C6 life happenings | THE STRAITS TIMES | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 |

Ong Sor Fern Senior Culture Correspondent recommends Picks Arts

EILEEN CHANG’S AFTERNOON TEA Celebrate pioneer novelist Eileen Chang’s 100th birthday with some of her favourite foods at this tea experience. Sample a nine-course menu (above) of Shanghainese and Western treats which the Shanghai-born author of Lust, Caution would have enjoyed. Besides her childhood favourites like fried meatball wrapped in glutinous rice and Shanghainese sweet smoked fish, the menu also offers sausage rolls, a favourite of Chang’s father who would order the item whenever he EXPLORING SOUTHEAST gently through a series of themes, PHOTOS: NANYANG took her to Shanghai’s famous Cafe Federal ASIA: A JOURNEY THROUGH from landscapes to identities, ACADEMY OF FINE when she was a child. ART AND TIME common to South-east Asian artists. ARTS, OBJECTIFS, Local tea merchant Pek Sin Choon has created a Most museums in Singapore tend to My favourite section is Ladies, which PERCEPTION3, champagne-like cold brew of aged white tea with organic be parsimonious with caption brings together some usual suspects – YAN’S DINING rose, inspired by Chang’s novella Red Rose, White Rose, information, so it is a pleasant Cheong Soo Pieng and Lee Man Fong – especially for this occasion. surprise to see, literally, walls of text with some less often seen artists. This experience is curated by Lianhe Zaobao senior at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts’ Tay Chee Toh’s batik work Untitled correspondent Lim Fong Wei, Zaobao columnist Yu Yun (Nafa) exhibition. (above), with its almost geometric and Yan’s Dining owner Wang Yanqing. I get a bit cross-eyed from all the presentation of three lolling ladies, is Patrons can scan a QR code at the tea to listen to a reading, but the information is a standout. Look out, too, for Nafa Mandarin podcast about the menu selections. Calligraphy appropriate for the venue’s context alumnus and Cultural Medallion artist Chen Liang’s works, priced between $3,000 and and purpose as an educational recipient Lee Hock Moh’s dreamily $5,000, will also be available for sale. institution. gorgeous Fort Canning, an unusual WHERE: Yan’s Dining, 04-22 Mandarin Gallery, 333A Exploring Southeast Asia landscape which depicts the venue in Orchard Road MRT: Orchard/Somerset WHEN: Sept 18 to cherry-picks from the school’s rich the classic Chinese ink painting style. 20, Sept 25 to 27, 3 to 5pm ADMISSION: $68; Zaobao collection and organises the WHERE: The Ngee Ann Kongsi subscribers get a $10 discount. Log in to the SPH Rewards selection along broad themes for the Galleries 1 & 2, Nafa Campus 1, app for the discount code and quote the code when edification of the student population. 80 Bencoolen Street booking INFO:str.sg/J8s2 But it serves equally well for casual MRT: Bencoolen/Bras Basah gallery visitors who might learn from WHEN: Till Oct 25, 11am to 7pm daily OWN A PIECE this wide-ranging show, which ambles ADMISSION: Free INFO: str.sg/J8eE OF ART Buy a work of art and help three charities. IMMATERIAL BODIES references a Malay proverb, “the body Arts collective If you happen to be in the Waterloo which is contained by land, Perception3 is area, pop by Objectifs’ Chapel Gallery disintegrates to the ground”, and making a limited for this small show which features addresses urban renewal in print run of Still work by four young Singapore artists. Singapore, while Denise Yap’s Building II (right), You can hear Weixin Chong’s larval installation Miss Q reimagines the which was featured limbic before you see it, thanks to the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid in the National soundtrack of burbling, burping as a construct of monitors and wires Gallery Singapore’s Golden Canopy light-up last liquids. in an extension of the artist’s month (above). Her work is partly inspired speculative fiction work. A hundred giclee prints will be available, priced at by science-fiction writer Octavia WHERE: Chapel Gallery at Objectifs, $200 each. Proceeds will go to three organisations: Butler’s Lilith’s Brood trilogy, which 155 Middle Road MRT: Bras Basah/ Aware, ArtsWok Collaborative and The T Project. deals with issues of reproduction Bencoolen WHEN: Till Nov 1, noon to Register your interest at str.sg/J889 before and genetic manipulation. 7pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays), noon to Sept 27, 11.59pm. Registration will close earlier if all Her soundtrack overlaps with 4pm (Sundays); closed on Mondays 100 pieces are reserved. Wayne Lim’s The Hyperrestrained and public holidays; free docent WHERE: str.sg/J889 WHEN: Till Sept 27, 11.59pm Order, a video collage that layers guided tours, capped at five people a PRICE: $200 found and shot footage to explore tour, on a first-come, first-served how bodies move through basis: weekly, 5.30 to 6pm Singapore’s regulated spaces. (Wednesdays) & 2.30 to 3pm Visual artist ila’s video work hancur (Saturdays) ADMISSION: Free badan dikandung tanah (left) INFO: str.sg/J7FR

ARTS with a piece titled Jasmine, a flower collaboration among 12 local arts that will take place from Dec 15 to Jan artistic medium (that is, text-based, that represents positivity and purity. institutions, independent art spaces 15 next year. OPEN CALL image-based and so on). WHERE: Deck, 120A Prinsep Street WHEN: Open call closes on Oct 1 BOOKS The concert will end with The Celestial and collectives here. Asia TV Forum Pitches MRT: Bugis WHEN: Till Sept 27, noon - ADMISSION: Send to Web, to show the unity of people in WHERE: Brother Joseph McNally (Advisory: 16 years and above) these trying times. Gallery and Earl Lu Gallery, Institute of 9pm. Closed on Mondays and public [email protected] Singapore Malay Book Fair 2020 The Asia TV Forum (ATF) is calling for WHERE: SCO Concert Hall, Singapore Contemporary Arts Singapore, Lasalle holidays ADMISSION: Free INFO: bit.ly/2GIUAbQ Pesta Buku Melayu Singapura 2020 pitches from Asian content makers to Conference Hall, 7 Shenton Way College of the Arts, 1 McNally Street INFO: artsrepublic.sg (Singapore Malay Book Fair 2020) be developed within or outside of the MRT: Raffles Place WHEN: Today, 8pm MRT: Bras Brasah returns for a second year but will go region. Finalists stand to win cash Open Call: Sit With Me (for invited guests only; others can WHEN: Tomorrow till Oct 11, Mon - Sat, online. It is commissioned by DANCE prizes to develop their winning The Tapestry Project SG is to be #BuySingLit with the support of the tune in at SCO’s Facebook page) & noon - 7pm (closed on Sundays & concept or earn opportunities to have commissioned by the National Arts National Arts Council and partnered tomorrow, 3pm (limited tickets are public holidays) ADMISSION: Free Dancers’ Locker 2020 their script scouted and purchased. Council to present the programme with Wisma Geylang Serai. Event available for the public). INFO: lasalle.edu.sg Presented by Frontier Danceland, Sit With Me at this year’s Singapore There are three main pitch highlights include chef Roszilah M. ADMISSION: Free INFO: sco.com.sg Dancers’ Locker returns with a digital Writers Festival. It is looking for programmes – ATF Chinese Pitch, ATF Nor’s kueh-making session to Sandstorm In An Hourglass version featuring six short films by writers who share passion for the Animation Pitch and ATF Formats accompany the storytelling session Just like a sandstorm in an hourglass company artists Ma Yueru literary arts and mental healthcare, Live Stream: SCO Digital Pitch – which are open to individuals, of Apa Nama Kuih Ini?, a children’s might persuade us to shift our (Singapore), Tan Xin Yen (Malaysia), and aims to curate up to 12 stories – Chamber Concert – Nocturne students, freelancers and companies. picture book recently shortlisted for perception of time, the artworks Sammantha Yue (Singapore), prose or poetry – for Sit With Me. Best Picture Book at the Singapore This Singapore Chinese Orchestra by Joo Choon Lin, Jaxton Su and Konrad Plak (Poland), Mark Robles ATF, part of the Singapore Media Each story should be accompanied by Book Awards 2020. Viewers also performance aims to capture the Sebastian Mary Tay invite viewers into (Philippines) and Keigo Nozaki Festival, connects influential players a photograph of a chair or seat that is stand to win #BuySingLit e-vouchers. beauty and serenity of night. Enjoy their “hourglasses”. Lin is a visual (Japan). Themes and topics range in the entertainment content relevant to the story, as well as audio WHERE: Facebook pages of Pesta pieces inspired by ancient poems artist, director, composer and from domestic anxieties and circuit industry across all genres and and video elements for a more Buku Melayu Singapura (all events) such as Moonlit Night On A Spring film-maker. Su works with painting, breaker measures to mortality and platforms. immersive experience. Where and Wisma Geylang Serai (selected River, Carefree and Reminiscence Of installation and video art, while Tay is familial ties. The artists will present WHEN: For ATF Animation & Formats relevant, the curated stories will be events) WHEN: Sun - Sept 18, 8.30 - Qin E, as well as folk melodies like an interdisciplinary artist. Curated by works-in-progress for the screening, Pitches, submit by Sept 30. For ATF paired with published works to show 10pm; Sept 19 & 20, 11am - 9.30pm Ti Or Or (The Darkening Sky), Song Poland-based artist Magdalen Chua followed by a live Q&A session. Chinese Pitch, submit by Sept 28 the parallels between local stories WHERE: Zoom WHEN: Tomorrow, 8pm ADMISSION: Free admission unless Of Night and Night Thoughts. and supported by the National Arts ADMISSION: Free and other literary works. There will be ADMISSION: Free; donations are otherwise stated WHERE: Sistic Live WHEN: Sept 18, Council, the Arts Fund and The INFO: bit.ly/3bG7IKf monetary compensation for selected welcome INFO: artsrepublic.sg INFO: bit.ly/2ReXeYB 8pm ADMISSION: $15. Concert is Glasgow School of Art Creative stories. viewable from Sept 18, 8pm till Sept Network. Saving Spaces Open Call WHEN: Submit by Sept 20 27, 8pm INFO: sistic.com.sg/events/ A Lover’s Concerto INFO: bit.ly/33cx1Q7 WHERE: The Substation, 45 Armenian Saving Spaces is a project that aims CONCERTS slnocturne0920 Episodes 1 & 2 Street MRT: City Hall WHEN: Till Sun , to produce a position paper on the noon to 8pm ADMISSION: Free Couples of different generations who FAL Poetry (Competition) SCO Live Concert – importance of the existence and INFO: artsrepublic.sg all met at the City Contemporary Project Feed-A-Lot (FAL) is a social Essence Of SCO EXHIBITIONS (GALLERIES) Dance Company (CCDC) will perform in preservation of art spaces in initiative pioneered by youth The Singapore Chinese Orchestra this work. Established 41 years ago, Singapore. Through this open call, volunteers from Citi-YMCA Youth (SCO) returns with its first concert Lasalle’s Institute Of ThisConnect: Threading Worlds CCDC has performed to audiences in it would like to know how the NTU For Causes and West Coast CC to with a live audience since the Contemporary Arts: This multidisciplinary exhibition is Hong Kong and other parts of the Centre for Contemporary Art help raise funds for Singapore’s pandemic, which will feature The Fabric Of Sympathy held in conjunction with Suicide world, and presented more than 200 Singapore, Centre 42, The Necessary food-insecure population. The poetry well-loved classics and be led by This exhibition encourages the viewer Prevention Awareness Month and original works to critical acclaim. Stage, The Substation and competition aims to raise awareness music director Tsung Yeh. It will to get in touch with their innate ability features works by social artist duo WHERE: Sistic Live WHEN: Episode 1: Intercultural Theatre Institute, or of food insecurity. Three cash prizes kick off with an energetic piece, to feel and examine the interior of Hunny & Lummy (Hun Ming Kwang live stream on Sun, 8pm, viewable till other lost or endangered arts spaces, are up for grabs, with an additional Celebration Overture, followed by an things. The featured artists employ and Quinn Lum). The two works, Sept 15; Episode 2: live stream on have been meaningful to you. You special prize for participants aged adaptation of the contemplative erhu a wide range of art forms. Part of Tipping Point and I Feel You, focus Oct 18, 8pm, viewable till Oct 20 can submit personal anecdotes and seven to 12. classic, Reflection Of The Moon On Proposals For Novel Ways Of Being, on the theme of human connections. ADMISSION: $10 INFO: sistic.com.sg/ stories about these spaces and/or WHEN: Submit online by Sept 25 Erquan. The mood will then be lifted a new initiative that features The show is a prelude to an exhibition events/sllover1020 creative responses to them in any INFO: artsrepublic.sg