Headline Art Week Whimsical works Publication Date 2019-01-15 Section LIFE Page Number A1 & D1 & D2 Article Size 3696.757 cm2 Journalist [email protected] (Akshita Nanda) TUESDAY JANUARY 15, 2019 SINCE 1845 AVE $ 43104

| THE STRAITS TIMES | TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2019

INSPIRED BY SUNGEI BULOH D Unusual writing residencies Home 32 Top of the News Life Overcoming WP aims for Oeat across Singapore Add D4&5 the odds Maths one-third of works at for O levels scripts Parliament A7 S’pore Art go Sport missing Week True greatness D1&2 can’t be hurried B1&2 C9

Top of the News IHiS disciplines sta over cyber breach A6 • Opinion Ensuring peace of mindSingapore over Arthospital Week bills A16 Unique and intimate art experi- 590,000 viewers, according to the ences feature prominently in this arts council. but it was overshadowed by other year’s Singapore Art Week (SAW) – Ms Linda de Mello, director, issues that subsequently arose. They the biggest visual arts celebration sector development (visual arts), S’pore to discuss issues with KL will meet again to continue discus- here. National Arts Council, said: “We’re sions, he said. Apart from mega light shows very encouraged that the visual arts WhimsicalThe transport ministers from both organised by National Gallery Singa- community continues to be excited countries have also agreed to meet pore and big-ticket contemporary by Singapore Art Week – over the later this month for further discus- art fairs such as Art Stage Singapore past few years, we’ve increasingly calmly, but will guard its turf: Vivian sions on the airspace dispute. and S.E.A. Focus, there will be a seen more home-grown artists and MPs had filed 14 questions on the number of quirky exhibitions, in- groups keen to be part of SAW. disputes with Malaysia, and seven cluding an interactive installation “Their ground-up initiatives members had supplementary ques- about household chores called uncover new presentation spaces tions for Dr Balakrishnan. Home(work), and one where artists and push creative boundaries in the sures and counter-measures.” READ MORE propriate international third party Concluding his speech, he said: create site-specific works at Sim intersections of art, culture, tech- Countries can expect consequences if they On Malaysia’s extension of port RTS Link project likely to be delayed. dispute settlement works procedure if “The strength of Singapore’s diplo- Lim Square – better known for sell- nology, design and heritage. These limits, he said it goes beyond even TOP OF THE NEWS A5 such negotiations fail, he said. macy depends on domestic unity ing functional electronics than dis- innovative ideas also reach out to embark on ‘antics’ against Republic, he says the territorial sea claims in its 1979 Replying to a question from Mr and resilience, and the fact that we playing art. those new to the arts, making the map, which Singapore has rejected S’pore to review adoption law Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC) on cannot be intimidated or bought.” Running from Saturday to Jan 27, visual arts even more engaging for Linette Lai Last October, Malaysia unilater- consistently. “The inescapable con- and look into surrogacy issue. what actions Singapore could take This is why Total Defence and in- this is the seventh edition of Singa- all.” Political Correspondent ally extended the Johor Baru port clusion is that the new Johor Baru TOP OF THE NEWS A6 if there were further intrusions into vestment in the Singapore Armed pore Art Week, a joint initiative by limits into Singapore’s territorial wa- port limits transgress into what are its waters, Dr Balakrishnan said: Forces are so important, he added. the National Arts Council, Singa- [email protected] ters off Tuas. It has also objected to indisputably Singapore territorial “We will always takeSweep appropriate the floorResilience, to createhe said, includes art and im- exchange items for Robot Coins at Akshita Nanda pore Tourism Board and Singapore Singapore will do its best to discuss the implementation of new landing waters,” said the minister, highlight- sions do not help Malaysia’s legal measures to safeguardIT our mall interest, Sim proving Lim Singapore’sSquare at water this supply year’s offbeat exhibits and installations Economic Development Board. • For the full Singapore Art Week all outstanding bilateral issues with procedures for Seletar Airport. ing how Singapore has long exer- case. All they do is to raise tensions and any country dealing with Singa- infrastructure, namely Newater and Last year’s Art Week drew calendar, go to www.artweek.sg Malaysia in a calm, reasonable and fo- “Both of these sets of sudden ac- cised sovereignty and patrolled the and endanger navigational safety in pore must not assume that it is desalinated water, strengthening cused manner, Foreign Minister Vi- tions upset the status quo that has disputed waters without any protest the area,” he said. cost-free to embark on any adven- food security by diversifying food vian Balakrishnan told Parliament been in place for many years,” Dr Bal- from Malaysia. Dr Balakrishnan and his tures or antics against us. There will sources, and ensuring a strong, diver- yesterday. But he warned of “conse- akrishnan said in his statement, He also pointed out that daily in- Malaysian counterpart had agreed be consequences.” sified labour market. quences” if other nations embarked where he set out the facts of each is- trusions into these waters by last week to form a working group to He also addressed theQuirky 1962 Water Astake a small state with limited re- on “adventures and antics” against it. sue and highlighted steps that both Malaysian government vessels since discuss matters and de-escalate the Agreement, which Malaysia wants sources, the quest for security and re- Dr Balakrishnan also said he does sides have taken to find a construc- November have continued despite situation in the waters off Tuas. to revise. The attorneys-general on silience has been “a constant, relent- not expect a quick or smooth resolu- tive way forward. “These actions did the Malaysian Foreign Ministry While Singapore believes that mar- both sides had met last onmonth tochores bet- less imperative” since indepen- tion to these issues with Malaysia, not bode well for our bilateral rela- declaring that it would take “all effec- itime boundary delimitation is best ter understand each other’s position dence, Dr Balakrishnan noted. which include disputes over mar- tionship. They created the risk of a tive measures” to de-escalate the sit- resolved through negotiations, it is on whether Malaysia still had the itime and airspace boundaries. dangerous downward spiral of mea- uation on the ground. “These intru- prepared to settle disputes via an ap- right to review the price of water, [email protected] What is the value we assign to domestic labour and how creative can we get while doing household chores? Bangkok faces a polluted new year Artist collective Proxy puts a quirky spin on these questions through its interactive installationThailand is set Home(work) at the National De-to deploy sign Centre for Singapore Artcloud-seeding Week. planes, South The four-member group – MelvinKorea is Wong, Charmaine Poh, Ong Lijiestopping old and Lim Cheng Jun – is creating acars from being “showflat” in a space that is roughlydriven on the 50 sq m. However, this small flatroad and Britain has certain quirks. The fridge doorwants to phase leads to another room, for example,out diesel-only and visitors can play with reimag-trains as nations ined domestic tools. A light installa-fight back to tion is also a kinetic sculpture and areduce air broom has colour pencils in place ofpollution bristles. shrouding their Sweeping the floor is often seencities at the as a menial chore, but sweeping thestart of the new floor in Home(work) will create art.year. Bangkok “We mimic household chores in a(left) has been fun way,” says Proxy memberhit by persistent Melvin Wong, 29, who, like his fel-smog caused by low artists, has been moppinga mix of exhaust floors and scrubbing bathrooms atfrom vehicles, home for more than a decade. the burning of Ong, 25, says: “Why is it whenfields by farmers somebody says: ‘I’m a homemaker’,outside the city we think: ‘That’s not a job and it’sand pollutants not creative’? We want to ask ourfrom factories. viewers how do we value labour inPHOTO: Charmaine EPA-EFE Poh of Proxy models a coat studded with colour pencils and nails designed by the collective for Home(work), an installation about domestic labour and creativity. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR the context of the household and domesticity.” SEE WORLD A10 Proxy has also opened its showflat to works created by artists Yang Jie, Fiona Seow, Emma Sim Lim VIEW IT / SIM LIM SQUARE Chong, Joseph Chiang and Izzad ART RESIDENCY Radzali Shah, all of whom used or reimagined household tools like Square’s WHERE: 06-53/31 Sim Lim sponges or cups. Square, 1 Rochor Canal Road Three performance artists, Ila, artists WHEN: Until Jan 27, studios Ben Yap and Isabel Phua, will also open noon to 6pm daily, use the space. Ila’s interactive per- CapitaLand buying Temasek unit Ascendas-Singbridgeformances in on Saturday $11b and Jan 26deal exhibition launches on Jan 22 look at how maintaining a house- ADMISSION: Free hold is an art form, and Proxy is Heard of Robot Coins? Taiwanese looking for volunteers to take part. artist Ko Tzu-an is planning to INFO: There will be a guided tour on Saturday. Go to Grace Leong group chief executive of Capita- 40.8 per cent to about 51 per cent. with the right to appoint manage- develop urban solutionsThere that aread- parallelsLand said between the deal will introduceboost its his- this “currency” at Sim www.instagram.com/ Business Correspondent Land, said: “Geographically, the The new CapitaLand shares will ment. “The difference is that the dress local initiativesartists and require- and housewives,torical pro the forma artists fee incomeLim Square.by over People will receive deal strengthens CapitaLand’s pres- be priced at $3.50 apiece, represent- risks and rewards of Temasek’s eq- ments across the region.”of Proxy say. Both40 have per centto be from cre- $238Robot million Coins to in exchange for any intermission.art and ence in our core markets of Singa- ing a premium of 11.3 per cent, over uity stake in CapitaLand will in- ASB’s business presenceative, spans but the 11 fruits$337 of million. their labour Shares ofitem CapitaLand they choose to hand over. www.inter-mission.art CapitaLand is acquiring Temasek pore and China, while adding mean- CapitaLand’s one-month volume- crease post-merger,” Mr Lee said. countries includingare Singapore, often unappreciated. last traded at $3.27 on Friday.Ko, 33, The hopes to get retailers at subsidiary Ascendas-Singbridge ingful scale in India, the United weighted average price of $3.1447. The deal would strengthen China, India, Australia, “WhatBritain isand the valuecompany we assign requested to liftingthe ITof malla trad- to join in her art project (ASB) in a deal valued at $11 billion, States and Europe. This deal imme- Ascendas and Singbridge have a Temasek’s ability to undertake the US. More than 80art?” per asks cent Lim, of 30,ing rhetorically. halt after market closeand yesterday. accept Robot Coins in ex- including debt, to create Asia’s diately adds a portfolio of operating combined enterprise value of some mega township projects in develop- ASB’s $23.6 billion AUM is in busi- change for their goods. largest diversified real estate group. assets that contribute income, while $10.9 billion, comprising $6 billion ing countries, he said, with Capita- ness spaces. Its flagship projects in- [email protected] The only problem? “I think peo- Artist assistant Jovan Tng (far left) holds up an image of Singaporean artist Chong Weixin, who is participating After the transaction, the group’s adding a sizeable pipeline of devel- of equity value and $4.9 billion of Land, Surbana Jurong, Sembcorp clude Singapore Science Park and ple will think this is another scam,” virtually in the Sim Lim Square Art Residency by art collective Inter-Mission. Also taking part are (from left) combined total assets under man- opment projects for the future.” net debt and minority interest. Development and Keppel Land in Changi Business Park here;VIEW Interna- IT / HOME(WORK)SEE TOP OF THE NEWS A7she says, referring to Sim Lim Singaporean artist Johann Yamin, Taiwanese artist Ko Tzu-an and South Korean artist Eom Jeongwon. With them is Square’s reputation as a hotbed for agement (AUM) will exceed $116 bil- CapitaLand group chief financial The deal is expected to be com- its stable of subsidiaries. tional Tech Park BangaloreWHERE: and In-National Design Centre, Inter-Mission co-founder Urich Lau (right). ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN counterfeit goods – last August, the lion across more than 30 countries, officer Andrew Lim said the pro- pleted by the third quarter of this ASB chairman Wong Kan Seng ternational Tech Park Chennai111 Middle in In- Road and cover asset classes such as busi- posed deal will allow it to “compete year. It will have to be approved by said: “The combined scale and ex- dia; and Dalian Ascendas IT Park police raided four shops at the mall ness parks, and commercial, retail globally for blue chip capital part- CapitaLand’s independent share- pertise of the group will enable it to and Singapore HangzhouWHEN: Science Saturday to Jan 27, 9am72 PAGES INand FIVE seized PARTS about 6,000 counterfeit artists Urich Lau and Teow Yue working on another project in ing it regularly as a student, shop- he brought from his home. He is and residential properties. ners and funding”. holders at an extraordinary general better capitalise on the opportuni- and Tech Park in China. to 9pm daily $1.10 items. Han, and lasts for about three Europe. ping for thumbdrives or other elec- also creating a video installation The deal will make the combined Under the terms of the agreement, meeting by the first half of this year. ties arising from the rapid pace of The combined group’s number of To subscribe:Once 6388-3838 known as the place to shop weeks till Jan 27. She navigates the mall through tronics. based on footage from the games. ADMISSION: Free group the ninth largest real estate in- Temasek will receive $6 billion –half Gibson Dunn & Crutcher partner urbanisation in the region. ASB’s es- CBD and suburban offices will grow sphsubscription.com.sgfor electronics – as well as pirated It has Ko occupy a shop unit on video call, her assistant Jovan Tng Eom, 28, is similarly interested in He says he often spent weekends vestment manager globally, up from in cash and half in new CapitaLand Robson Lee noted that Temasek tablished relationships with local from 39 to 83 propertiesINFO: across www.facebook.com/home- 10 Avideo Singapore games – Sim Lim Square has the sixth floor of the mall along serving as a body double and mov- wearable electronics and will get in the mall as a child, shopping with Pressseen Holdings its fortunes dwindle in recent with South Korean artist Eom ing around in her stead. visitors to wear camera mounts and his father. CapitaLand’s current 14th place. shares, boosting Temasek’s owner- will remain the single largest share- governments and business commu- countries, with a total grossworkbyproxy floor publication Mr Lee Chee Koon, president and ship of CapitaLand from around holder of CapitaLand after the deal, nities will also enable the group to area of nearly 27 million sq ft. Capita- MCI (P) 113/01/2018years. An ★★ art residency during Sin- Jeongwon and Singaporean artists Her project stems from her inter- walk around, taking footage of the “I’m quite excited by this resi- gapore Art Week aims to get partici- Johann Yamin and Chong Weixin. est in the virtual avatars people area. dency because I’m interested in get- pants and artists to rethink their The studios are open daily to visi- have left online over the years. Start Johann, 25, meanwhile, is in- ting to know Sim Lim Square be- engagement with the mall and its tors and the artists will present an a teenage blog and 10 years later, spired by the pirated videogames yond a transactional relationship,” role in high-tech Singapore. exhibition of works from Jan 22 to the blog is still there, a record of he bought over the years, some he adds. The Sim Lim Square Art Resi- 27. your former self. from Sim Lim Square. Visitors can dency was initiated by art collec- For part of the residency, Chong The mall exists in a time capsule play games from the 1990s and tive Inter-Mission, co-founded by will be present virtually, since she is for Chong, 31, who remembers visit- early Noughties on old computers MORE STORIES on D2

Copyright 2016 Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction. Headline Singapore Art Week Whimsical works Publication THE STRAITS TIMES Date 2019-01-15 Section LIFE Page Number D2 Journalist [email protected] (Akshita Nanda)

D2 life arts | THE STRAITS TIMES | TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2019 |

Singapore Art Week

Nicole Phua’s work is inspired by funeral rites and beliefs about death and rebirth.

VIEW IT / ORTHODOX: A TWO-PART EXHIBITION WHERE: Your Mother Gallery, 91 Hindoo Road WHEN: Saturday to Feb 2, noon to 8pm daily (exhibition opens on Saturday , 7pm) WHERE: Coda Culture, 05-05 , 5001 Beach Road WHEN: Sunday to Feb 3, noon to 8.30pm daily (exhibition opens on Sunday, 7pm) ADMISSION: Free INFO: therightbelief.weebly.com

Liza Markus created a sculpture inspired by the tug-of-war she feels regarding her Christian faith and how it was introduced to Indonesia by colonial powers, as well as her curiosity over the Catholic confessional. ST PHOTOS: ARIFFIN JAMAR, KHALID BABA

Exploring Sebastian Chun with his Other installation faiths Sticks on the Asian highlights Civilisations Museum lawn. Talking about religion is often ST PHOTO: taboo, but two 20something artists DESMOND FOO want to spark honest conversations with their work. Singaporean artist Nicole Phua and Indonesian artist Liza Markus are co-founders of The Right Belief, a platform for young artists to BUY explore their faiths and traditions through art. Art Stage Singapore Their first project is Orthodox, a What: The ninth edition of a major showcase of faith-inspired perfor- contemporary art fair with mance art, installation pieces, paint- galleries, exhibitions from private ings, videos and sculpture done by collectors and talks by artists and Markus, Phua and 10 friends, many curators. of whom are fellow graduates from Where: Level B2 the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art. Expo & Convention Centre, The exhibition is spread out over 10 Bayfront Avenue two galleries, Coda Culture and When: Jan 25 and 26, noon to 8pm; Your Mother Gallery, and opens Jan 27, 11am to 6pm during Singapore Art Week. Admission: $50 (three-day pass), The other artists featured are $30 (one-day pass), from Ahdini Izzatika, Faris Heizer, Farizi www.artstage.com/singapore/ Noorfauzi, Jackson Kang, Kim site/home Hyesu, Kuat Zhi Hooi, Moktarrul- lah Abdullah, Oneal Parbo, Phua S.E.A. Focus: A Spotlight On Shi Ying and Yunita Rebekah. South-east Asia Nicole Phua’s work is a What: A home-grown boutique art 45-minute performance inspired fair with a regional focus. by funeral rites and beliefs about Where: , Pavilion, death and rebirth. The perfor- Carpark B, Blocks 7 & 9, Lock Road mance will take place when the ex- When: Jan 24, 3 to 7pm; Jan 25; 3 to hibition opens at Coda Culture on diers who died in the two world Gallery Singapore. 10pm; Jan 26 and 27, 11am to 7pm Sunday. After that, the items used Listen, wars, the creators of Under The The Singapore Art Week edition VIEW IT / UNDER Admission: $20 (four-day pass), will remain in the exhibition. Five Trees invited collaborators to of the festival, which runs from Fri- THE FIVE TREES $15 (one-day pass), from Phua comes from a mixed-faith create songs and stories based on day to Jan 27, invites viewers to dis- seafocus2019.peatix.com family, which means that some- smell, relax personal memories or oral history. cover art through intimate encoun- WHERE: Esplanade Park, times, tough conversations are “Memories on a human scale are ters using different senses. along Connaught Drive WALK needed about funeral rites, for ex- what we are interested in,” says Apart from Art Skins On Monu- WHEN: Friday to April 30, all day ample. Her father is Catholic, with When was the last time you sat Tan. ments, the popular light projec- Artwalk Little India some Buddhist beliefs, and would under a tree? Artists Kaylene Tan Landscape designers have sown tions on buildings in the Civic Dis- ADMISSION: Free What: Wall murals, exhibitions and insist on a Catholic funeral, while and Ben Slater have worked with flowers in the grass or sculpted trict, the Gallery has created a Sen- Info: Scan QR codes at the park performances have been curated her mother, a free-thinker, would writers, musicians and landscape grassy mounds for people to sorial Trail within. around Little India in a using the Gallery Explorer App prefer cremation and for the ashes designers to transform Esplanade mount. Visitors can enter its public spa- multidisciplinary art project that to be scattered at sea. “I’m split and Park into a place that invites Tan says: “We wanted to create ces, touch the walls and release or your QR code scanner transforms the precinct. Artwalk is confused,” says the 21-year-old. passers-by to stop, sit and listen to very intimate experiences for the scents put there by Norway-born re- presented by the Singapore Markus has created a sculpture stories and songs that can be audience in a public space, to invite searcher and artist Sissel Tolaas in STICKS Tourism Board and Lasalle College inspired by the tug-of-war she feels streamed on mobile devices by listeners to lose themselves in the her work eau d’you Who Am I; or ex- WHERE: ACM Green, in front of the Arts, with the support of the regarding her Christian faith and scanning QR codes placed around song, story, natural environment.” plore connections between music Little India Shopkeepers and how it was introduced to Indonesia the park. Under The Five Trees is one of and visuals through Andy Chia’s of Asian Civilisations Museum, Heritage Association. by colonial powers, as well as her Though the park is known for several artworks commissioned for Voices Of Time, where visitors can 1 Empress Place When: Friday to Feb 2, at your own curiosity over the confessional – national monuments such as the the annual Light To Night Festival create music that triggers visuals WHEN: Friday to Feb 24, 10am to pace and time she is not Catholic, but attended a Cenotaph, commemorating sol- spearheaded by the National on the wall. 7pm daily (until 9pm on Fridays) Admission/info: Download Catholic school. Next door, on the lawn of the brochure and maps from Figures made of soil and soap sit Asian Civilisations Museum, Singa- ADMISSION: Free artwalklittleindia.sg. Free guided within a mirrored circle, evoking porean artist and designer Sebas- tours are conducted by Monster the notion of ritual purity. tian Chun has created Sticks, an in- SENSORIAL TRAIL Day Tours on Fridays, 6.30pm, and “It’s a self-mockery of how I feel,” stallation of roughly 500 bamboo Saturdays at 4 and 6.30pm. Go to says the 23-year-old. poles hammered into a tepee-like WHERE: National Gallery artwalklittleindia2019.peatix.com They gave their artist friends shape. Lounge chairs are placed Singapore, various locations to register carte blanche to create any work around and within the structure. WHEN: Friday to March 31; based on their personal belief. The Chun, 54, was inspired by his Gallery open from 10am to 7pm VIEW results range from a video record- memories of playing the pick-up ing of friends discussing death and sticks strategy game as a child, as daily, except Fridays (open until Art Skins On Monuments: marriage to an installation depict- well as seeing many buildings in the 9 pm), The Odyssey ing what the creator thinks heaven area constructed by workers mov- Jan 25 and 26 and Feb 1 and 2 What: The biggest facade light might look like. ing across bamboo scaffolding. (10am to midnight) show in Singapore, with Both Phua and Markus empha- By day, viewers can seek refuge multimedia projected onto the sise that the works are based on from the heat within the shade cast ADMISSION: Free walls of the National Gallery each individual’s faith and are not by the installation. At night, Singapore, , Asian meant to hurt anyone’s feelings. coloured lights give Sticks a differ- Civilisations Museum and Victoria “It presents a conversation that’s ent look. Theatre and Concert Hall. Part of hush-hush sometimes, but it Chun hopes to see visitors chat- the Light To Night Festival. shouldn’t be hurtful,” says Markus. ting, relaxing and maybe even shar- Where: Civic District, around “I’ve realised there are so many peo- ing a picnic inside his work. Empress Place ple just like me, convoluted in their “The idea is that it doesn’t have to When: Friday to Jan 28, 8pm to feelings of faithfulness – or Kaylene Tan and Ben Slater on a mound which is part of their audio be ‘high art’. Art should be accessi- midnight. Visuals are on loop unfaithfulness.” installation, Under The Five Trees, at Esplanade Park. ST PHOTO: TIMOTHY DAVID ble to everyone,” he says. Admission: Free

Copyright 2016 Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.