WHAT TO SEE AT SINGAPORE BIENNALE 2016 (PRESS CONFERENCE)

by JH - Monday, November 14, 2016

An Atlas of Mirrors

The Singapore Biennale returns as a four- month-long contemporary art exhibition at Singapore Arts Museum (SAM) from 27 October 2016 to 26 February 2017.

Titled 'An Atlas of Mirrors' the theme explores the challenges in the region and how Southeast Asia can become be a vantage point where we can start anew.

58 artworks over 19 countries participated.

I was honored to be part of the opening guests for a first hand view of the exhibits

Here's what went on at our guided tour. We met the artists behind the works and they walked us through on the inspirations behind the inception, led by SAM curator Ms Joyce Toh and Creative Director Dr Susie Lingham

LOCATION: SAM

I Wander, I Wonder | Dex Fernandez

Probes on what lies behind the compulsion to hold on to 'useless' objects in the Philippines by people who survives the typhoon. What are the items they can bring along or leave behind, mirrors the objects becoming 'unintended mirrors' of self.

Paracosmos| Harumi Yukutake

You won't miss this at the staircase leading up to the upper level of the SAM.

A space of simultaneity. Reflections of a single image into an explosions of reflections. Seemingly here but yet being 'nowhere' in itself.

Good Boy Bad Boy| Chou Shih Hsiung

Behind the paintings/mirrors lie heavy dark petroleum ( yes you read that right),

Do you Know?

Each mirror panel weighs 250kg.

The Oil supply industry has been a tie for the artist and his family business.

Always fluid, yet gives viewers the chance to explore self-reflection.

Age of Discovery| Qiu Zhi Jie

Voyages and monsters; fear and temptations.

Look out for handblown glass bestiary of fantastical monsters, traversing between mountains and seas.

History Repeats Itself |Titarubi

With the setting against the colonial conquest in SEA, the ships are modeled exactly from the burning ships in Indonesia by Dutch East India Company in an attempt to seize spice trade control, back during the European colonialism period.

These figures atop the ships have robes made of GOLD-plated nutmeg, a spice worth its weight in gold back in those times. Nutmegs came from East of Indonesia.

Do you Know?

The artist was not able to coat nutmegs with gold and hence she has to copperplate the nutmegs first before they can be coated by the final layer of gold.

Talk about the hard work behind it all.

A dark mirror to our present

The artist herself was there sharing with us her thoughts.

Do you know?

The hollow figures represent neither male or female.

The hollow centre has a birdcage-lookalike which was made to mimic trapping someone inside.

9000 nutmegs were threaded together for a single figurine

LOCATION: SAM @8Q

Hop on over to the 8Q and more wonderful discovery of the atlas and mirrors await.

Knitting the Future| Chia Chuyia

A creative piece from this artist from Selangor, Malaysia.

This is a performance piece which sae the artist knitting a body-length garment out of LEEKS ( yes you read it right) for over 5 weeks.

Why leeks?

In chinese terms, leeks are known as 'suan' in Mandarin and signifies 'to count' with money to keep. By knitting she wants to personify the body as a piece of land by protecting the body with clothing, akin to protecting the land from which crops grow.

A combination of artworks at the 2nd level

Witness to Paradise| Various artists

Unwalked Boundaries| S. Chandrasekaran

A work by our local artist.

Mr Chandrasekaran explores the body and identity and dates back to Indian convicts who from 1825 to 1873 were transported to Singapore when they served their sentence as manual labourers.

Accessories for the artisit to personify the 19th century Indian convict, contained in the glass showcase.

A walk performance detailing the former location of the convict prison, all contained within the bras-Basah-Bugis area.

Do you know?

The listed places were all heavily contributed by Indian manual convicts.

Soap Blocked| Htein Lin

What viewers see before them is a may of Myanmar created by the artist using bars of soaps. What's more stunning was that each soap were sculpted a figure of a captive human figure, trapped within the four walls, reflecting the uprising of 1988

Dislocate |Bui Cong Khanh

This installation almost couldn't make it due to shipping issues at the customs.

Nevertheless, we were glad it came. More than just being massive, it's the intricate details that really catch the eyes.

Do you know?

Be in awe with this handcrafted, hand carved by the artist and carpenters and woodcarvers over two years. The wood comes from jackfruit treees.

The installation brings about the harmony of the artist's heritage and origins. Combining the wood craftsmanship of his ancestral province in Fujian, China with the cultural identity of central Vietnam.

What looks seemingly at ease and at peace has signs of violence in them.

Look closely and you will spot weapons like guns, cannons and grenades

Inscription of the Island| Lim Soo Ngee

Another piece by our local talent.

This fist represents Lim's imagination about how there should be a statue that guided ships during the colonial periods.

Bonus:
It may be unknown, but parallel projects from the Singapore Biennale includes works at Hermès Aloft (Lido) right at the upper deck.
Titled Here from Here | Agathe de Bailliencourt
Being in the present.
These individually painted gravel pieces, layered and arranged to form an abstract landscape, projecting a past and future without conflict.