear of the Setting Sun,” ArtAsiaPacific, September-October 2023.
“Veejay Villafranca: Lenses of Photography as Salve to Human Stories,” Art+ Magazine Issue 85: MOCAF Issue, August 1, 2023.
“The Paradox of Charlie Co,” Art+ Magazine, June 15, 2023.
“Looking Into Bacolod Artist Brandon Braza’s Persistence of Practice,” Spot.ph, April 16, 2023.
“Artist Faye Abantao Dwells on Collective and Personal Memories,” Spot.ph, February 12, 2023.
“Kiri Dalena: Confronting Narratives,” ArtAsiaPacific, September-October 2022.
“Legacies of Dissent: Leslie de Chavez,” ArtAsiaPacific, November-December 2021.
Reviews
“Ballet Manila’s Florante at Laura as Contemporary Performance,” Esquire Philippines, 2024.
“Quiet Identities in the Printmaking Practice of Imelda Cajipe Endaya,” Esquire Philippines, 2024.
“Ironies of Colonialism and Diaspora in Contemporary Art,” Esquire Philippines, 2024.
“Mark Justiniani’s Infinity Works at the Ateneo Art Gallery,” Spot.ph, February 28, 2024.
“Seeing through Lenses: Expanding Contemporary Photography,” Spot.ph, January 1, 2024.
“How Can Art Imagine Our Uncertain Future?,” ArtReview Asia, Autumn 2023.
“Rethinking Migrant Labor through Karakoa Warriors,” Spot.ph, December 25, 2023.
“From Gore to Humor: Finalists of the Ateneo Art Awards 2023,” Spot.ph, November 1, 2023.
“Art Evokes Excesses in Philippine Culture and Politics,” Spot.ph, October 24, 2023.
“This Provocative Exhibit in Iloilo Sparks a Dialogue on “Aesthetic Cuisine,” Spot.ph, July 16, 2023.
“Navigating Internet Culture and Memes Through Mideo Cruz’ Latest Exhibit,” Spot.ph, June 25, 2023.
“Losing Home: Stories of Loss and Resistance at Gravity Art Space,” Spot.ph, June 4, 2023.
“Coconut, Copra, and Heritage Take the Spotlight at This Art Exhibit,” Spot.ph, March 12, 2023.
“On the Environment, Magic, and Politics of Art Residencies Across Regions,” Spot.ph, February 26, 2023.
“Manila: Pio Abad,” ArtAsiaPacific, July-August 2022.
“Manila: Cast But One Shadow,” ArtAsiaPacific, March-April 2022.
Exhibition Notes
“Framed Truths: Veejay Villafranca,” exhibition note, JCB Gallery 2025.
“To Conquer a Home: Faye Abantao,” exhibition note, Finale Art File
“Kaloob: Aze Ong,” exhibition note, JCB Gallery, 2025.
“Detached: Aze Ong,” exhibition note, Mugna Gallery, 2024.
“Dahil Sa’yo: Ged Merino,” exhibition note, Project Space Pilipinas
“Tales from the Hearth: Mapping a Mother’s Landscape,” exhibition note, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts, 2023.
“Ziggurat,” exhibition note, Kaida Contemporary, 2018.
“Paglantaw,” exhibition note, Vargas Museum, 2014.
“Concurrence,” exhibition note, West Gallery and Project Space Pilipinas, 2014.
Academic Works
Sabangan, JCB Gallery Special Issue, Manila: Philippine Women’s University, 2025.
“Critical and Curatorial Conversations on Contemporary Regional Philippine Art,” Bugkos, Philippine Women’s University, vol. 5, 2024.
“Manix Abrera,” Cultural Center of the Philippines Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (Visual Art), 2nd ed. vol. 5, 2017.
“Mideo Cruz,” Cultural Center of the Philippines Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (Visual Art), 2nd ed. vol. 5, 2017.
Portia Placino and Eileen Ramirez, “Poleteismo,” Cultural Center of the Philippines Encyclopedia of Philippine Art (Visual Art), 2nd ed. vol. 5, 2017.
“Korean Contemporary: Continuing Process and Discourse, Articulation of Silences,” Conference Proceeding, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, 2016.
“Contemporary Art Publics: Mapping Philippine Contemporary, Media, Technology and Publics,” Journal of Global Studies and Contemporary Art (REG/AC), Art Globalization Interculturality – University of Barcelona, 2015.
“Spilling into the Public: Poleteismo and Contemporary Art Discourse,” Plaridel, College of Mass Communications, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 2012.
“Contemporaneity and Institution: Poleteismo Controversy in the Philippine Museum,” Museum 2012: The Socially Purposeful Museum Conference Proceeding, National Taipei University of Education, University of Leicester’s Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, National Museums Liverpool, National Museum of History, Taipei, 2012.
Portia Placino 