The Manila Portal in BGC — A Real-Life Window to the World

In late January 2026, Bonifacio Global City became home to Asia’s first “Portal” installation, a groundbreaking project that blends art, technology, and human connection into one public experience. This marks the sixth Portal worldwide and the first ever in Asia.

The Portal isn’t a gate you walk through — instead, it’s a large circular sculpture with a live video screen in the center that connects people in real time to other Portals in cities across the world, including Vilnius (Lithuania), Lublin (Poland), Dublin (Ireland), Philadelphia (USA), and Ipswich (UK).

📍 Location: 5th Avenue at Bonifacio High Street, BGC, Taguig City.

What Makes the Portal Special?

The Portal was created by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys and is part of a global network of identical installations created to bridge cultures and connect people across long distances. Instead of borders and screens between us, the Portal offers a direct line of sight into another place and people’s lives live, 24/7 — without words, just human presence.

Here’s what you might experience when you visit:

• 👋 Wave hello to someone thousands of miles away — the Portal’s livestream changes between other cities every few minutes, so you might see Warsaw one minute and Philadelphia the next.

• 📸 Shared moments in real time — people from different continents have spontaneously interacted through simple gestures such as waving, holding up signs, or even playing rock-paper-scissors.

• 🌐 A sense of shared humanity — no audio, no text, just eye contact and presence — the Portal encourages connection that’s beyond typical digital communication.

• It’s essentially a live global window — blending public art, technology, and human curiosity into something playful, profound, and genuinely uniting.

What makes the Portal project so inspiring — especially in a place like BGC — is how it expands the idea of public space: it’s not just where you live or work, but a place where local meets global in a very human way. People pause, wave, smile, and see others doing the same thousands of miles away. It’s a testament to the idea that connection can happen anywhere, anytime — and that art and technology combined can make the world feel just a little smaller and kinder.

The Manila Portal was unveiled with the support of organizations and partners who believe in fostering cultural exchange and celebrating diversity — a fitting addition to a city district known for its vibrant art scene and dynamic urban life.

sources: When in Manila