Widening the art sphere
The Singapore biennale’s mission is to reach out to a wider audience.
THE Singapore Biennale is back and will run until March 22.
The four-month event, set to the title Every Step In The Right Direction, features artworks by more than 70 artists and collectives from South-east Asia and beyond in about 10 venues – such as the National Gallery Singapore, Gillman Barracks and Lasalle College of the Arts.
. The Singapore Biennale is organised by the Singapore Art Museum and helmed by artistic director Patrick Flores, working alongside six other curators.
“I’d like to consider the title as an invitation for the public to think about the world we are in today, and an inspiration for them to take steps to make it better, or do something different about it,” said Flores at the biennale’s preview recently.
“We want to widen the art sphere of the biennale as a platform. The biennale has been subjected to criticism that it has become an echo-chamber in the contemporary art world. So we want to extend (it) beyond the normal precincts of the art world to reach out to a wider audience. This is why I conceptualised a ‘festival seminar’ model so the biennale addresses different concerns. I want to recover the joy, and the pleasure of the public encountering or confronting a rich diversity of media through contemporary art.”
The last edition of the Singapore Biennale ran from late 2016 to early 2017 and drew 600,000 people – nearly half of whom came from overseas.
This year, five artists involved in the biennale have also been shortlisted for the Benesse Prize, which comes with a cash award of 3,000,000 yen (RM114,350) and the chance to have work exhibited or collected at Benesse Art Site Naoshima in Japan.
The prize was presented at the prestigious Venice Biennale between 1995 and 2013 and has been awarded at the Singapore Biennale since 2016, when it was given to Thai artist Pannaphan Yodmanee for her large-scale mixed-media mural.
This year’s finalists are Singapore performance artist Amanda Heng, who is revisiting her Let’s Walk series; Robert Zhao Renhui from Singapore, for his cabinet of curiosities with objects from the forest next to Gillman Barracks; Thai artist Dusadee Huntrakul who has reproduced 16 ceramic reproductions of ancient pots, with modern inscriptions next to them; Turkish artist Hera Buyuktasciyan for her wood and metal installations; and Haifa Subay from Yemen who has created nine murals responding to issues such as child recruitment and the casualties of landmines.
Five highlights:
1. In The Skin Of A Tiger: Monument To What We Want (Tugu Kita) by Sharon Chin
Curator: Goh Sze Ying, curator at the National Gallery Singapore
Where: UOB City Hall Courtyard, National Gallery Singapore
What: Thirteen banners in different shapes and hues – a big red triangle here, a tall green rectangle there – hang from the roof of the gallery. Each is a monochromatic patchwork of fabrics cut out of discarded political party flags from the Malaysia General Election last year. The artwork was conceived by Malaysian artist Sharon Chin and bears the light imprint of many other fingers. Chin, 39, had invited members of the public in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to stitch their own designs onto the banners – but in threads of the same colour as the fabric. The installation, she says, is “a celebration of all the unseen labour that goes on every day”.
2. 2065 (Singapore Centennial Edition) by Lawrence Lek
Curator: Anca Verona Mihulet, art historian and independent curator based in Seoul
Where: Shaw Foyer, Asian Civilisations Museum
What: This open-world video game imagines how Marina Bay might look in the year 2065. British artist Lawrence Lek, 37, who was born to Malaysian-chinese parents in Frankfurt and spent part of his childhood in Singapore, says: “I hope that after playing the game, people will step outside the museum and look at the world outside slightly differently.” Lek sees Marina Bay – a place with futuristic-looking buildings on reclaimed land – as “a hybrid between reality and fiction. It’s an analogy for the whole of Singapore – a place and society that is as much natural as artificial”.
3. Queen’s Own Hill And Its Environs by Robert Zhao Renhui
Curator: John Tung, assistant curator at the Singapore Art Museum
Where: Block 22 Gillman Barracks
What: This cabinet of curiosities contains objects bearing traces of man and nature from the forest next door – abandoned bird’s nests, pitcher plants preserved in alcohol, beer bottles, Hock Ann bricks and stones carved into egg shapes. There are also photos related to the history of “Queen’s Own Hill” – an old name for the Gillman Barracks area. In the past, the area was mostly a swamp and jungle. Part of it was cleared in the 1930s for Gillman Barracks, which housed British officers and their families. In the 2000s, some migrant workers would camp in the forest bordering the present-day arts enclave. Robert Zhao Renhui, 36, says of the secondary forest: “Nature has come to reclaim the land, in a way – this time with alien, invasive species like the Albizia trees. Nature doesn’t really care about what has happened before. It has a way of moving on that is unpredictable.”
4. Ayaw Jaw Bah by Busui Ajaw
Curator: Vipash Purichanont, independent curator based in Bangkok and co-founder of Chiang Mai-based collective Waiting You Curator Lab
Where: Block 9 Gillman Barracks
What: A series of paintings by Chiang Rai artist Busui Ajaw, 33, tells the story of the fallen hero Ayaw Jaw Bah – one of the first kings of the Akha, the ethnic minority group to which she belongs. Also on display are sculptures of a spirit gate and human figures which traditionally stood at the front of an Akha village to mark the boundary between the human and spirit worlds. “I hope the audience will get to find out more about Akha culture, art and traditions,” Busui says in Thai. “I hope the younger generation will learn about Ayaw Jaw Bah and the good things he did.”
5. The Mamitua Saber Project by Bakudapan Food Study Group, Propaganda Department and Mark Sanchez
Curator: Renan Laru-an, independent curator and public engagement and artistic formation coordinator of the Philippine Contemporary Art Network, Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center
Where: Gallery 1, Lasalle College of the Arts
What: The late sociologist Mamitua Saber played a vital role in the cultural development of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. His ideas and theories have now spawned three new works: A scented installation by the Yogyakarta-based Bakudapan Food Study Group examining the food culture of Indonesian island Morotai; a kinetic display by itinerant collective Propaganda Department on the roles of women and language across borders; and Mark Sanchez’s installation featuring diagrams, texts and videos on agricultural labour in the Philippines. – The Straits Times/ Asia News Network