Philippine Artists Win Major Moving Image Commission
By ANNETTE MEIER
Portraits of (left) JOHN TORRES and (right) SHIREEN SENO. Courtesy the artists and the Han Nefkens Foundation, Barcelona.
The nonprofit Han Nefkens Foundation—in association with the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Hong Kong’s M+, and the Singapore Art Museum—has announced Manila-based artists John Torres and Shireen Seno as the winners of its 2025 Moving Image Commission. This year’s edition marks the first time that artists from the Philippines are recognized within the initiative.
The grant is dedicated to supporting Asian video artists aged 35 and above. As the winners, Seno and Torres will receive USD 100,000 to create a screen-based video work, which will be exhibited at each of the collaborating museums.
Seno is a lens-based artist and filmmaker whose practice is centered around notions of memory, history, and home. Torres is an independent filmmaker, musician, and writer who explores personal and found stories of love and family dynamics against the backdrop of current affairs and mythology.
The pair was selected by a jury comprising Kataoka Mami, director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo; Suhanya Raffel, museum director of Hong Kong’s M+; and Eugene Tan, director of the Singapore Art Museum.
According to a press release, the jury chose Seno and Torres for their proposal, A Cure for Colonial Amnesia, which “demonstrates their longstanding commitment to world-building through filmmaking, addressing profound themes of labor, memory, and resistance.” The project “harmonizes sound, archives, and space . . . to explore how historical reflections are woven into the sociopolitical landscapes and daily lives of individuals . . . and capture the healing and resilience within the complex history of the Philippines.”
Seno and Torres thanked the jury in a joint statement: “The Han Nefkens Foundation’s support provides not just financial backing but also recognition of the unique perspective we bring as filmmakers transitioning into new artistic territory. . . . We hope our journey might inspire others who find themselves at a similar crossroads between film, art, and life.”
Annette Meier is an editorial assistant at ArtAsiaPacific.
