X marks the spot for Zero In

Well, you won't see the X unless you go to the upper level of SM Mall of Asia (main entrance area). X is the symbol for the Roman numeral ten and thus, aptly adopted to represent the tenth anniversary of Zero In. 

Zero In is the annual collaboration of five private museums in Metro Manila - these are, Ateneo Art Gallery, Ayala Museum, Bahay Tsinoy, Lopez Museum and Museo Pambata. 

Since 2001, the five museums have been working together, sharing resources, mounting annual multi-museum exhibitions and including lectures and workshops to reach out and make art more engaging and relevant.

This year, Zero In is quite ambitious and is breaking barriers by literally bringing art closer to the public through a mall exhibit dubbed Open Call Arts Festival. The exhibit is more like a teaser showcasing different forms of art forms: cuisine (Ateneo), Japanese manga and cosplay (Ayala), visual (Bahay Tsinoy), sound art (Lopez) and dance (Museo Pambata).  The event is open to the public free of charge and will run until September 24.

Here's what to expect at the mall:

 Carell Belandres  playing  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman from Ninomiya Tomoko’s Nodame Cantabile, a manga about a gifted pianist

Nyko Maca leading dance of Gumboot group of Museo Pambata Child Advocates

Ateneo's interactive food game called Crafty Critters Munch Up

Tad Ermitaño checking out his sound installation artwork  

Eric Ambata's sound art called Lethe shared via QR code capture

Escola de Samba de Manila performing Afro-Brasilian drums and dance

and here's the Zero In gang at the opening

If you do visit, please check out the trees and touch the planter box. Yes, the metallic planter box! It is part of the sound art installation. You will be amazed with the sounds that will come out.

This Saturday, September 24 - catch the following performances:
1pm - Performance by sound artists E.X.I.S.T.  which stands for Experimentation In Sound Art Tradition: Gentle Universe, Caliph8, Manner Villariba, Elemento and Toshiyuki Seido
2pm - Piano performance of Carell Belandres of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman" from Ninomiya Tomoko's Nodame Cantabile, a manga about a gifted pianist
3pm - Performance by sound artist E.X.I.S.T.
6pm - Gunboot dance of Museo Pambata's child advocates with Nyko Maca

Open Call art festival is just one of the many projects lined up by Zero In this year.  Ongoing onsite at each five museums are exhibitions featuring each genre - in Ateneo (until December 22), an interactive food-themed game called Crafty Critters Munch Up  that takes off from its permanent collection; Ayala Museum (until October 2), the world of manga in Manga Realities: Exploring the Art of Japanese Comics Today; Bahay Tsinoy (until October 23), an art installation by Con Cabrera called Kasama; Lopez Museum (until April 3, 2012), performances and sound/media art installations in Reverb; and, Museo Pambata (until October 6) , performances by Gunboot and Batang RO alongside an exhibiton of National Artist for Dance Ramon Obusan's memorabilia entitled Sayaw!.