98B COLLABoratory was established in January 2012 by Mark Salvatus (visual artist) and Mayumi Hirano (curator and researcher) as a response to the need for alternative venues in Manila. They opened up their studio and residence in Cubao, Quezon City to respond to this dearth; 98B is their apartment’s street number address. July of 2012 provided 98B with an opportune playground to frolic in – Escolta, Manila.
Marika Constantino (visual artist and curator), Gabriel Villegas (artist and community organizer) together with 98B’s Founders, has directed the team’s various programs and activities towards creative sharing, critical discussion, and collaboration from 2012 until 2018.
2019 promises to be an immensely exciting period for us and a time for graduation and change. Since we began in 2012, it has been agreed upon by the founders, directors and founding members that 98B as a platform and initiative should be able to continue and evolve beyond its founders, personalities, directors, and the changing membership.
Founders Mark Salvatus and Mayumi Hirano have decided to be inactive and pass the baton on, due to their personal projects and exciting opportunities that will bring them to different parts of the world. The team is also excited for opportunities that have opened up for our former Executive Director and Founding Member Marika Constantino who is now undergoing her six-month New York Fellowship with the Asian Cultural Council. Upon her return to the Philippines, she will transition a big portion of her practice to Roxas City, Capiz. Gabriel Villegas is now director of programming for the HUB | Make Lab, a former 98B project which graduated into its own last 2019 and one of the widely respected creative hubs in the Philipines. The team wishes all of them immense luck and are truly thrilled with the possibilities that their future endeavors will hold. We are beyond grateful for the seven years that they have devoted to 98B and immensely appreciate their good wishes and constant support for the incoming team.
From this point on, the 98B COLLABoratory Team will be led by Katherine Nuñez, who brings her three years experience as member and program head for 98B, together with members Gabrielle Gatchalian, Juno Vizcarra and Christine Capili.
It is an exciting new chapter for 98B filled with various projects, programs, experiments, and new ways of seeing and doing. While the team may be lean, with your continued encouragement, support, and continued collaboration, we know that this evolution of 98B as an initiative and the new direction the team will take in creating and maintaining platforms for artistic exchange will be sustained.
