Alexandra ‘Andra’ Alcazar, a Filipino artist and arts manager, uses the sprawling, fast-paced energy of her hometown, Manila, as both a canvas and a catalyst. Her work is a powerful fusion of management practice and artistic vision, creating immersive experiences designed to provoke critical discourse on pressing social issues. Through her recent undergraduate thesis and debut solo exhibition, ‘Mine! Grab! Steal!’, Andra confronts the complex gentrification of the Philippines’ beloved thrift shops, or ukay-ukay, urging her community to look beyond the rack and see the politics woven into every garment.
A recent graduate of the AB Arts Management Programme at De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, Andra’s practice is uniquely positioned at the intersection of creativity and logistics. ‘We're more on the backend of the creative industry,’ she explains, describing her expertise in project management and marketing. However, she has seamlessly integrated these skills with her artistic practice. ‘The centre of my practice is to connect,’ she says. Specialising in installation and conceptual art, Andra creates spaces that are both a ‘connection and a performance’, inviting audiences to interpret meanings for themselves rather than being told how to feel.
This advocacy-based approach has been a consistent thread throughout her academic career. As part of a group of art managers, she curated exhibitions tackling vital topics, including a show for the anniversary of Philippine martial law and an interdisciplinary exhibition for Women's Month that brought together 60 artworks across multiple campuses. For Andra, curation is not just about aesthetics; it’s about answering the question, ‘what are we fighting for?’
This question led directly to ‘Mine! Grab! Steal!’. Initially conceived as a traditional written thesis, the project transformed into an ambitious exhibition. Andra saw an urgent conversation happening online about the changing nature of ukay-ukay but felt it needed a physical space. ‘I wanted to connect with people outside of social media and be like, “Hey, I have this exhibition, and in this exhibition, I want you guys to talk.”’
The phenomenon she addresses is the rapid gentrification of a once universally accessible market. She contrasts the traditional, rundown secondhand shops with the new wave of curated, air-conditioned stores and pop-up markets where prices can rival those in a mall. ‘Ukay-ukay is becoming more and more inaccessible for many people,’ she laments. This trend sidelines the very people who have long relied on thrifting for affordable clothing: students, blue-collar workers, and those with limited financial capacity.
Andra frames ukay-ukay as ‘the Filipino’s way of turning trash into treasure’, directly linking it to the global issue of waste colonialism, where countries in the Global North export their unwanted clothing to the Global South. By making these clothes expensive, the new market model removes the ‘access to choice’ that allows people to maintain dignity and express their personal style. ‘When we take away this choice to dress however we want,’ she warns, ‘it could only be a matter of time before access to choice for food, water, bare necessities can be taken away.’
The exhibition itself was a multi-sensory and conceptual deep dive. The title, ‘Mine! Grab! Steal!’, mimics the aggressive bidding language of online thrift stores. A large tarpaulin featured the provocative URL yourenotthetargetmarket.com, a direct jab at the exclusionary rhetoric used to justify gentrification. ‘Ukay-ukay is accessible. Whether you're rich or you're poor, you can consume it,’ Andra argues. ‘So with people saying you're not the target market, it's kind of like, why are we saying that?’
To fully immerse visitors, the exhibition space was intentionally musty and mouldy, with a speaker playing a random radio drama, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of a traditional ukay-ukay. In one corner, clothes were piled on the floor, representing the collateral damage of overconsumption. To ground the issue in its wider environmental context, a displayed telephone number connected directly to the Climate Change Commission of the Philippines.
Andra’s project powerfully highlights the hypocrisy of ‘thrift hauls’ that mimic fast-fashion overconsumption, defeating the sustainable purpose of thrifting. She notes that the original ukay-ukay market did not overconsume; they bought a few pieces that became ‘the crowning jewels in their wardrobe’. The issue, she argues, stems from an upper class that has ‘glamorised overconsumption’.
Yet, the exhibition also offered a tangible solution. The clothes used in the installation, donated by friends and peers, were given to the university’s housekeeping staff. ‘I wanted the clothes to be in a home where they're loved and cared for, used in their entirety before they get thrown out,’ Andra says, ensuring the garments participated in a true circular economy.
Inspired by the political street art of Manila, particularly the work of Doktor Karayom, Andra plans to continue creating art that challenges and connects. She acknowledges that her work isn't easily monetised, but her goal remains clear: to create more installation pieces that encourage people to think and see the world through new perspectives.
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Want to learn more about Andra's curatorial vision and her thoughts on fashion, consumerism, and the environment? Read the full interview in CONFLUENCE, the 5th volume of INTERLUNAR's zine.
