Music in PINK - proposed event

Music in PINK is a charity fundraiser in aid of one of the breast cancer associations here in the UK. (Charity of choice tbc.) This event will be held during Breast Cancer Awareness month in October. The format of this event will be an afternoon of cross-disciplinary performances with the common theme of Breast Cancer Awareness, featuring classically trained Musicians, Artist and Designers. All of which are Singaporeans and members of creative [SIN]ergy.

The programme will be composed of Art works/ performances, where the musicians and the artists could pair/triple up to work together to come up with an Art work/ performance.The music involved could be classical, ethnic or improvised depending on the concept behind the idea and also the musician whom the artist is working with.

project: A6 - proposed event

Creative [SIN]ergy + Organization of illustrators council (OIC) have teamed up together to present project: A6. The name A6 is derived from the size of a post card, which is the format size of each illustration artwork.

project: A6 will be a showcase of 10 to 20 up and coming Singaporean illustrators based in Singapore and the UK. The featured illustrators will comprise of members from OIC + creative [SIN]ergy.

The event is planned for launch during the London Design Festival in September 2009. The London Design Festival is a unique blend of over 200 events and activities reflecting the diversity of world-class design talent in the Capital. (www.londondesignfestival.co.uk)

Depending on funding, the event could be held at the following places; Tent London (The most comprehensive and diverse design exhibition attended by over 16,000 visitors. www.tentlondon.co.uk), Designersblock (shows take place in transitional architectural spaces alongside major design events and trade shows, achieving significant media profile and industry acclaim. www.designersblock.org.uk) or a “pop up” gallery in one of the vacant premises along the trendy shopping hub of Carnaby Street.

These featured illustrators will produce a one-off or a very limited edition of an illustration in a postcard size. These originals will be displayed at the event and could then be sold or auction off with proceeds going to a UK charity. (Charity of choice will be advised at a later stage.) The aim of selecting a UK charity is to help raise a higher profile of the event to the UK public. There is also the possibility of collaborating with up and coming UK illustrators.

Re-prints of the original postcard illustrations will be given away free or for a token fee to help raise additional funds for charity. A brief write up of the event, artwork and biography of the illustrator will be featured on the back of each corresponding postcard illustration. Sponsor logos will also be featured on the back of the re-printed postcards. These free postcards are a good way of promoting the event and they double up as an actual postcard, which can be mailed to a friend or love one.

VintageSingapore

The Brunei Gallery, in association with the School of Oriental and African Studies and the National Museum of Singapore, is pleased to announce an Exhibition from the collection of the National Museum of Singapore.

VintageSingapore Souvenirs from the Recent Past
22 January - 21 March 2009

From the Press release of the Brunei Gallery:

Rising from the ashes of World War 2, post-war Singapore emerged as a Phoenix in search of a Renaissance. Instinctively seeking change, Singaporeans sought new beginnings in areas as diverse as governance and culture. Looking inward, innovative solutions for housing and industry meant fundamental changes to the Singaporean way of life. Conversely, engaging the world as a small independent country dictated that Singaporeans necessarily absorbed more than they could give. Back in this heady period when the twain did actually meet, a new Singapore sprang forth.

VintageSingapore pays tribute to the dynamism that pulsed through her post-war arteries. While the memories of old Singapore become ever distant, this exhibition showcases rare footages and iconic objects of the period as 'tangible memoirs' of the glory days from 1950s to 1970s: public housing, film, fashion, food, etc. Through displays of unabashed nostalgia, this exhibition 'looks back' so as to highlight some anchors for the Singaporeran identity as the nation rides the rapids into the future.

A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies this exhibition.

Venue: Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG

Nearest tube stations: Russell Square or Goodge Street
Dates: 22 January-21 March 2009
Open: Tuesday-Saturday 10.30-17.00 (Closed on Sundays and Mondays)
Admission Free

Victric Thng preseted at Contested Ground

Contested Ground
17 - 18 January 2009
projectspace 176
176 Prince of Wales Road
London NW5 3PT
Organised by students from Goldsmiths MFA Curating and Royal College of Art Curating Masters

17 January 2009
12:30 - 1:00pm
Victric Thng, The Mole, 2006, HD, 12 min.
Requiem for the Somnambulist, 2007, HD, 2 min. 15 sec

17 January 2009
5:00pm - 5:30pm
Victric Thng, The Mole, 2006, HD, 12 min.
Requiem for the Somnambulist, 2007, HD, 2 min. 15 sec

The Mole, 2006, HD, 12 min.

Requiem for the Somnambulist, 2007, HD, 2 min. 15 sec

Other exhibits @ 176

SHOWCASE: Juan Lin

Juan Lin is a UK based cellist who began cello studies at the age of 14 with Zhao Yu Er. He has since studied with Bernard Gregor-Smith of the Lindsay Quartet and Jo Cole at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has also participated in masterclasses with Ralph Kirshbaum, Karine Georgian, Li Wei Qin, Alain Meunier and Hannah Roberts.

An avid chamber musician, Juan has given recitals around the UK with the Tzigane Quartet, as well as performances in the acclaimed Royal Northern College of Music Chamber Music festivals. He has been coached by members of the Alban Berg, Lindsay, Belcea, Fitzwilliam, Endellion and Skampa quartets, among others. Juan is also a passionate orchestral musician and regularly leads the RNCM Symphony and Concert Orchestras.

Prior to his time in the UK, Juan was active in Singapore-based ensembles. He was Principal Cellist of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a member of the contemporary music group, the Magnetic Band.

Juan has recently made appearances in Germany, Italy and Singapore as soloist and chamber musician, and in June this year was awarded the Haworth Trust Award.

Name: Juan Lin
Location: Manchester, UK
Website: NA
Contact: click here

creative [SIN]ergy collection

Now you can own a piece of creative [SIN]ergy.
To place your order please email info@creativesinergy.com

Badge 1
edition of 50
designed by
Brian Chia + David Lee

£2.00 (including shipping and handling to mainland UK)





Badge 2
edition of 50
designed by
Brian Chia + David Lee

£2.00 (including shipping and handling to mainland UK)





Badge 3
edition of 50
designed by
Brian Chia + David Lee

£2.00 (including shipping and handling to mainland UK)





Badge 4
edition of 50
designed by
Brian Chia + David Lee

£2.00 (including shipping and handling to mainland UK)





Badge 5
edition of 50
designed by
Brian Chia + David Lee

£2.00 (including shipping and handling to mainland UK)





Badge 6
edition of 50
designed by
Brian Chia + David Lee

£2.00 (including shipping and handling to mainland UK)

SHOWCASE: Melisa Chan

Melisa Chan knew she wanted to be a designer at the age of 4 and nothing has been able to stop her since. She arrived on British shores ten years ago to start her formal design training at Kingston University. In 2003 she graduated with first-class honours in interior architecture from the Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication. She began her professional career by designing bars and restaurants for B3 Designers. She has also worked on Imagination’s Aston Martin Retail team. In 2006, a chance encounter with DesignSingapore Council earned her a post-graduate scholarship at the Bartlett School of Architecture. An internship with Space Syntax during her graduate studies opened up a world of urban-scale work and graphic-mapping analysis. Melisa now calls on her strengths in interior architecture, urban planning and the social knowledge of space in her work with Portland Design Associates on urban retail consultancy in Europe and the Middle East. Her work has recently been featured at the London Design Festival and London Fashion Week 2008 in collaboration with graphic designer, David Lee. Apart from her day job and DesignSingapore-led projects, she is currently preparing her post-graduate work for publication submission.

Name: Melisa Chan
Location: London, UK
Website: NA
Contact: click here

SHOWCASE: Brian Tan

Brian Tan a native child of the tiny tropical island of Singapore, went to the United States to pursue a Masters of Interior Architecture from the world-renowned Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence. He then spent two years in New York City as a visual merchandiser for Hennes & Mauritz AB, better known as H&M, where he was instrumental in creating vivid brand experiences in line with H&M's seasonal campaign.

Brian made the trans-Atlantic leap from New York to London in 2005, since which time he has been successfully carrying out his current role at Imagination as an Event designer. Imagination Ltd, one of the world's largest and most highly regarded design and communications consultancies, pioneering Brand Experience as a new and powerful approach for connecting brands with consumers and corporations. Imagination Ltd. has come in 1st for 6 conservative years in DesignWeek Top 100 design groups.

In his early formative years back in Singapore, Brian was an assistant choreographer in the annual Singapore National Day Parade (Ministry of Education Contingent) in 1998 and 1999. The mass display was performed live to an audience of 55,000 people at the Singapore National Stadium and was also televised nationwide simultaneously.

Prior to that, Brian graduated with a Diploma in Interior Architecture and Design in 1997 from Temasek Polytechnic (Singapore). In 1996, he was elected President of the Design Studies Club, where he received a Certificate of Merit 1997 for his efforts in the Design Studies Club. He was also Valedictorian at the School of Design ceremony in 1997. His other credits include being a semi-finalist at ASPAT Manila 1996 and a finalist in the SFIC furniture design competition in 1995, where his furniture design creation was featured in ID magazine that year.
Between the years of 1997 – 2000, Brian was very much involved with the local Singaporean fashion industry as a freelance designer. He conceptualised and designed stage sets for fashion runway productions. He was also involved in event production and back stage support of fashion shows like, Fashion Connection Singapore.
Name: Brian Tan
Location: Hong Kong, SARWebsite: NA
Contact: click here

SHOWCASE: Brian Chia

Brian Chia gets all delirious when it comes to art and design. A graduate from Middlesex University, London in MA Design for Interactive Media, his works have garnered numerous wins including the 2003 Crowbar Awards and 2007 D&AD Student Global Awards. A comic lover, aspiring illustrator and staunch believer of the existence of mermaids, Brian is setting up to establish a good name in the digital design industry.



Name: Brian Chia
Location: London, UK
Website: www.brianchia.com
Contact: click here

SHOWCASE: David Lee

David Lee loves photography, dance and all things aesthetically pleasing. He hung up his dancing shoes almost six years ago to pursue his interest in graphic design in London. After graduating from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design with a BA in graphic design, he spent a year and a half exploring future trends as art editor at The Future Laboratory, Europe's leading trend forecasting company, where he worked on projects for clients such as Nokia, Gap, Investec, Lamborghini and MySpace. He was also art editor for Viewpoint magazine. Winner of Singapore’s Young Designers' Award in 1997 and 1998, David also received a DesignSingapore scholarship in 2005. He is recently featured on Channel News Asia’s documentary Beyond the Dot, in which he shared with viewers his passion for design and photography. David currently designs for Cake Theatrical Productions and has recently completed his masters degree in graphic design at the London College of Communication.

Name: David Lee
Location: London, UK
Website: www.davidlee.sg
Contact: click here

SHOWCASE: Johann S Lee

Johann S Lee is the author of Singapore's first gay novel, Peculiar Chris (1992) - a seminal work which has since been translated into Italian, and successfully adapted into a play (Happy Endings – Asian Boys Volume 3) by Alfian Sa'at. His second novel, To Know Where I'm Coming (2007), was rated 5 out of 6 stars by Time Out. The concluding part of his queer triptych, Quiet Time (2008), has been described as "a remarkable book" (The Sunday Times), "a must-read" (Trevvy.com) and "Singapore's best gay novel ever" (Fridae.com).

About Quiet Time: In 2007, as he tumbles rapidly into his late thirties, Kuang Ming is starting to feel his diminishing relevance in Singapore's youth-obsessed gay circles, even as his conservative country faces the possibility of a historic change in the rules of queer existence. A long-term relationship in jeopardy... A family in conflict... And a nation in transition? Kuang Ming cannot have foreseen how his life will change forever.

"Passionate and unflinching in his portrayal of the self-contradictions and inexorable conflicts which remain part and parcel of being gay in Singapore, Johann S Lee has created a wonderfully realistic, prescient and moving book that threatens to bat his previous works (and many past Singaporean novels) off the shelf of living memory. " - Cyril Wong, poet and recipient of the 2006 Singapore Literature Prize

"Johann S Lee, who daringly became the forbearer of Singapore gay literature in the uncertain early 90s with his searching themes, now reassuringly takes on the mantle of its godfather in an equally unquiet time when his characters discover that paternalism could be a source of not just conflict and contagion, but penetrating commonality." - Daren Shiau, author and recipient of the 2002 National Arts Council's Young Artist Award

Name: Johann S Lee
Location: London, UK
Website: http://www.facebook.com/people/Johann-S-Lee/577697459
Contact: click here

SHOWCASE: Rosaline Ting

Rosaline Ting was born in Singapore and migrated to England in 1980. While practising as a Chartered Surveyor, she wrote short stories and articles for hobby. Many were published in Her World and Female magazines; and one short story ‘Mrs. Tang’s Rat Race’ was published in SINGA: Literature & The Arts in Singapore, and also in an UK Literary magazine, Jennings. ‘The Tide Turns’ was short-listed by FISH Publishing and ‘Love in May’ won a third prize in short story writing competitions in the UK. Then for fifteen years she stopped creative writing, picking it up again in 2003 by attending adult education courses at Citylit.

In November 2005 she joined Yellow Ink Writers’ Group and started playwriting. (Unfortunately, this East Asian writers’ group was dissolved in 2007.) At a workshop she wrote the first six lines of dialogue for ‘Journeys’ and completed the play for a work-in-progress performance in February 2007 at Wimbledon Studio, South London. A year later, she received funding from Arts Council England to further develop the script and a staged reading was presented at Tara Studio, South London, in July 2008.

In ‘Journeys’ Rosaline writes passionately about Chinese people, celebrating the spirit of survival in women and the friendship between them, and how in their twilight years, like fallen leaves, they return to their ancestral roots.

Rosaline won the prestigious 2006/7 Playgrounding competition by Polka Theatre (Children) for their Playgrounding Festival in April 2007. Her play ‘A Girl Named Shining Brightly’ for 9 years-old upwards was performed with script-in-hand. Later that year, she was selected for an educational project at Stranmillis University College, Belfast. After script development, her professional creative team read the play in the College theatre. Furthermore, she was selected by EAST (funded by Arts Council of England) for a showcase at Soho Theatre, Central London on 11 June 2008.

On the strength of her idea for ‘The Sun is Setting’ she was short-listed in August 2007 by The Script Factory and BBC Radio 4 for a drama masterclass. In November 2007 her idea for ‘Yellow Boat to China’ was short-listed for Yellow Voices Writers’ Scheme. Rosaline was awarded bursaries to attend a week’s residential course at the Arvon Foundation on ‘Naturalism and the Theatre’ in July 2008 and on ‘Playwriting for Radio & Stage’ at the Ty Newydd Centre in Wales in August 2008.

Also, in the summer of 2008, she was chosen by The Literary Consultancy (funded by the Arts Council) for a free mentoring place to write her first novel (with a working title: A Disappearing Woman). She has just finished the first draft of her manuscript.

Name: Rosaline Ting
Website: NA
Contact: click here

SHOWCASE: Josephine Chia

Josephine Chia is a Peranakan Straits Chinese, born and raised in Kampong Potong Pasir Singapore. She came to England in October 1985. She is a published author who gives talks on Creative Writing, yoga for health and cookery. She has an M.A. in Creative Writing and has published books on Singaporean Cookery, a novel, a collection of short stories and memoirs.

She is also a yoga teacher trained by the British Wheel Of Yoga and mainly work on a one-to-one basis with clients using yoga as a therapy for common ailments and disorders, particularly backache and asthma. She has worked with both abled and disabled clients. Her yoga book, Body And Mind Sculpture/Shape Up For Self-Discovery was published in May 2003. Full details of her books can be found on her website: www.josephinechia.com

Josephine just had her manuscript, Your Body: Gateway To The Divine accepted by O Publishers, UK. This book is based on the spiritual aspect of yoga and is due to be released in July 2009. Josephine has written for spiritual magazines like Kindred Spirit and New Vision. She recently won Third Prize in a Society Of Women Writers & Journalists short story competition in May 2007 with her story, A Question Of Choice. Her article, A Sense of Place won its Highly Commended Prize in December 2006. She also had a short story A Satisfactory Solution published in an anthology in August 2006. Her last novel, Shadows Across The Sun was released in August 2005 and was published in USA by Publish America.

A UK publisher, Parapress Ltd brought out her book on yoga/ fitness, Body And Mind Sculpture in May 2003 and Times International of Singapore brought out a Singapore edition. Times International of Singapore also published a non-fiction book, Frog Under A Coconut Shell in August 2002. A chapter of the same book was published in a UK magazine Mslexia, a writing magazine for women, under the heading A Slice Of Life. A short story, Kosong, was published in the January 2001 issue of Silverkris, the inflight magazine of Singapore Airlines under the Singapore Writes column. Another short story Watercolour Dream was published by Worldwide Writers in an anthology in 1999. Rasa Singapura/ Taste of Singapore, a cookery book was self-published in March 1998. Josephine was one of the winners of the 1992 Ian St. James Awards for short stories. Her story, Tropical Fever was published by Harper Collins in an anthology called Blood, Sweat And Tears. The publicity from this award resulted in two Singapore publishers approaching Josephine and ending in them publishing her first novel called My Mother-In-Law’s Son and a collection of short stories called Isn’t Singapore Somewhere In China, Luv? Josephine has other short stories and articles published in various publications.

Name: Josephine Chia
Location: London, UK
Website: www.josephinechia.com
Contact: click here

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To become a creative [SIN]ergy member, simply email us a biography and a headshot. Also include your current profession or field of study and your company or school name. Please email the above information to: info@creativesinergy.com

(Membership to creative [SIN]ergy is open to Singaporeans in the creative industries both professionals and students in the UK. The network wishes to be inclusive and welcomes non-Singaporeans who have an interest in Singapore’s creative community and cultural output. The network assembles collaborators, who share ideas, projects and initiatives to showcase Singapore creativity abroad.)

Contact us

For more information about creative [SIN]ergy and becoming a member, please email us at info@creativesinergy.com


Contact the creative [SIN]ergy team:

Brian Chia
brian.chia@creativesinergy.com

Brian Tan

brian.tan@creativesinergy.com

David Lee

david.lee@creativesinergy.com

Melisa Chan

melisachan@creativesinergy.com

creative [SIN]ergy team

Brian Tan a native child of the tiny tropical island of Singapore, went to the United States to pursue a Masters of Interior Architecture from the world-renowned Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence. He then spent two years in New York City as a visual merchandiser for Hennes & Mauritz AB, better known as H&M, where he was instrumental in creating vivid brand experiences in line with H&M's seasonal campaign.

Brian made the trans-Atlantic leap from New York to London in 2005, since which time he has been successfully carrying out his current role at Imagination as an Event designer. Imagination Ltd, one of the world's largest and most highly regarded design and communications consultancies, pioneering Brand Experience as a new and powerful approach for connecting brands with consumers and corporations. Imagination Ltd. has come in 1st for 6 conservative years in DesignWeek Top 100 design groups.

In his early formative years back in Singapore, Brian was an assistant choreographer in the annual Singapore National Day Parade (Ministry of Education Contingent) in 1998 and 1999. The mass display was performed live to an audience of 55,000 people at the Singapore National Stadium and was also televised nationwide simultaneously.

Prior to that, Brian graduated with a Diploma in Interior Architecture and Design in 1997 from Temasek Polytechnic (Singapore). In 1996, he was elected President of the Design Studies Club, where he received a Certificate of Merit 1997 for his efforts in the Design Studies Club. He was also Valedictorian at the School of Design ceremony in 1997. His other credits include being a semi-finalist at ASPAT Manila 1996 and a finalist in the SFIC furniture design competition in 1995, where his furniture design creation was featured in ID magazine that year.

Between the years of 1997 – 2000, Brian was very much involved with the local Singaporean fashion industry as a freelance designer. He conceptualised and designed stage sets for fashion runway productions. He was also involved in event production and back stage support of fashion shows like, Fashion Connection Singapore.

David Lee loves photography, dance and all things aesthetically pleasing. He hung up his dancing shoes almost six years ago to pursue his interest in graphic design in London. After graduating from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design with a BA in graphic design, he spent a year and a half exploring future trends as art editor at The Future Laboratory, Europe's leading trend forecasting company, where he worked on projects for clients such as Nokia, Gap, Investec, Lamborghini and MySpace. He was also art editor for Viewpoint magazine. Winner of Singapore’s Young Designers' Award in 1997 and 1998, David also received a DesignSingapore scholarship in 2005. He is recently featured on Channel News Asia’s documentary Beyond the Dot, in which he shared with viewers his passion for design and photography. David currently designs for Cake Theatrical Productions and has recently completed his masters degree in graphic design at the London College of Communication.


Brian Chia gets all delirious when it comes to art and design. A graduate from Middlesex University, London in MA Design for Interactive Media, his works have garnered numerous wins including the 2003 Crowbar Awards and 2007 D&AD Student Global Awards. A comic lover, aspiring illustrator and staunch believer of the existence of mermaids, Brian is setting up to establish a good name in the digital design industry.



Melisa Chan knew she wanted to be a designer at the age of 4 and nothing has been able to stop her since. She arrived on British shores ten years ago to start her formal design training at Kingston University. In 2003 she graduated with first-class honours in interior architecture from the Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication. She began her professional career by designing bars and restaurants for B3 Designers. She has also worked on Imagination’s Aston Martin Retail team. In 2006, a chance encounter with DesignSingapore Council earned her a post-graduate scholarship at the Bartlett School of Architecture. An internship with Space Syntax during her graduate studies opened up a world of urban-scale work and graphic-mapping analysis. Melisa now calls on her strengths in interior architecture, urban planning and the social knowledge of space in her work with Portland Design Associates on urban retail consultancy in Europe and the Middle East. Her work has recently been featured at the London Design Festival and London Fashion Week 2008 in collaboration with graphic designer, David Lee. Apart from her day job and DesignSingapore-led projects, she is currently preparing her post-graduate work for publication submission.

About creative [SIN]ergy

- showcasing singapore creatives outside the dot -

Creative [SIN]ergy is a platform to foster interaction and collaboration amongst its member base and aims to be a representative body for the creative industries amongst both the Singaporean professional and student community in the UK. The collective wishes to not only be, a network but also assembles collaborators, who share or are motivated by ideas, projects and initiatives to showcase Singapore creativity abroad.

Creative [SIN]ergy is a fully independent non-profit and non-governmental organization that is inclusive and welcomes non-Singaporeans who have an interest in Singapore’s creative community and cultural output.

As part of its ethos Creative [SIN]ergy wishes to foster collaboration and create synergies amongst its wide spectrum of UK based Singaporeans in the creative industries. These representations range from traditional fields such as Architecture, Dance, Design, Film, Fine Art, Music, Performance arts and Theatre Design to Aesthetic Philosophy, Art Education , Arts Management, Art Therapy, Anthropology, and Cultural Policy Studies.

Creative [SIN]ergy aims to foster collaboration amongst its members through a series of events, activities and networking sessions. Resulting in cross-disciplinary projects. Series include PROJECT: slingSHORT, which aims to promote unknown Singaporean filmmakers. Other events will include, project: SHOWCASE, a series of presentations showcasing Singapore’s creative talents in the UK. Each showcase will feature a specific creative sector, thus giving it a focused exposure. Short Circuit, a selection of short films by up and coming gay fimmakers from Singapore.

The network’s identity and presence is determined by its members’ interests and contributions are welcome from all. The network aims to be a flexible organisation with scope for all its members to make lasting contributions.

For more information and to register online go to www.creativesinergy.com