Singaporean artists add colour to Delhi’s streets
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB), in partnership with St+art India Foundation and Impressario Group, marked the second phase of its brand campaign ‘Passion Made Possible’ with a three-day experiential festival – Singapore Weekender. The festival showcased the talents of a dozen Singaporean artists through a mix of art installations, wall murals, interactive workshops and live performances in New Delhi.
South Delhi neighbourhood Lodhi Colony saw a burst of colours as the artists transformed the walls into life-size murals and integrating Augmented Reality (AR) in art forms to create new dimensions. The Singaporean artists, Yip Yew Chong, Eugene Soh, Yok & Sheryo and Sam Lo incorporated their perspectives of the world in their artwork as they gave the Indian audience a glimpse into the Lion City’s arts and culture. Visitors to the ‘Singapore Weekender’ also had a chance to view ‘Atypical Singapore’, an art and AR technology showcase which is part of the STB’s ‘Passion Made Possible’ latest wave of global campaign, at Kona in Jor Bagh.
Singaporean installation artist, Tan Zi Xi won a lot of appreciation for her work, which was exhibited in two parts – a courtyard mural and an installation room. While the mural focused on a multi-dimensional perspective of pollution on earth, the installation looked at a dystopian world of mankind’s new living spaces in the following centuries. Sharing her experience of being a part of the festival, she said, “India is a country with so many cultures and stories. Being a part of the Singapore Weekender for the second time has been a phenomenal experience for me. I learn about the similarities both the countries have when it comes to a global issue like pollution and the problems faced by mankind. In 2017, when I came to India for the first edition of the festival, I created the Plastic Ocean to give the Indian audience a perspective of the growing issue of contamination in water bodies across the globe. My passion for the environment and the language of art helps me put across my perspective as an installation that would resonate the same.”
Tech Guru, Brandon Tay, had set up an interactive art installation using CGI called – Façade. It depicted a series of faces that changed basis the time of the day and the movement of people across the installation space.
Talking about their work, artists Yok & Sheryo said, “In this digital era, we barely understand how much is real and how much is created. We have built a dependency on social media and the digital framework of our gadgets and have lost ourselves in them. Our installation depicts this interdependent freedom that we have built for ourselves and talk about how this is a commonly shared problem across the world. Although we are heavily inspired by the South East Asian culture, we see a close similarity in Indian art. Singapore and India are not so different when it comes to the expression of their heritage and art and it is the inclusivity of a global perspective that makes this experience a lot more enjoyable.”
Atypical Singapore, a showcase commissioned by the STB put together a diverse array of interactive events and brought in a seamless blend of modern and traditional art by incorporating the use of augmented reality, moving images, illustrations and visual effects. This travelling showcase has been to Russia and Myanmar before arriving in India.
Reviving the art of creating Zines, were the dynamic duo Knuckles and Notch who collaborated with Bombay Underground and Delhi-based Working Hours Collective. While interacting with the audience and giving them a glimpse of their work during their workshop, they went on to talk about the importance of bringing Zines back into the literary art scene as a unique storytelling medium.
The Singapore Weekender also saw an exciting nightlife and entertainment evening, themed as ‘#PartyLikeInSg’, at Hauz Khas antiSocial. The evening featured an exclusive bar pop-up by popular Singaporean bar, Jigger & Pony where Jerrold Khoo, award-winning Singaporean mixologist, rustled up refreshing cocktails for the guests alongside Gresham Fernandes, Culinary Director of the Impresario group, who created mouth-watering Singapore-inspired tapas. Indian rapper Prabh Deep enthralled the crowd with his Punjabi-English hip-hop tracks. The party night was rounded off by the latest rapping sensation from Singapore, Yung Raja as he belted out his Tamil-English rap-hits on stage to a crowd of dancing party-goers.
Speaking about the second edition of the Singapore Weekender, Mr. GB Srithar, Regional Director- South Asia, Middle East & Africa (SAMEA), STB, said, “The Singapore Weekender was a celebration of the passions of Singaporean artists and brought to the Indian audiences a different side of the city. We were happy to partner St+art India Foundation and Impressario Group for the second time and put together a multi-track programme, as part of their Art Festival, reaching out to the passion tribes of Socialisers and Culture Shapers. The Singaporean artists enjoyed themselves displaying their artworks, installations and music and interacting with appreciative and highly enthusiastic visitors to the Festival. The art murals at Lodhi Colony will continue to enthral visitors and add to the artistic colours and vibrancy of the place.”
While the Singapore Weekender (15 – 17 February 2019) has concluded, the Lodhi Art Festival, including works by the Singaporean artists, continues with curated tours at Lodhi Art District and immersive walkthrough multimedia experience at Kona in Jor Bagh. Art enthusiasts can view and experience the artworks of the Singaporean artists at Lodhi Colony (Between blocks 13 and 16) and Kona, Jor Bagh before 10 March 2019.
