Filipino art online communities provide a wide range of opportunities for supporting a cause, marketing the creative, or building an open source of realization that Filipino artist can also succeed in the hard to crack world of art. These Filipino art communities help others see that they are as good as their Western counterparts.  Kim Marcelo’s advocacy, Kimnetix and AFKN’s founder – Wine Merchant, PR and Marketing Consultant, and Event Organizer–aims to help our own as much as he can.

Kimnetix Networx is an online magazine type Facebook page where it gives Filipino artists a chance to get featured and showcase their works – whether in the field of visual arts, literature, music, dance, theater, film, and/or architecture.  Thus, Artist Friends of Kimnetix Networx (AFKN) was born. AFKN is a virtual online art group which aims to be friends with every Filipino artist and give each one a larger audience. It is not an official art group as it is generally a lifestyle page according to Kim. Kimnetix Networx also features the best dining destinations in the country and what these establishments have to offer. Events that audiences will be interested in, gadgets and even including fashion.  In 2014, it was able to do three events for the arts and one for culinary.

Kimnetix Networx is the 2^nd art group I joined and many of my current artist features came from this page and from AFKN as well. I love this group and am sure you will enjoy seeing all the wonderful artworks by Filipino artists.

He says, “Everyone is welcome to like Kimnetix Networx and join AFKN!”

Learn more about him and his advocacy’s with Jenny’s Serendipity’s set of interview questions.  Enjoy!

Carlos Alferez Castro, Filipino Artist and Kim Marcelo, KN’s and AFKN Founder

Filipino Artist, Erwin Mallari and Kim Marcelo. Image via Facebook.

What is the difference between Kimnetix (Networx) and AFKN (Artist Friends of Kimnetix Networx)? Are they the same or separate pages?

Kimnetix Networx is an online magazine type Facebook page, or what used to be called Fan Page, where we feature Filipino artists and their works – whether in the field of visual arts, literature, music, dance, theatre or architecture.

We also feature the best dining destinations in the country and what these establishments have to offer. Events that we think our audiences will be interested in. As well as gadgets and fashion from time to time.

Artist Friends of Kimnetix Networx is a “Group Page” put up in July of 2014 where members are mostly artists (Visual, Dance, Music, Theatre and Poetry).

Kimnetix Networx and AFKN are two separate pages. First, let’s define the difference between PAGES and GROUPS on Facebook in a simple way – in a Page, you invite people to “like” it and usually used for featuring stuffs while in a GROUP, you add or invite people as members.

Kimnetix Networx is where we feature the above mentioned and AFKN is where we get our ART related features.

It was your idea to create the FB group? How was it conceived in 2012?

Yes, I created the AFKN group since I got tired of getting our features for Kimnetix Networx to different art groups I belong to, on Facebook.

I created Kimnetix Networx in the 3^rd week of November 2012, can’t remember the exact date though. I initially made it just to feature the things I am passionate about like art, wine, food, collectible toys, films etc.

As the fan base/audience of the page reached 500 plus in 2 months, I then realized that I should make it more professional and interesting to its audience. I then started featuring artworks of artists I admire, restaurants I dine in, theatre plays I want to watch, performances of my friends in the Manila music scene etc.

A few months after, I added Vic Sevilla, former editor of WOMAN TODAY magazine, as my co-administrator to the page to make it more professional. In September and October 2014, I added Ea Torrado of DALOY DANCE COMPANY and Noel Santos of THE WARRIOR POET CAFÉ as administrators as well.

How did you come about to include other aspects of lifestyle to the group page?

The page is more of a lifestyle page since its creation though the art part has been a big part of it. Before, I even feature artworks of foreign artists but decided in early 2013 to concentrate on featuring Filipino artworks and artists. From 2013 to mid-2014, the page feature was balance as it featured a lot of restaurants, wine events, theatre play, concerts, artworks… Please check the albums in the page and you’ll see what I mean.

Only when I created the AFKN group that most of my features became more of visual arts. Although, the idea of promoting Philippine Art and Filipino artists has been part of my objective for the page since the start, and what I want in the page (as for visual artists) is to have masters. Upcoming and beginners get equal mileage though when we feature them.

Filipino Artist, Rufo Bong Sunga Jr. Image via Facebook.

Filipino Artist, Wilfredo Calderon. Image via Facebook.

Filipino Artist, Ric Ico. Image via Facebook.

Dolpee Alcantara, Filipino Artist. Image via Facebook

Filipino Artist, Joel Masaya. Image via Facebook.

Why did you choose to be an FB group or fan page instead of a blog or website?

For several reasons:

– I didn’t make a blog site since my standard in writing is very high and I wouldn’t pass even my own standards <laughs>. I love to read and talk, but write… nah… Being married before to a very good writer, a graduate of English Creative Writing from UP and having a bilingual poet as a daughter, my writing skills would be very elementary compared to theirs… <laughs>… Serious explanation though.

– Website? Too complicated for me, besides, almost all big companies here and abroad have their own Facebook page/s even though they already have their company website.

– Why Facebook? It’s free, easy to manage and almost everyone in the world uses it.

With 2K+ members, how many of them are active on the page? How often do they appear on the wall?

AFKN has 898 members now and there are about 70 members actively posting, liking member’s posts, commenting.

Kimnetix Networx have 2,906 likes (without advertising it) as of this interview.

As for Kimnetix Networx, we have a rule among admins to have at least an hour interval between each feature.

As for AFKN, members post their works on the group every hour or so.

Filipino Artist, Joan Villa-Espina Soriano Honoridez. Image via Facebook.

Filipino Artist, Nunistell Mae Fulo- Lee. Image via Nunistell Mae Fulo- Lee.

This page is for the advocacy to help promote your clients and artists. How is it working so far? Would you say it is an effective tool?

I don’t have an advocacy for clients, only for artists and Philippine art as a whole. Like I’ve said earlier, my purpose or advocacy is to show the world how good the Filipino artistry is (in any field or family of art)…I want every artists be known if not worldwide, at least in the Philippines. Even myself, I didn’t know a lot of new artists until I made the page. My clients pay me to promote and market their establishments, the artists don’t.

Is it working and effective? Yes! I get feedbacks from establishments I promoted through the page that their customer base became bigger. I get regular inquiries about some of the artworks I feature, artists were able to sell their paintings to the page’s audience and I can go on and on but I’ll be bragging already… <laughs>

What about funding? How do you keep it up? How does the online magazine earn as an FB group page or fan page?

Funding, don’t need it, Facebook is free. I keep it up since I am passionate about my love for the arts (among others). Kimnetix Networx is not an online magazine literally, we only did it magazine style that is why I wrote “online magazine type.”

I created the group not to make money out of it but to promote the things I am passionate about. It’s not like a blog site or website that you can make money from ads. I don’t have any sponsors or advertisers.

If I do events for the artists of AFKN, that is the time I get sponsors but only when needed.

For the charity/ charities that you help. What events do you stage and how frequent are they held? How do you collect sponsors?

We don’t have any specific charity institution/s that we help in the group but we do help our members when in need and we do it collectively. As for the events that KN did in 2014, only the COLORS & HUES Group Art Exhibit of WALO VISUAL ARTISTS GROUP had a beneficiary which was Unilab Foundation’s PLAY IT FORWARD project and it was the art group who chose the beneficiary.

KN and AFKN did three art events and one wine dinner in 2014 and we want to do more this 2015 but it will all depend on my time availability as I have to work for myself too. <laughs>

How do we collect sponsors? I am a PR, Marketing and Sales person and been in different industries for years.

Who and or what are your most notable personalities and works featured on your page?

I would like to invite your readers to visit the page, check its wall and the albums there… Like I’ve said earlier, masters, upcoming or beginners are all equal in the page. Meaning, we don’t look at anybody as notable or popular. Just like me, I can sit down and talk with Raul Isidro or even Bencab the way I would sit down and talk with 14-year old art prodigy, Wanda Totanes. Only difference is that I would use the word “Sir” to the first two since they are senior artists. <laughs>.

What are the upcoming projects of Kimnetix and AFKN?

We are working on several concepts that we want to realize this 2015 like exhibits, workshops, art talks… We’ll let you know as soon as we prepared the STAGE.

But the events that are set already are the KOMIKS LIVE ART SESSION as we already launched it last December at Dapo Restaurant & Bar which we will tour in different cities in the metro and KOMIKS ROCK SESSION Exhibit of Master Illustrator and Painter, Boy Capital. As well as our collaboration with Ea Torrado’s Daloy Dance Company, we just need a venue and sponsors for it but it will definitely happen this 2015.

All images are courtesy of Kim Marcelo via Kimnetix Networx unless noted otherwise.

Feel free to contact Kim Marcelo via Facebook or his email: kimnetixnetworx@gmail.com.