The origin of the concept behind ARTDIALOGO is inspired from Anna Karina Jardin, our founding artist's Mondialogo Symposium experience in 2006, the largest intercultural dialogue program and school contest launched by UNESCO and Daimler Chrysler in 2003.

 

She represented the Philippines and her school as a finalist in Italy in 2006 with their project- Peace Calendar with their partner school from Tbilisi, Georgia. She intertwined this experience of a lifetime of touching bases with people from various cultures and backgrounds with her passion for the arts and extensive volunteer work across the Philippines and abroad.

 

It allowed her to create ARTDIALOGO in 2016 as a program on public diplomacy and community empowerment enabling artists from different countries to be agents of diplomacy through art exhibitions, immersions and workshops that value connections, people, ideas and cultures. Its debut cycle based on reciprocity of participating countries (Malaysia and Philippines) is supported by the National Commission on Culture and Arts ; and the Philippine Embassy in Malaysia, The Malaysian Embassy in the Philippines and Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts together with Malaysia Hotel Owners Association.

 

In 2017, it was implemented together with the Local Government Unit of Angono, Rizal and integrated within their annual Higantes Festival.

 

In 2019, it was ran in two countries (Singapore and Malaysia). It was part of ART TREK and the 50th Bilateral Relations celebration of the Philippines and Singapore’s. It was funded by the National Youth Council Singapore and supported by the Philippines Embassy in Singapore. The program has grown to be more extensive and inclusive per cycle as for the 5th and previous cycle of ARTDIALOGO held in Malaysia, it convened artists across Southeast Asia to also impart the intrinsic value of art in community development. It was organized together with Soka Gakkai Malaysia and Malaysia Art Society.