Imelda Cajipe Endaya

Imelda Cajipe Endaya is a renowned Filipina painter and printmaker who with other artists in various art forms pioneered the search for the Filipino identity in culture and the arts in the 1960s and the 1970s. Along with this search for the Filipino identity in Philippine history came the integration of these findings and insight into her artworks which in the course of her artistic career became her trademark.

As a child, Cajipe- Endaya played Filipino games and often went to the hometown of her parents in Paete, Laguna. In Paete, she was exposed to folk art which this town was known for– wood carving and paper mache figures called “taka” which she also played with. Later she studied at the exclusive girls’ school, the College of the Holy Spirit. Here, she developed her drawing skills while she was assigned as the blackboard artist. Although she developed a love for the arts and honed her sketching skills, she never thought she would be a professional artist.

She entered the College of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines in the Visual Communication program as a compromise in the hope of landing a practical job in the field of advertising after graduation. At UP Fine Arts, she was initiated into printmaking. She considers printmaker Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi who invited her to these printmaking workshops as one of her primary mentors in printmaking. She was drawn to the medium and became involved with the PAP (Philippines Association Of Printmakers). Here she met other mentors and fellow printmakers.

Later on, after graduating with her Fine Arts degree, she worked as a researcher for various special projects and institutions.
She then began incorporating her research and new insights on Philippine art history and Philippine history into her works. Her innovative works were spiced by her discoveries on the Filipino identity. Apart from her quest for Philippine history, she fused other relevant issues such as social justice, nationalist insights, socio-political and socio-economic themes, the Filipina women’s plight, and the environment into her art. This search for the genuine Filipino soul gave her art depth and meaning.

Cajipe Endaya is an indefatigable, productive, and serious artist who has been exhibited in major galleries locally and internationally. This gave rise to her recognition and led to multiple awards from various institutions here and abroad.
In 1990, she was one of the CCP Thirteen Artists Awardees. In 1998, she was the recipient of the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan for painting from the City of Manila. In 1999, she was awarded the CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts. In 2008, the Ateneo de Manila awarded her the ALIWW Honors for Women in the Arts. In the same year, she received the Irwin and Florence Zlowe Memorial Art Award from the American Society of Contemporary Artists in New York, USA. In 2009, she received the Ani ng Dangal Award from the NCCA. In 2013, the College of the Holy Spirit, her high school alma mater gave her the Centennial Award.

With these awards came the patronage of public local and foreign institutions who made her works part of their collection. The local institutions that have included her works in their collection are the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the National Museum of the Philippines, the Met Museum of Manila, and Ateneo Arete.

The international institutions which have her works in their permanent collections are the National Gallery of Singapore and the Okinawa Prefectural Museum, Fukuoka Art Museum. Security Bank Corporation, PLDT & BDO are among the financial institutions that have acquired her works for their collection.