MANILA.- Silverlens announced Imelda Cajipe Endaya (b. 1949, Manila) on being conferred the Order of National Artists of the Philippines for Visual Arts, the country’s highest state honor for the arts. Endaya is the first woman to be named National Artist for Visual Arts, a historic distinction recognizing more than five decades of uncompromising artistic practice and her profound contribution to feminist art and social realism in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

The Order of National Artists is conferred by the President of the Philippines upon Filipino artists whose work has made significant contributions to the development of Philippine culture and the arts. Endaya now joins a distinguished lineage of Filipino artists whose practices have expanded the possibilities of Philippine art and shaped how the country understands its histories, identities, and social realities.

For Endaya, the recognition is both deeply personal and part of a larger history of women artists whose contributions have not always been acknowledged. “I never dreamed of this. I am happy, though humbled,” she says. Reflecting on the history of women artists in the Philippines, she adds: “People say I have just broken a glass ceiling. There should be more successful women artists after me.”

Her recognition comes as Endaya celebrates her birthday today, 16 September. Silverlens extends its warmest wishes on this extraordinary milestone and on a distinction that marks an important moment not only in her remarkable career, but in the history of Philippine art.





“We have had deep respect for Imelda Cajipe Endaya’s work for decades,” say Silverlens co-directors Isa Lorenzo and Rachel Rillo. “Her practice is a cornerstone of our program, articulating a dialogue between history and the current moment with unparalleled critical acuity. To see her recognized as a National Artist is a testament to the power of art that refuses erasure and insists on the dignity of the Filipino spirit.”

Since the 1970s, Endaya has developed a wide-ranging practice across printmaking, installation, assemblage, and painting, drawing on the realities of Filipino life. Crochet, lace, textiles, clothing, and found objects recur throughout her work, bringing the everyday into dialogue with larger social histories. As she explains, “An artist can only create out of their own experience and environment. What one can intimately see, touch, smell, and hear are the very materials one works with.”

Across five decades, Endaya has brought the lives and struggles of Filipino women into focus, confronting histories of labor, inequality, and erasure. Her practice is grounded in a belief in art’s capacity to engage critically with the world around it. “Though art itself cannot solve problems, it is a peaceful way of practicing political freedom,” she says. “It is art’s function to unleash imagination and creativity, whether in joy or in rage, and to critically engage its viewers to seek solutions.”

Her recognition as National Artist affirms the profound and enduring significance of her contribution to Philippine art, and to the cultural record of the nation.