Catching the Singapore Art Week over this weekend? With over 130 art events across the island, here’s what you should see, based on the type of art you love:
1. The Aesthetic Art Lover
Bad Imitations
Captivated by the liminal space between a copy and an original, co-curators Berny Tan and Daniel Chong invited eight Singapore artists to produce Bad Imitations. The exhibit presents relatable and familiar imitations that are “flawed and intentionally adjacent to the original”, aiming to spark a difference of perception between copy and original in the audience’s mind.
In Catherine Hu’s artwork, public fixtures such as park benches and tiled-void deck seats take a miniature spin but are placed in adjacence to the exhibition space’s actual fire hose reel, the sculptures humorously flicker between reality and illusion.
Where: 05-04 Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road
For more information, visit www.badimitations.com.
A N T I N O D E S
Antinodes is a visual art exhibition that presents the progressions of urban art styles in Singapore. Those who enjoy graffiti works or guerilla art will be thrilled by the colourful murals featured.
Bringing together the work of nine debut artists, this interdisciplinary exhibit encompasses their works of street culture, music, architecture, technology, fashion and spirituality.
Where: Tanjong Pagar Distripark 39 Keppel Road #05-03
For more information, visit www.antinodes.xyz.
Time Present Time Past
Time Present Time Past is a time portal that manifests as a traditional Chinese street opera stage, presenting fresh works by five artists that explore the relevance of traditional performing art in our contemporary society. Located on Prinsep Street, the exhibit features Ken Cheong’s photos of Singapore’s Chinese street opera from 1989 to 2007, Lai Yu Tong’s sculptures of hand gestures inspired by the performing art, and more.
Where: Deck, 120A Prinsep Street
For more information, visit deck.sg.
2. The Adventurous Art Lover
ARTWALK 2022: Looking Back, Going Forward
The eighth edition of ARTWALK expands its footprint into the Katong-Joo Chiat precinct, in addition to its home in Little India.
ARTWALK celebrates the multicultural history of these locations while embracing how traditions have changed over time. The exhibit showcases how these spaces live up to the idea of looking back while bringing that energy forward.
Where: Little India and Katong-Joo Chiat
For more information, visit artwalklittleindia.sg/artwalk-22.
DIASPORA
DIASPORA revolves around the evolving conditions of visual artists in a time of uncertainty, privacy issues and how they reach out to a changing audience. Blurring the lines between public and private spaces through art interventions, DIASPORA invades part of Basheer Graphics Book, a cornerstone to the print design community.
Where: Basheer Graphic Books, Bras Basah Complex, 231 Bain Street, #04-19
For more information, visit artblovk.com.
fated love sky
This curatorial performance exhibition brings together the works of six Singaporean artists. Their works explore the joy surrounding attachments through films, objects and installations. Audiences will see ideas on space ownership, cultural magnitudes, care and synthesis.
Where: 6 Lock Road #02-09
For more information, visit fatedlovesky.com.
3. The Aspirational Art Lover
Hawker! Hawker!
Set in the historic location of Lau Pa Sat, this exhibit brings together fourteen Singapore and New York-based artists, curators, and writers to spotlight Singapore’s evolving hawker culture. This exhibit brings intercultural perspectives from multiple disciplines including sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, and writing to delve into the past, present and future of Singapore’s hawker culture.
Where: Lau Pa Sat, 18 Raffles Quay
For more information, visit www.mackerel.life/hawker-hawker.
It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to, you would cry too if it happened to you
A collaboration between The Projector and curator Louis Ho, this exhibit consists of site-specific works located in The Projector’s Golden Mile space. Andini’s featured films surround the theme of ‘unhappiness’, coming across the screen as being understood as feelings that do not serve the needs of dominant modes of contemporary life.
The screening programme presents three of Kamila Andini’s films, The Mirror Never Lies (2011), The Seen & Unseen (2017) and Yuni (2021).
Where: The Projector, 6001 Beach Rd, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower
For more information, visit theprojector.sg.
4. The Mindful Art Lover
S.E.A. Focus 2022
Features contemporary arts and artists from the Southeast Asian region, audiences can expect both in-person exhibitions and online programmes that explore the shared histories, geographies and converging cultures of community in this region.
Where: Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road #01-05
For more information, visit seafocus.sg.
For the House; Against the House: Life Imitates Art
Inspired by the Ministry of Culture’s focus on the “creation of a sense of national identity”, this exhibit takes on a unique debate format where art illustrates the dialogue surrounding the evolution of Singapore’s arts and cultural landscape.
Where: 9 Lock Road #03-22
For more information, visit ohopenhouse.org.
5. The Futuristic Art Lover
Proximities
The first solo exhibition by Singaporean artist-curator Zulkhairi Zulkiflee, Proximities features artwork surrounding Malay masculinities and their representation in various disciplines from art history to personal meditation. Unpacking these representations, Zulkiflee shows how Malay masculinities have been remoulded to fit today’s contemporary culture.
Where: Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film, 155 Middle Road
For more information, visit proximities.cargo.site.
If Forests Talk 2022
An online treat for those who prefer to stay at home, If Forest Talk 2022 explores how new digital modes of research, communication and presentation might allow for the bridging of distances in the midst of a pandemic. This exhibit draws parallels to early disciplines of botany and natural history that might provide a way for Singapore to continue to be seen on a global landscape.
For more information, visit ifforeststalk.com.
Check out all the events happening this Singapore Art Week at www.artweek.sg.