The inaugural ART SG FUTURES Prize Presented by UBS was awarded at ART SG 2026 to Filipino-Canadian interdisciplinary artist Marigold Santos, represented by Canadian gallery Patel Brown.
Santos’s practice examines diasporic lived experience and storytelling through otherworldly imagery. Her work was selected by a jury comprising Alessio Antoniolli, Director, Triangle Network; Venus Lau, Director, Museum MACAN; and Khim Ong, Director, Collection, Public Art & Programmes, Singapore Art Museum.
The ART SG FUTURES Prize Presented by UBS award established the Prize as a platform for recognising distinctive emerging practices and bringing greater international attention to artists at an important point in their careers. Nearly a year after being named the inaugural winner, Santos looks back on the year that followed—reflecting on how the Prize has supported her practice and why platforms like it can make a meaningful difference for emerging artists.
Congratulations on a successful year, with your work presented at the Venice Biennale and your recognition as the inaugural recipient of the ART SG FUTURES Prize Presented by UBS. Looking back, what are some milestones or key memories you’ve made this year?
Marigold Santos (MS): This year has been incredibly affirming and rewarding. I have had the fortune to travel to Venice for the Biennale, where I was able to share space with artists who I highly admire and have been inspired by for a long time, as well as meet and engage with artists who I have recently discovered and been awed by their work and practice.
It was amazing to share the stage with my co-creator Rajni Perera, and to be a part of the handful of Canadians present at the 61st Venice Biennale curated by Koyo Kouoh.
How did you feel when you found out you won the ART SG FUTURES Prize Presented by UBS?
MS: I was quite surprised when I found out that I was being considered for the Prize, and then extremely honoured when I was selected to be the recipient of the inaugural ART SG FUTURES Prize Presented by UBS. Presenting my work at ART SG already felt like a very encouraging next step into a wider Asian audience, so receiving the prize was incredibly heartening.
The ART SG FUTURES Prize Presented by UBS is one platform which spotlights emerging artists in the region. What are your thoughts on the importance of supporting emerging artists in the Southeast Asian art scene?
MS: It is so important to spotlight emerging artists, and specifically from the Southeast Asian art scene because work that comes from this region of the world carries with it very specific concepts and ideas brought about from geographies and cultural histories of Southeast Asia. which are significant and relevant, and deserve a place alongside their global contemporaries.
Filipino craft traditions—including weaving, Piña textiles and other forms of hand-making—are important references in your work. What draws you to these traditions, and how do you translate their materials, techniques or ideas into your own visual language?
MS: The laborious traditions of plant fiber harvesting, weaving, and embroidery are so important in my work because they recognize the traditions of hand and the masterfulness required to carry these traditions over generations. Whether it is the slow and thoughtful methods of removing the dermis of pineapple leaves to acquire the fibers for weaving into Piña textiles, all the way to harvesting and processing windowpane oyster shells (capiz shell) for decorative arts, the strength and wisdom of the hands involved remind us to focus on the relationship between ourselves and our land and environment, and to acknowledge the impact generated; both positive and negative aspects.
Your work considers identity as something layered and continually constructed through heritage, memory and lived experience. How has your understanding of identity evolved over the course of your practice, and what role does art play in that process of exploration?
MS: Over the years and throughout my art practice, I have used my work as a way to research and think through the act of making. Each new piece serves as a way to study and investigate my ruminations, and specifically when thinking about identity and heritage. As a person in diaspora, I consider my experiences and the lens of which I view and connect with the world as constantly in evolution; where one’s selfhood is responding to every kind of interaction and is in the process of absorbing and reflecting all the information we come across and we embody. So every query I have, every revelation I encounter within myself, becomes recorded into the marks and images I make. And in doing so, there is a kind of play between autobiography and fiction in each work.
As an artist working from a Filipino perspective, how do you view the broader Southeast Asian art scene today? What conversations, connections or developments across the region do you find particularly exciting?
MS: I find that there is a deep intention to create work that unapologetically describes personal histories and experiences, that are bold and honest, and that incorporates contemporary concerns and delights. There is a real interest in works that contain meaning imbedded in the imagery with an openness for exploration and play, investigations that focus on pre-colonial indigeneity, climate change awareness, and social and political observations and critique.
Following such an important year, what are you currently working towards, and what new ideas, materials or directions are you looking forward to exploring next?
MS: I am very excited to continue creating large scale paintings with a focus on sculptural framing of the work, more mixed media drawings, experimental textile works, as well as more metal casting. Currently I am working on new works slated for art fairs in Mexico City and Southwest Asia.
About the ART SG FUTURES Prize Presented by UBS
Launched at ART SG 2026, the ART SG FUTURES Prize Presented by UBS, awards USD 10,000 to the most outstanding emerging artist featured in the fairʼs FUTURES sector. The sector features young galleries established within the last ten years, presenting new artwork by rising talents, specially created for ART SG.
The introduction of this prize underscores ART SG and UBSʼs commitment to nurturing and spotlighting new talent, not only benefiting the individual artist but also enriching the broader art ecosystem by fostering innovation and supporting the next generation of creative voices.
