MANILA, PHILIPPINES — French-Filipina actress and artist Solenn Heussaff returns to France, this time as one of the 15 Filipino artists featured in Manille A’ Paris: Contemporary Dialogues, a group exhibition presented by DF Art Agency and Galerie D’Antoine, in collaboration with FOCUS Asia Contemporary Art. The exhibition is set to highlight the diverse practices of contemporary Philippine artists.
Heussaff joins the likes of Anna Bautista, Cedrick Dela Paz, Demi Padua, Gus Albor, Heart Evangelista, Jana Benitez, Jorge Yulo, Lilianna Manahan, Marrie Saplad, Michelle Perez, Pongbayog, Olivia d’Aboville, Pete Jimenez, and Raffy Napay.
Contemporary Dialogues spotlights the diversity of voices, mediums, and perspectives within the country’s evolving art scene. The artists explore themes ranging from history, memory, and identity to materiality, gesture, and personal experience, reflecting practices deeply rooted in their individual contexts while engaging with broader global conversations.
For Heussaff, her participation marks another opportunity to bring her visual practice into an international setting, following the evolution of her body of work from her international debut in Tokyo with the Provenance Art Gallery to local exhibitions in the Philippines, most notably with her childhood friend and fellow artist, Olivia D’Aboville, Vito Selma, and Leeroy New, and most recently, the Unseen Garden.
Through her exploration of abstract expressionism, mixed media, and a tactile approach using sgraffito, she contributes her own perspective, represented by lush, dense botanical foliage that integrates the Filipino experience into the broader artistic dialogue the group exhibition seeks to convey—reflecting her thoughts on how we, as humans, interact with time, nature, and beauty.
Happening during Paris Art Week, Manille A’ Paris: Contemporary Dialogues is positioned as an exchange between two cultural realities: Philippine art and the international art scene, in one of the world’s historic centers for art and culture. The exhibition explores how contemporary art can move beyond traditional geographical boundaries, allowing artists and audiences to encounter different perspectives and realities without prescribing what Philippine contemporary art should be.
Through this exhibition, audiences are invited to engage with the complexity and diversity of Philippine contemporary art while creating space for new dialogues between Manila and Paris.
Profile Photo by Jerick Sanchez
