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Something to Write Home About Ends on a Poignant Note

The Singapore Arts Festival In New York is an eleven-day grassroots festival, which celebrates the multifarious culture and diversity of Singapore. Through various art forms – ranging from visual to culinary arts -, the festival is an attempt to encapsulate the shifting essence of Singapore, beyond its geographic demarcations. It gathers a community of individuals and a Singapore diaspora to mediate the meaning of home and its implications of belonging.

Verena Tay’s production of Cursed Earth, closes The Singapore Arts Festival In New York with a tapestry of four part tales, each woven by its supernatural motifs and urban legends.

Predetermined in different eras of Singapore’s history, Tay investigates the complex relationship between space and history that plagues her motherland. The meaning of space is often contested by varying players and interests. The narrative’s referenced land is cursed; its convex textuality dependent on the existing narrative of its times. In spite, Tay creates a liminal narrative built on supernatural tales and black magic. The skeleton of the stories is consciously crafted on oral lore, palpably interweaving past and present. By borrowing its oral means of transmitting culture and knowledge, by the staging of clever spook audio and aural effects, the ghostly performance ironically underscores the cultural meanings and narratives that might have been silenced by each era’s hegemonic, dominant narrative.

Tay’s storytelling performance is compelling, rich in its imagination yet humble to its oral lore material and relevant history. Through supernatural tales, it fashions to highlight an under looked, micro-narrative of Singapore.

The performance and night closes with a comedic stand-up by Dan Nainan, who has a penchant for light-hearted self-mockery. He picks at stereotypes and struggles common and relevant to Asian and Singaporean (im)migrants.

A ground up, citizen-initiated for the Singapore diaspora and by the Singapore diaspora, the festival ends with a closing reception by chef Larry Reutens’ unique Western-Singapore fusion take on popular local hawker dishes. The appetizers offered, strangely serves as a culinary emblem of its Singapore diaspora – curiously mismatched in its marbled cuts of chicken set on coconut fragrant rice, topped by its characteristic black soy sauce and chili – as if the dishes and its people were wedged between its contrasting binaries.

The inaugural Something To Write Home About: Singapore Arts Festival was held New York to celebrate the 50th year of Singapore’s independence. The festival ran from 12 – 22 September 2015 at the world-renowned cultural institution La MaMa in downtown Manhattan.

Website: www.somethingtowritehomeabout.nyc
Instagram: @writehomenyc #writehomenyc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stwhanyc

October 1, 2015
Singapore Got (Art) Talent: A Closer Look at The 2015 edition of the President’s Young Talents

Surely many have doubted us; that Singapore is no place for Art. And even if this little red dot can produce art, it is usually received as insipid. Perhaps, this is due to the fact that these critics have yet to come across the President’s Young Talents (PYT) exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) – Singapore’s annual premier exhibition of commissioned art pieces by home grown artists. The artworks presented at this art affair may not be the best of best in the world but there are surely something and speak volumes of the local art scene and its potential. With the 2015 instalment, a new generation of contemporary artists (Ang Song Ming, Bani Haykal, Ezzam Rahman, Loo Zihan and Ong Kian Peng), all below the age of 35, are here to show the sceptics that Singapore indeed got Art talent.

2015 PYT exhibition is a must visit because it provides an immersive whole body experience. The artworks not only challenge your mind and perspective, but they also engage all your senses. Although the exhibition does offer curator tours for the public, do have a walkthrough on your own first. This allows you to have the freshest, untainted exhibition experience, not affected by external influences or opinions. For a second run, then participate in the guided tour to see the exhibition from alternative perspectives.

Ong Kian Peng, Too Far, Too Near, 2015, DC Motor, Metal balls, Steel structure; 2-channel video with 3-channel sound, Dimensions variable, Duration: 15 mins. Photo by author

One of my favourite artworks is Ong Kian Peng’s Too Far, Too Near. His artwork provides a 360° artistic experience. It engages your sense of sight through its 2-channel video of melting glaciers. It can be quite haunting especially when it is displayed on huge screens, making you feel small and vulnerable. It also engages your sense of hearing through an interesting manner. The sounds created by the ball bearings, sliding from one end to another as the steel structure tilts up and down, imitate the sounds of melting ice, making it surreal. Lastly, Ong’s artwork also engages your mind; you are put in a position to think and question the reality of climate change in today’s world.

Loo Zihan, Of Public Interest: The Singapore Art Museum Resource Room,2015, Installation of books from the Singapore Art Museum, Dimensions variable. Photo courtesy of Singapore Art Museum

Another favourite is Loo Zihan’s Of Public Interest: The Singapore Art Museum Resource Room. His artwork is different, one of a kind and absolutely revolutionary. You might mistake it for an archives room. However, this interactive installation is beyond a mere space of archival resources; it tackles the fundamental matter of who should be in charge of the dissemination and transmission of knowledge, an issue that is vital for us to address ever since the saga of the removal of two children’s books from the National Library. The installation greatly reflects Loo’s personality as an artist, one who always dabbles with sensitive subject matters and dares to speak about them.

Ezzam Rahman, Here’s who I am, I am what you see, 2015, Artist’s skin, nails and adhesive, second-hand furniture and glass bell jars, Dimensions variable. Photo courtesy Nicola Anthony

Ezzam Rahman’s Here’s who I am, I am what you see is fascinating too. It reminded me of Beauty and The Beast’s enchanted rose in a vase but with an even more interesting and complex story behind it. Head over to our interview with Ezzam where he explains how he collects skin for his artwork and elucidates what his artwork truly means.

Bani Haykal, necropolis for those without sleep. 2015, Installation with custom designed mechanical turks, computer-programmed chess game, 3D printed chess pieces and jumpsuits; rubber ducks, Dimensions variable. Photo by author

The one work that I felt most detached from is Ang Song Ming ‘s Days. While Ang’s installation bravely uses various forms of materials and has multiple parts, that in itself makes it very confusing, lacks coherency and eventually diminish his core artistic message. I felt the same towards Bani Haykal’s necropolis for those without sleep. Albeit creating such intricate, sophisticated artworks that employ mechanics into art, I did not truly comprehend the art, especially the rubber ducks on the floor.

All in all, the 2015 edition of the PYT does indeed display the strength of local artists and the promise of their practice to influence and create change both locally as well as internationally. Still not convinced? Well, seeing is believing; Time to head to SAM and see the exhibition which will run till March 27, 2016, at the 8Q building. But be prepared for your preconceived notions on Singapore art to be knocked down, one by one.

Zakaria is an outgoing introvert who loves reading and strongly believes that the pen is mightier than the sword. From dancing to playing the clarinet to Acapella singing, he is indeed an artholic who feels that art is the window to your soul.

September 27, 2015
Cliché and Simplistic, you say? Hello Goodbye, proves otherwise.

I saw many reviews on it online. Took a super quick glance at some. Avoided most of them. I prefer watching a play with a fresh mind, without any prejudgment. I just feel that it is more enjoyable that way.

10 minutes into the show, I was skeptical. However, by the time we hit intermission, my initial impression of the play had totally changed. By the end, I was a satisfied playgoer.

Simply put, Hello Goodbye, presented by the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT), can be summarised in one word: simple.

But is simple a bad thing? Far from it.

Hello Goodbye, directed by Lisa Spirling, is a modest production, yet filled with countless impeccable moments. In fact, it is

very, very entertaining indeed. It is no wonder that it enjoyed a sell-out run at the Hampstead Theatre in London.

Striped off from the usual theatrical and over-the-top facet of most plays, Hello Goodbye is a romantic comedy about a girl named Juliet and a boy named Alex. This rom-com play basically narrates their story: how they met through sick twisted fate, fell in love, out of love and thereafter.

Cliché? Perhaps.

Some may even find it typical, but to me, there’s some powerful truth behind every cliché. The play is the epitome of irony: simple yet complex. It tackles obvious yet subtle matters of love. While Hello Goodbye does dabble with the stereotypical ups and downs of a love relationship, it goes further and scrutinizes circumstances behind those ups and downs. Circumstances that we usually avoid discussing. The play embodies the paradoxical nature of relationship between two loving individuals, struggling between their wants and responsibilities. All these are conveyed via a well-written script by Peter Souter which is simple, comedic and easy to follow. Yet, at the same time, it is witty and delicate.

I liked that the minimal stage setting helped to not distract you away from the conversations between the characters and kept you focused on the story attentively. The two main actors, Shane Mardjuki and Denise Tan, were no less than stellar. The chemistry between both of their characters is to die for. So much tension, yet so much love for one another. Shane Mardjuki is the “Joseph Gordon-Levitt” of Singapore, a charming and brilliant actor who always delivers. Yet, the star of the night, for me, was Denise Tan, who was able to pull off a character that is so unlike her. She did an outstanding job with Juliet!

Worth watching? Certainly.

Hello Goodbye is minimalism at its finest. Sometimes all you need is a simple, humble and uncomplicated rom-com play to indulge in, to have a good laugh and tickle your mind here and there. But be warned! The 90 minutess will pass by swiftly. As they say, time flies when you’re having fun. And with Hello Goodbye, I did.

Zakaria is an outgoing introvert who loves reading and strongly believes that the pen is mightier than the sword. From dancing to playing the clarinet to Acapella singing, he is indeed an artholic who feels that art is the window to your soul.

September 22, 2015