Mohyin Kwan's glass sculptures were recently featured at the Visual Arts exhibition for Singapore Encore in Brussels on Wednesday, 25th November 2009 at the Musical Instruments Museum. This event was organised in partnership with the Singapore Embassy in Belgium. In attendances were about 150 dignitaries from the diplomatic, business and cultural sectors of Belgian society.
The selected glass sculptures were previousely featured at SW1 Gallery in London as part of Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES) Summer Exhibition 2009 and at 1 of nine, a charity fundraiser in aid of Breast Cancer Care.
Calvin Chua was recently featured at the Visual Arts exhibition for Singapore Encore in Brussels on Wednesday, 25th November 2009 at the Musical Instruments Museum. This event was organised in partnership with the Singapore International Foundation and the Singapore Embassy in Belgium. In attendances were about 150 dignitaries from the diplomatic, business and cultural sectors of Belgian society.
The object, Field of Engagement, reveals a “field” of information on [re:act]’s various projects (indicated as overlapping ripples) depicting their influence and impact. The rectangular cut-outs are mini video screens showcasing selected significant projects. Similarly, [re:act]'s vision of engaging social issues within the architectural field, can only be uncovered through a sensitive process of observation, analysis and implementation. We have selected three significant projects at different levels of engagement and perspectives are selected to provide insights into issues of conservation and planning within Singapore, ranging from an intimate and personal video in an attempt to save the remaining rustic charm of colonial houses and the community at Seletar Airbase; to a video which showcases design proposals by youths at a workshop, Design my Place, conducted to uncover 'hidden' issues within their urban neighbourhood environment. One thesis of theirs is to examine critical pactice against the practice of engagement. Specific buildings and projects do not matter as much as a focus on strategies and policies that can generate a whole series of projects, which then take on a life of their own and evolve over time, adapting to changes in the social and political culture. While working on this object for the Venice Biennale, it allowed them to critically reflect the representation of their socially engaged projects in a formalized installation. Given the fact that their projects do not have specific aesthetics, they took on an approach of representing our projects in terms of values of influences and impacts.
Field of Engagement was presented at the SINGAPORE SUPERGARDEN, Venice Biennale 2008.
Angline Yam was recently featured at the Visual Arts exhibition for Singapore Encore in Brussels on Wednesday, 25th November 2009 at the Musical Instruments Museum. This event was organised in partnership with the Singapore International Foundation and the Singapore Embassy in Belgium. In attendances were about 150 dignitaries from the diplomatic, business and cultural sectors of Belgian society.Angline presented 2 works for the exhibtion one of which was, Typography Bilingual (Silk screen on paper). This was an experimental typography art work that came from a reflection and search of personal identity in London. Using a random paragraph extracted from a glossy English magazine bought at a newsstand in London. Simulating Chinese characters out of latin/ roman characters, distorting individual characters as and when necessary. The colour co-ordination are inherently Chinese - Red, Black,Gold and Cream but the words are obviously of the Latin / Roman characters while being distorted to find the Chinese character within. This work represents the very essence of Angeline’s own questioning of her personal identity as a Singaporean.Her second piece was Invisible city - London's bookmarks (Hardcover booklet).
Based on the book 'Invisible cities' - a novel by Italian writer Italo Calvino, his book explores imagination and descriptions of cities by the explorer, Marco Polo. Angeline decided to choose London as her "Invisible city" and went to different libraries around London... flipping through books in different category, collecting all the "bookmarks" that people left behind. What then happens is one will try to imagine who are those who had read the book based only on the information of the "bookmarks" they have left behind and the little information of what the book is about. The bookmarks she had gathered together becomes a collection of Londoner's way of living. It is her personal approach of imaging what London is, who lives there, how the city is formed and how it functions. Each individual bookmark unravels a mysterious part of the person who left it behind and it is this mystery that forms the "shape" of her invisible city - London.
Sarah Huijie Cai was recently featured at the Visual Arts exhibition for Singapore Encore in Brussels on Wednesday, 25th November 2009 at the Musical Instruments Museum. This event was organised in partnership with the Singapore International Foundation and the Singapore Embassy in Belgium. In attendances were about 150 dignitaries from the diplomatic, business and cultural sectors of Belgian society.The works featured were from a selection of paintings and prints from her recent solo exhibition in Warsaw, Poland entitled Tall Tales.
Rake's progress is a series of paintings as a modern interpretation of Hogarth's 'A Rake's Progress" done in 1733. Hogarth had depicted eight panels about a young man who followed a path of vice and self destruction after inheriting a fortune. The modern interpretation tells a tale of a businessman in the 1950s trying to live an American dream with his pregnant wife in his suburban home, but succumbs to sins when he inherits a position as a trader in the city.
Hole in London is a 3 colour screen-print that explores the inexplicable adrenaline rush one gets when standing at the edge of the canal paths. The trickling sounds of water flowing and smells that waft from the other side of the tunnel tempts and enchants, as one resists from succumbing to jumping into the water just to get to the other end.
If all the famous landmarks had a voice, what would they sound like? 'Au claire de la lune' is an imaginative attempt to demystify the Eiffel Tower. This work is a 3 colour screen-print
The SETCAST collection by Voon Wong and Benson Saw was recently featured at the Visual Arts exhibition for Singapore Encore in Brussels on Wednesday, 25th November 2009 at the Musical Instruments Museum. This event was organised in partnership with the Singapore International Foundation and the Singapore Embassy in Belgium. In attendances were about 150 dignitaries from the diplomatic, business and cultural sectors of Belgian society.
The SETCAST collection is the result of a close collaboration between voonwong & bensonsaw and one of China's most distinguished manufacturers of bone china, Asianera, based in Tangshan, the porcelain capital of northern China.
Bone china is too often associated with decorative patterns on traditional shapes. With the arrival of SETCAST, a contemporary series of everyday items with exquisite, new architectural forms, the material has been given a new lease of life by stretching the possibilities of bone china manufacturing and design.
The collection is the result of a close collaboration between London-based architectural practice VoonWong&BensonSaw and one of China’s most distinguished manufacturers of bone china, Asianera, based in Tangshan, the porcelain capital of northern China. Together, the companies have developed a collection that makes the best use of bone china’s excellent light-reflective properties and also moves away from traditional decorative tableware to focus on striking new typologies that make a bold statement.
The cooperation began in 2004 when Voon Wong and Benson Saw met the owners of Asianera, while working on the hip nightclub Fabrique in Shanghai. They were at the time searching for a new material for one of their existing product designs, the Fragment tea light, then made in Carrara marble. Asianera’s artisanal approach and VoonWong&BensonSaw’s modern take on the traditional material seemed a perfect combination.
The material of bone china, over its two hundred year history, has lent itself to formal and traditional dining. Its strength, translucency and high whiteness have meant that bone china is associated with exclusivity and exquisite surface patterns and is a material rarely tackled by contemporary product designers. Fine bone china makers continue this tradition today and produce beautiful and expensive dinner services that are purchased for occasional use.
Creative [SIN]ergy and the Singapore Encore team were invited to an appreciation lunch hosted by His Excellency Mr Anil Kumar Nayar, Singapore Ambassador to Belgium and Mrs Peck See Nayar at the Singapore Residence on 26th November 2009.
Creative [SIN]ergy was invited by the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) to curate a Visual Arts exhibition for Singapore Encore in Brussels on Wednesday, 25th November 2009 at the Musical Instruments Museum. This event was organised in partnership with the Singapore Embassy in Belgium. In attendances were about 150 dignitaries from the diplomatic, business and cultural sectors of Belgian society.
Singapore Encore in Brussels was a celebration of the Singapore spirit through arts, culture and cuisine. The evening's programmee included performances from T’ang Quartet, an Asian buffet dinner, featuring traditional Singapore culinary delights like chicken rice, statay and sugee cake.
Alongside dinner, guest had the opportunity to also enjoy a visual art exhibition curated by Brian Tan for Creative [SIN]ergy. The exhibition featured works from Creative [SIN]ergy members, Angeline Yam, Calvin Chua, Mohyin Kwan, Sarah Huijie Cai, Voon Wong and the A6 /future/ participants. Creative [SIN]ergy members, Angeline Yam, Brian Tan, Calvin Chua and Sarah Huijie Cai we present at the event to promote their work and that of the network and most importantly to represent the thriving and diverse creative scene that Singapore is.
SIF invites Creative [SIN]ergy to curate a Visual Arts exhibition for Singapore Encore. The Visual Arts exhibition is curated by Brian Tan for Creative [SIN]ergy. This exhibhtion will feature works from Creative [SIN]ergy members, Angeline Yam, Calvin Chua, Mohyin Kwan, Sarah Huijie Cai, Voon Wong and the A6 /future/ participants.In partnership with the Singapore Embassy in Belgium, the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) will be hosting the exclusive Singapore Encore event at the Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) on Wednesday, 25th November 2009. Guests will include some 200 dignitaries from the diplomatic, business and cultural sectors of Belgian society.
Belgium Welcomes Singapore EncoreSeat of the European Union is the 2nd European city and 9th in the world to experience an evening's showcase of Singapore's arts, culture and cuisineIn partnership with the Singapore Embassy in Belgium, the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) will be hosting the exclusive Singapore Encore event at the Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) on Wednesday, 25th November 2009. Guests will include some 200 dignitaries from the diplomatic, business and cultural sectors of Belgian society.Organised by the SIF, Singapore Encore is staged around the world in celebration of the Singapore spirit through arts, culture and cusine. The evening's programmee includes an Asian buffet dinner, featuring traditional Singapore culinary delights like chicken rice, statay and sugee cake. Alongside dinner, guest will also enjoy a visual art exhibition by Creative [SIN]ergy, a Singapore arts group based in the UK. The group seeks to promote the creative works of Singapores abroad and to foster collaboration amoung its members.The evening’s highlight is a concert performance by the critically acclaimed T'ang Quartet. The classical string ensemble was formed in 1999, bent on breaking new ground by setting new standards in artistic achivement. The quartet has peformed extensively around the world and won numerous international and local awards for its musical accomplishments, while extending the sheer enjoyment of calssical music to a larger audience. Singapore Ambassador to Belgium,
His Excellency Mr Anil Kumar Nayar, says,
“While Singapore is well-known as a forward-looking economic hub, through the Singapore Encore, we hope to bring another aspect of Singapore - its thriving cultural scene - to our Belgian friends.”“Singapore and Belgium are now actively bringing the best aspects of our respective cultural settings to one another. When Crown Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde visited Singapore in November 2008, an important objective was to promote the realization of this shared interest. The art exhibition, "A Story of the Image: Old & New Masters from Antwerp", was opened in Singapore in August 2009 by Belgium’s Foreign Minister Yves Leterme and it enjoyed a very successful run. Next year, Singapore looks forward to participating in the cultural exhibition organised by BOZAR (Centre for Fine Arts), in conjunction with the 8th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Brussels. Against this backdrop, Singapore Encore is yet another milestone in the growing cultural and artistic exchanges between Singapore and Belgium.”Ms Jean Tan, the SIF’s Executive Director, elaborates, “Singapore Encore is a wonderful collaborative platform for us to showcase Singapore’s exciting developments in the field of arts and culture to build ties. Although Singapore is a small and young nation, our cultural and ethnic diversity has helped to fuel a flourishing local arts landscape. The SIF is delighted to partner the Singapore Embassy in Brussels for this edition of Singapore Encore and to share Singapore’s rich cultural talents with our Belgian friends.”Since its inception in 2004, Singapore Encore has travelled to major cities such as Dubai, Manila, Tokyo, Vienna, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Washington D.C. Pastperformers include singers Claressa Monteiro, Jacintha Abisheganaden, Alemay Fernandez, and musicians like the Nuradee Brothers, Jeremy Monteiro, and the Huqin Quartet.For more information and interview opportunities, please contact:Ms Priscilla TeoSenior Executive, Corporate CommunicationsSingapore International FoundationDID: + 65 6837 8727Mobile: +65 9858 3110Email: priscilla.teo@sif.org.sgMr Jelle ZuidemaHead of BeluxLewis PRTelephone: +32 (0) 3 242 88 19Email: jellez@lewispr.com
About the Singapore International Foundation
The Singapore International Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 1991. Its mission is to build a better world through shared ideas, skills and experiences, so as to uplift lives and create greater understanding between Singaporeans and world communities.
Our activities are organised around three strategic thrusts: working with communities for sustainable development, exchanging ideas for greater understanding, and showcasing Singapore to build ties. We focus on five core areas: healthcare, education, the environment, arts and culture, and livelihood and business.
For its work, the SIF was presented the Excellence for Singapore Award. Our Patron is His Excellency S R Nathan, President of the Republic of Singapore.
For more information please visit www.sif.org.sg
Mohyin Kwan's glass sculptures were recently featured at the Visual Arts exhibition for Singapore Encore in Brussels on Wednesday, 25th November 2009 at the Musical Instruments Museum. This event was organised in partnership with the Singapore Embassy in Belgium. In attendances were about 150 dignitaries from the diplomatic, business and cultural sectors of Belgian society.
