7 August 2026
Six Benilde Industrial Design alumni will bring their work to Bali this August as part of Newfolk Collective’s participation in Jia CURATED 2026, an international exhibition of craft and design set for August 13 to 17 at Pengembak Beach in Sanur, Indonesia.
The alumni are Selena Placino, Bianca Carague, Jasser Aguila, Meyte Chan, Guia Viray, and Chini Lichangco. All six graduated from Benilde’s Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design program and will join 11 young Filipino designers whose work will be presented alongside 10 heritage manufacturers from the Philippines. The exhibition will feature 27 objects.
For Benilde, the participation shows how industrial design education can lead to opportunities beyond the classroom and the local exhibition circuit. The program prepares students to develop products that improve how people live, work, and experience the world. Its curriculum brings together design thinking, research, technology, aesthetics, and an understanding of how people use products.
The program also asks students to consider the wider effects of their work. They learn to develop solutions that respond to social needs, accessibility, sustainability, and cultural context. Through an interdisciplinary approach, they explore how design can improve quality of life and contribute to the development of industrial design in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
Those ideas come into focus in Tomorrow, Newfolk’s presentation at Jia CURATED 2026. Expertly chosen by Filipino designer and Benilde faculty member Gabriel Lichauco, the exhibition explores how Filipino craft traditions can continue to grow through contemporary design. Its 27 objects use local materials and techniques in new ways, bringing together the work of designers and heritage manufacturers.
Lichauco founded Newfolk in 2015 as a platform for designers, artists, and producers. His work has taken him to international exhibitions, including the 2017 Venice Art Biennale, the 2016 Triennale International Exhibition in Milan, and several editions of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano. He also served as a design consultant for CITEM, the export promotion arm of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry, from 2019 to 2024.
His involvement gives the alumni’s participation a direct connection to Benilde’s design community. As a faculty member of the Industrial Design program, Lichauco brings professional experience in design practice, curation, and international exhibitions into the same environment where students develop their own ideas.
Benilde also has its own platforms for presenting design work. The Industrial Design program partnered with the Center for Campus Exhibitions for Alchemy of Ideas, a student-led exhibition that opened in August 2025 at the Design + Arts Campus. The exhibition featured concept sketches, capstone prototypes, toy designs, paper-engineered projects, furniture, crafts, and collaborative works with industry partners.
Alchemy of Ideas gave students a space to turn design ideas into tangible solutions through experimentation and collaboration. It also showed how the program connects research and design thinking with the practical work of making products. Benilde Open, which Lichauco convenes, adds another platform for design and creative work within the school’s wider exhibition culture.
At Jia CURATED, the alumni will present work developed through their own practices and collaborations with Filipino manufacturers.
Bianca Carague will present Flutter Floor Lamp, a sculptural lighting piece made from natural oak veneer over an engineered wood core, with integrated LED lighting. The lamp uses a repeating shape that grows into clustered layers, drawing from forms such as petals, wings, and emerging shoots. Carague developed the piece with South Sea Veneer.
Chini Lichangco will present Puddle Table, a wooden coffee table inspired by the quiet movement of rainwater after a storm. Hand-carved ripple details give the tabletop its texture, while its flat-pack construction allows it to be transported and assembled without screws. Lichangco developed the piece with JB Woodcraft Inc.
Guia Viray will present Tulip and Hatch Dining Chair, works that explore the possibilities of wood veneer through bending, layering, and texture. The pieces were developed with Triboa Bay Living, where Viray works as Assistant Design Director.
Jasser Aguila will present Vinta Stools, which draw from the colors and movement of Filipino vintas. The stools use rattan, wood, and a metal frame, with woven gradients and an integrated backrest that also serves as a handle. Aguila developed the pieces with Calfurn.
Meyte Szita Chan will present Sail, a work that reimagines the traditional Binakol weave as a pixelated landscape. The design uses microfiber leather to explore how patterns can shift between order and distortion. Chan developed the piece with S.C. Vizcarra through Senseware, her design studio.
Selena Placino will present Seasons, a lighting collection developed with VENZON. The collection explores growth and support through structural elements inspired by the props and braces that help trees withstand changing seasons. Placino also developed three exclusive finishes for the collection, named Rest, Renew, and Return.
The exhibition’s theme, Tomorrow, asks designers to consider how they can work with materials, traditions, and communities in ways that remain relevant to the future. Its presentation uses the Filipino word kabayan, meaning “fellow countryman,” and draws from the cultural practice of padala, or sending goods and keepsakes to family. These ideas connect the objects to Filipino experiences of fellowship, memory, and care.
For the six Benildean alumni, Jia CURATED 2026 offers an opportunity to present their work to an international audience of design enthusiasts, practitioners, and buyers. Their participation also gives Benilde students a clear example of where industrial design education can lead, from developing ideas in the studio to creating products with industry partners and presenting them on a regional design platform.
The exhibition will take place from August 13 to 17, 2026, at Pengembak Beach in Sanur, Bali, Indonesia.
For more information on Benilde’s undergraduate programs, contact us at (63) 2 8230 5100 local 1801 or admissions@benilde.edu.ph. You may also visit our website at www.benilde.edu.ph.
