STPI Presents - Pacita Abad: Common Ground

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

STPI Presents 

Pacita Abad: Common Ground

25 October – 13 December 2025

STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery presents Pacita Abad: Common Ground, featuring artworks created during the late Filipino artist’s 2003 residency at STPI. After two decades, this exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience a significant body of her STPI works, alongside two of her iconic trapunto paintings from the Pacita Abad Art Estate. The exhibition runs from 25 October to 13 December 2025.

As the workshop’s third artist-in-residence and the first female to undertake the role, Abad fully embraced STPI’s experimental ethos in its formative years. In Singapore, Abad is most beloved for transforming the Alkaff Bridge into a rainbow of 46 colours and 2,350 circles—an iconic public artwork and testament to her belief in colour’s power to uplift communities. This latest exhibition arrives amid renewed global recognition for Abad, whose vibrant, boundary-crossing practice has recently been celebrated at major museum exhibitions and biennales worldwide.

“Pacita Abad’s practice, which championed cross-cultural dialogue and diversity, was ahead of its time in addressing what are now central concerns in contemporary art,” said Emi Eu, Executive Director of STPI. “Her fearless experimentation with materials resonates with STPI’s mission to push the limits of paper and printmaking. With this exhibition, we are proud to share an innovative chapter in her career with a new generation of audiences and celebrate an artist who illuminated the common ground that connects us all.”

Pacita Abad (b. 1946, Batanes, Philippines—d. 2004, Singapore) was an artist whose life and work spanned six continents and over 60 countries. “I always see the world through colour,” she once said. “I feel like I am an ambassador of colours, always projecting a positive mood that helps make the world smile.” Known for her bold canvases and textile-based works, Abad filled surfaces with dazzling colour, exuberant textures and abstract forms. Her palette, rooted in her Filipino upbringing and enriched by global traditions, became a radiant language of joy, resistance and connection.

During her three-month residency at STPI, Abad embraced the circle as her unifying motif—“direct, simple, modern, universal, intimate, fascinating and playful”. She turned circles into suns, moons, doorknobs, traffic lights and umbrella shapes, layering glitter, buttons, mirrors and luminous inks into richly coloured pulp. These kaleidoscope works shimmer with vitality, affirming colour as a universal language of optimism. 

Beyond aesthetics, her work challenged Western dominance in late 20th-century art and elevated often overlooked materials and practices. Migration, identity and social justice influenced Abad’s practice. Exiled from the Philippines at 23 for her family’s opposition to the Marcos regime, she settled in San Francisco and became immersed in activist and immigrant communities. Later travels to refugee camps along the Cambodia–Thailand border deepened her awareness of displacement and resilience, infusing her art with stories of shared humanity.

Pacita Abad: Common Ground reaffirms STPI’s role as a site of experimentation and dialogue with the international art world. Today, her works speak with renewed urgency, addressing culture, identity and diversity in ways that remain profoundly resonant.

Geeks on a Beach 2025 Crowns API Build Lab Winners in Cebu

Wazzup Pilipinas!! 

Cebu, Philippines – The Geeks on a Beach (GOAB) 2025 event concluded on October 3 in Cebu with the announcement of the API Build Lab winners, showcasing some of the most promising API-driven solutions from Southeast Asia. The top prize went to the Employer API, created by Jan Alvin Pabellon of Smile API. The First Runner-up was the KIVOE Identity API, developed by Elmer Joaquin of Kivoe, and the Second Runner-up was the FRED API, designed by Franczeska Lou Badong of Via Panisperna.

The API Build Lab, organized by 917Ventures through its API venture Concati, in partnership with GOAB,  invited developers and startups from the region to submit innovative API concepts that show strong potential for commercialization. Finalists participated in a two-week virtual Build Sprint from September 19 to October 2, where they received hands-on coaching and mentoring. They then pitched their solutions live at the GOAB event in Cebu.

An API (Application Programming Interface) acts like a digital intermediary, allowing different software applications to communicate with each other. This enables businesses to utilize existing tools and services, such as mapping or payment systems, instead of developing these solutions from the ground up. APIs save time and money while leading to enhanced and more integrated services for users.

Five finalists presented their solutions at the conference. Elmer Joaquin from Kivoe introduced the KIVOE Identity API, while Gabriel Catimbang from CSGUILD showcased the Lendr API. Franczeska Lou Badong of Via Panisperna unveiled the FRED API, Jan Alvin Pabellon from Smile API competed with the Employer API, and Christiansen Hermosilla from CHECK Technologies shared the Student Inference Engine. Each of these innovations highlighted the remarkable talent emerging from Southeast Asian developers.

At the finale, the Employer API from Smile API was crowned the Grand Winner, receiving a prize of ₱50,000. The KIVOE Identity API from Kivoe secured the title of First Runner-up with a prize of ₱30,000. The FRED API from Via Panisperna was named Second Runner-up and awarded ₱20,000. In addition to cash prizes, the winning APIs will also be published and monetized on Concati's open-exchange marketplace, offering developers opportunities to scale their solutions globally.

Smile API is a Philippines-based platform that helps businesses access employment and income data to provide faster and more reliable financial services. Kivoe is developing secure digital identity tools that simplify authentication and trust for online transactions. Via Panisperna, with its FRED API, focuses on creating data-driven tools that enhance information retrieval and management for enterprises. Together, these startups exemplify the growing diversity and impact of API-driven ventures in the region.

Since its inaugural edition in 2013, GOAB has served as a launchpad for startups, investors, and innovators across Asia to connect, collaborate, and create. This year’s conference, featuring the introduction of the API Build Lab, reaffirms its role not only as a platform for discussions but also as a launchpad for the next wave of solutions in fintech, e-commerce, logistics, and more.

Natasha Dawn Bautista, the Head of Growth Marketing and Corporate Relations at 917Ventures, delivered a keynote speech titled “Unlocking 917Ventures and Globe Group’s Unfair Advantage” at GOAB 2025. In her presentation, she shared insights on how 917Ventures enables startups to scale by leveraging the strengths of the Globe Group's digital ecosystem. Additionally, she served as a reactor for GOAB's lightning pitch sessions, where early-stage founders presented their innovative ideas, showcasing the vibrancy of the regional startup ecosystem.

Warning Out on Toxic Eyeliners Contaminated with Lead, Arsenic and Cadmium

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

9 October 2025, Quezon City. As the nation observes the Consumer Welfare Month and as the world gets ready for the International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, the toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition cautioned consumers against the application of eyeliners containing extremely high levels of lead.

Test buys conducted by the group confirmed the continued sale of the Hashmi Surma Asmar in Quiapo, Manila where it is sold for P250 per set despite the absence of authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As per its label, the product was manufactured in July 2023 and will expire in June 2028. Hashmi eyeliners are also sold online at both Lazada and Shopee.

X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) screening conducted by the group revealed that the product contains over 100,000 parts per million (ppm) of lead despite being labeled “corresponds to Pb 0.00%" (Pb is the chemical symbol of lead from the Latin word plumbum).

The ASEAN Cosmetic Directive (ACD) prohibits lead as an ingredient in cosmetics and sets a 20 ppm limit for lead as a heavy metal contaminant in such products.

Aside from lead, the group also found Hashmi Surma Asmar contaminated with 6,410 ppm of arsenic and 309 ppm of cadmium, way beyond the ACD limit of 5 ppm for these heavy metals, which, like lead, are forbidden in cosmetic product formulations.

Arsenic, cadmium and lead are among the 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern according to the World Health Organization (WHO). These toxic metals are also included in the country’s Priority Chemicals List (PCL) as per the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The EcoWaste Coalition in 2014 alerted consumers and health product regulators about the sale of traditional kohl or surma eyeliners containing high amounts of lead. The group in 2018 drew attention about the toxicity of such eyeliners after three children in Australia suffered from lead poisoning due to the use of such products. Last year, the group again pushed for a ban on such eyeliners following the analysis conducted by the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP), which found 125,688 ppm of lead on a Hashmi eyeliner.

According to the US FDA, “products containing kohl and similar ingredients have been linked to lead poisoning, especially among children.”



“The risks associated with exposure to lead are especially serious for children. Among the effects associated with high levels of lead exposure are anemia, kidney problems, and neurological damage that may include seizures, coma, and death,” it explained.

“Even at relatively low levels, chronic exposure to lead may lead to learning and behavior problems,” it warned.

To protect the public, the children in particular, the EcoWaste Coalition repeated the following safety tips from US FDA:

1. "Stop using the product immediately and be especially careful to protect children from further exposure."

 

2. "Ask a healthcare provider to test children as well as pregnant or nursing women for lead poisoning if they have used the product."

The group also urged the Philippine FDA to ban Hashmi eyeliners and to stop their further importation, promotion and sale.