The highly anticipated Harry Potter exhibition will open at the ArtScience Museum today. In town for the opening are James and Oliver Phelps, identical twin actors who played the Weasley twins in the Harry Potter series of films, props from which will be on display at the exhibition. More soon to follow …
The identical twin pair of James and Oliver Phelps who played the Weasley twins in the Harry Potter films are in town for the opening of Harry Potter: The Exhibition at the ArtScience Museum.
Marina Bay is where the most dramatic of changes that the city of Singapore has seen over the last 30 years has probably taken place. It is now a showcase of the new Singapore – one that reflects how the mood of a nation that emerged out of uncertain times to where it finds itself now, proudly standing on its own. The bay as it is referred to now, was once the harbour – the harbour on which modern Singapore was founded on and from which much of its people and its wealth came in from. Cut off from the sea that brought it life by the reclamation of land and the construction of the Marina Barrage, the old harbour is now part of a large body of fresh water – an important reserve of the important resource that Singapore has always struggled with. Beyond that, it has also become the showcase of Singapore’s transformation with several rather iconic developments rising around the bay that has given the area a ‘wow’ factor. Even as I struggle to come to grips with this new world that has replaced much of what I loved of the Singapore that I grew up in, I must admit that I find myself in celebration of this new world. The new world in reflecting the changed mood of the nation is probably also where it is best to capture the changing mood of each day at daybreak – which I have tried to do on four out of five working days this week … the photographs that follow are taken at about the same time on each of the four days, each capturing a very different mood.
The calm after the storm
28 May 2012, 6.37 am.
A clear day
30 May 2012, 6.36 am.
The calm before the storm
31 May 2012, 6.38 am.
In the midst of a storm
1 June 2012, 6.39 am.
Thanks to the Gardens by the Bay, with several other photographers and bloggers, I had a chance to wander around the Bay South Garden of the Gardens by the Bay this May. Much of the Bay South Garden is still very much “work-in-progress” – a lot of planting and sprucing-up is still going on, but it was nice to see that most of the structures that add a sensational touch to the garden is up and turned up beautifully in photographs. One of the highlights of the Bay South Garden that we were able to see this time around which wasn’t accessible during the Cloud Forest media preview in early April was the aerial walkway at the Supertree Grove. The 128 metre walkway suspended some 22 metres above the ground, since named as the OCBC Skyway, offers a spectacular view of the gardens. OCBC which sponsors the OCBC Skyway also sponsors the “OCBC Light and Sound Show” – a light and sound show at the Supertree Grove. This will debut as one of the opening activities for Gardens by the Bay from 2 July 2012. The Bay South Gardens will open to the public from 29 June 2012.
The Cloud Forest and Supertree Grove as seen on a rain washed morning.
The Flower Dome seen from the OCBC Skyway.
The Cloud Forest.
Another view from the OCBC Skyway.
The Supertree Grove at dusk with the OCBC Skyway.
The view across the Dragonfly Lake at night.
Another view across the Dragonfly Lake.
A night time view of the Supertree Grove.
The Cloud Forest seen at night.
The OCBC Skyway.
The Bay South garden of the Gardens by the Bay will open to the public from 29 June 2012.
The latest addition to the portfolio of Singapore’s much celebrated and highly acclaimed composer, Mark Chan, The Flight of the Jade Bird, made its debut at a VIP Preview last evening. Described as “part concert, part opera, part story-telling”, the exclusive viewing of the special commission for the Singapore Arts Festival 2012 for which Chan received a National Arts Council – Arts Creation Fund award, was attended by guests that included His Excellency President Tony Tan Keng Yam; Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs; and Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs.
A view of the stage during a rehearsal session.
“And the Bird said to the Boy, keep this Jade with you and if you are in trouble, rub it and call out my name. I will hear and I will return as fast as the wind can carry me.”
The story revolves around an ancient bird, the Jade Bird, who is known by the name Courage. We learn of an inner name, Despair, only because of Facebook and Twitter – trappings of the modern world that like that of the Jade Bird’s world threatens tradition. The bird, the last one of seven ancient birds still left, dwells in a sanctuary – a mythical palace which modern times has use of not as a museum but a theme park. It is in an inner chamber of the palace, that despite there not being WiFi and a fear stemming from the myths he has been told about the place, a young boy meets the Jade Bird. Struck by the innocence and the frankness of the young boy, expertly played by a 14 year old Singaporean boy soprano, Matthew Supramaniam, the Jade Bird develops a friendship with him. He sleeps – for the first time in 7000 years, having been told by the young boy that sleep was needed to be able to dream. Without dreams, the Jade Bird is told, nothing new would be able to enter one’s life.
Boy soprano, Matthew Supramaniam, a 14-year-old Singaporean who currently is based at Eton College during a rehearsal session. Matthew provides the musical voice of the Young Boy.
The tale in itself has the makings of an epic. Incredible as it is, it is a story that attempts to examine the contrast and contradiction of tradition in a modern world – a familiar theme in society today. The contrasts and contradictions do not end there – it is in the telling of the tale where this is especially evident, perhaps in keeping with its theme. The visual discord that is apparent with a musical ensemble seemingly competing for attention with the singers who give a voice to the characters, as well as with a narrator and a dancer who is the Jade Bird does serve to leave the audience confused as to what the performance is about. The music seemingly a harmonious discord of instruments of both eastern and western traditions, adds to the confusion, and for a while I struggle to come to terms with what was on stage both from visual and aural perspective.
Music Director Belinda Foo with the western and eastern string players, Leslie Tan, Tang I Shyan, Wong On Yuen and Sunny Wong at a rehearsal.
As I sat watching the spectacle of coloured lights falling on the stage, I decided to close my eyes and focus on the strains that filled the hall. It was in the light of the darkness that faded the prejudices that comes with seeing, I realised it wasn’t the discord that I had imagined, but a harmony that made use of the contradictions. That perhaps was what the work and the theme of the story was all about and what I needed to appreciate the beauty of work for what it was, described by Mark Chan as a being very much like a “Chinese Shan Shui painting where man is one small figure, existing together with other figures, trumpeting out their own self-importance again and again, loudly and in no uncertain terms”.
Cellists Leslie Tan and Tang I Shyan.
Margie Tong on Percussion.
It was then, that I began to take some pleasure in the performance, listening intently to the powerful narration provided by Kee Thuan Chye, complemented by the haunting yet beautiful strains of the instruments and voices. The music however did seem a little too unsurprising as the performance went on and made the first part, which only drew to a close after some 90 minutes of what was a 120 minute performance, seem all too long. The second part of the performance with the drama of a tussle over the Jade Bird, was certainly much easier to appreciate.
Kee Thuan Chye, the narrator.
Father and son Erhu team Wong On Yuen and Sunny Wong.
The highlight of the performance was for me the beautiful voice of the Young Boy provided by Matthew Supramaniam, a student of Eton College who has been described as the boy with a golden voice. I had the opportunity to meet an exhausted Matthew and his family at the reception after the preview and realised that behind that assured and controlled voice is a teenager that is no different from any teenager. To celebrate Mark Chan’s musical and story-telling genius – and to have a chance to hear the golden voice of Matthew in it certainly is good reason to catch the show which goes on for only two days until tomorrow (19 May 2012). This evening’s performance, includes a dialogue after the show. For more information on the show, do visit http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/event/the-flight-of-the-jade-bird/.
Matthew in a more relaxed mood at the post VIP Preview reception with his proud parents Margaret and Paul, and equally talented brother Timothy.
About The Singapore Arts Festival
The Singapore Arts Festival began in 1977 as a national showcase celebrating the local arts of Singapore’s diverse communities. Over the last three decades, the Festival organised by the National Arts Council, has played a symbiotic and catalytic role in the development of the artistic and cultural life of Singapore. It has influenced the work of artists and generated a growing public demand for the arts, spawning new capital platforms, events and movements that help underpin the lively cultural scene in Singapore.
The Festival saw its turning point in 2010 as it embarked on a new phase of development under the leadership of Low Kee Hong. Key changes and initiatives include turning this international arts platform into a Creation and People’s Festival with a vital year-long participation programme, com.mune to sustain the Festival’s engagement with the public beyond individual shows staged during the Festival period. The commune events and activities are tailored for four groups: new audiences — people who may not have encountered the arts; arts lovers — people who buy tickets to performances; arts makers — artists and teachers who inspire their students through the arts; and arts volunteers — people who have the heart to make a difference.
The Singapore Arts Festival has now become an international showcase of ideas, art and discourse with a distinctive Asian flavour, known for its bold and innovative discussions between vernacular and contemporary art.
Singapore Arts Festival 2012: Our Lost Poems
The 2012 Festival will be held from 18 May – 2 June 2012. This edition of the Festival completes the trilogy of themes set out two editions ago – Between You and Me (2010), I Want to Remember (2011), Our Lost Poems (2012). Over these 16 days, the city comes alive with an infusion of performances at the Festival’s hub – the Festival Village @ Esplanade Park and other key venues. There is something for everyone this year, from ages 1 to 100.
The six-week long street fashion festival, Fashion Steps Out at Orchard 2012 (FSO 2012), which began with the first time a 600 metre stretch of Orchard Road was closed and used as a fashion runway, saw another first – the first time a cinema hall at Shaw Theatres Lido was transformed into a fashion venue with a catwalk built over the cinema seating for the closing party on 27 April 2012. The closing party marked the end of the festival and also saw the Next Face of Asia 2012 selected from 12 finalists representing six Asian countries – China, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. The Next Face of Asia which aims to discover Asian models and be a launch platform for Asian faces internationally, involved a regional search to identify potential talent from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, HK, Taiwan, Indonesia, China and India. The deserving winner, who walked away with $10,000 worth of prizes and who will be the Face of FSO 2013, was 25 year old Indonesian model Paula Verhoeven, the tallest model in the finals at 1.82 metres in height.
A cinema hall at Shaw Theatres Lido was turned into a fashion runway for the first time for the closing of Fashion Steps Out at Orchard 2012.
The closing party also saw the finals of the Next Face of Asia 2012 which picked a winner from 12 finalists from 6 Asian countries.
More Photographs from the Next Face of Asia 2012
The deserving winner, 1.82 metre tall Paula Verhoeven from Indonesia, who was the tallest model in the finals.
About FSO
Fashion Steps Out @ Orchard (formerly known as Fashion Season @ Orchard) aims to bring fashion to the man on the street. From 16 Mar – 29 Apr 2012, the Orchard Road shopping belt of nearly 800,000 sq. m of retail space will be heralding the Spring / Summer fashion season with exciting events and promotions that will spice up everyday fashion and thrill shoppers. FSO 2011 brought 5.2 million visitors, drew $3.9 million in receipts (an 18% year on year growth in sales***), and generated $2.035 million worth of publicity. FSO 2012 aspires to attract even more visitors and higher spend.
*** According to MasterCard’s tracking in USD
The words of the first lines of a famous song (especially for supporters of a famous football club), “You’ll Never Walk Alone” rang true this morning for at the end of the early morning storm that I took a walk through, a golden sky was there to greet me as the darkness lifted and as day broke – a sign perhaps for the long suffering supporters of the football club?
This morning’s golden sunrise over Marina Bay at the end of the storm.
When you walk through the storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of the lark
Walk on, through the wind
Walk on, through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone
You’ll never walk alone
Love them or hate them, the works of Andy Warhol are without a doubt some of the most recognisable art pieces produced in second half of the 20th Century. There is also little doubt of the impact that the enigmatic Warhol has had during his lifetime on the visual arts scene. However, beyond the iconic imagery that he is synonymous with, particularly of cans of Campbell’s Soup – there is very little that I myself have of the artist and I took the opportunity to learn more of the artist who would otherwise remain a mystery to me at the Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal exhibition now on at the ArtScience Museum, to which the good folks at the museum were kind enough to extend an invitation to me.
The Andy Warhol 15 Minutes Eternal exhibition is on until 12 Aug 2012. © 2012 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and Marina Bay Sands.
It is in stepping into the exhibition proper from this first introduction to Warhol that I was to understand more about the man behind the mask Warhol had on, as the visitor is able to walk through the various stages of his life and get to know and understand the artist better through the works that he produced at each stage in Warhol’s career as an artist. The exhibition, held in the year which marks the 25th anniversary of Warhol’s death in 1987, ends on 12 Aug 2012 and has brought in over 260 paintings, drawings, sculptures, film, and video of Warhol’s works – the first time, such an extensive collection of his works is seen in Singapore. The exhibition, the title of which is in fact derived from Warhol’s famous “15 minutes of fame” quote – in which he said “In the future, everybody will be world-famous for fifteen minutes”, is sponsored by BNY Mellon and organized by The Andy Warhol Museum in Warhol’s home town of Pittsburgh.
Gold Leaf Shoe - inspired by gold leaf used in the creation of religious icons of the Byzantine Catholic faith that Warhol's parents practiced. © 2012 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and Marina Bay Sands.
Although lacking at first in style, Warhol did show enough promise however to prompt his family to support him through the School of Fine Arts at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, following which he was to taste early success as a commercial illustrator. Attracted by his endeavour, a quality he learnt from his hardworking immigrant parents, as well as by the whimsical nature of his work which challenged the norm, Warhol had by the time he was 27 been engaged by several famous brands including Vogue magazine. His endeavour also rewarded him with a job with I. Miller to create advertisements and shop displays for their famous collection of shoes. That earned Warhol the reputation of ‘Shoe Man’. Beyond illustrations, Warhol experimented with print techniques – something which he would later exploit for commercial gain, developing his own blotted line print technique.
Campbell's Soup. © 2012 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and Marina Bay Sands.
Images of celebrities. © 2012 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and Marina Bay Sands.
Silver Factory. © 2012 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and Marina Bay Sands.
It was during this time, that Warhol employed the silkscreen printing – a technique he picked up at the start of the 1960s – as a means similar to the blotted line technique that he could use to mass produce images for commercial gain. This also allowed Warhol to extensively use assistants to do the work – freeing him to pursue what was to become an unfulfilled desire to become famous as a fine art artist. Warhol would also extend the use of silkscreen printing to reproductions of photographs – mainly of celebrities with whom he had a fascination for, including Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.
The gallery is where visitors are introduced to the Silver Factory a reproduction of Warhol’s New York studio in the 1960’s – covered entirely with foil. The Silver factory allows visitors to dress up and be “a star for 15 minutes” with a photo booth to capture the experience. From a reproduction of the couch from the Silver Factory, visitors would be able to watch avant-garde films produced by Warhol.
Time Capsule. © 2012 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and Marina Bay Sands.
The Last Supper. © 2012 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and Marina Bay Sands.
The visit to the exhibition does not end with the last of the artist’s works. There is a little more to be discovered – not of Warhol’s works, but of works in which Warhol might have had an influence on a quarter of a century after his passing. What certainly will catch the attention of the visitor are the series of Ma-Ling Luncheon Meat and Lychee cans, very much in the fashion of the Campbell Soup cans that Warhol popularised – with a little twist. The Pork Luncheon and Lychee series are the works of one of three South East Asian artists, Jahan Loh from Singapore, being featured in a specially curated segment. This segment aims to highlight the influence of Andy Warhol on Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art in the display of over 16 selected works that draw on common themes and techniques made famous by the iconic Pop Artist. The two other artists whose works are featured are Ibrahim Hussein (Malaysia; 1936-2009) and Jirapat Tatsanasomboon (Thailand).
SEA Art Work inspired by Warhol - from Jahan Loh's Pork Luncheon and Lychee series. © MAD, Museum of Art & Design.
As an added treat, visitors to the exhibition can also participate in a Silkscreen Printing Workshop (information is available the tha ArtScience Museum’s website. A session at the workshop was specially arranged for the group I was in as well at which I was able to get to try my hand at the technique that Warhol so successfully employed. With the apron that was definitely a necessity for me, and with a squeegee in hand – I managed to produce a print of a portrait of Warhol, at the same time learning more about the technique – something that definitely completes the experience that the must-see exhibition provides of Andy Warhol and his work.
Visitors can try their hand at silkscreen printing.
The silkscreen.
The finished print.
Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal will run from 17 March 2012 until 12 August 2012. This exhibition is part of the Asian tour that will travel to five cities over 27 months starting in Singapore. It will then move on to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and finally Tokyo in 2014. Tickets for the exhibition can be purchased on the ArtScience Museum website and all Marina Bay Sands box offices.
Taking an elevator up to the top of a new world that will soon be added to the Marina Bay area in Singapore, a visitor is transported high up into a cloud forest 2000 metres above sea-level. It is a lost world that the doors of the elevator will open to, a world fed by a cool and moist climate in which carnivorous plants, ferns and mosses thrive with the accompaniment of sounds of a cascading waterfall. It was a world that I got a peek at yesterday at a preview of the Cloud Forest which is set within the Bay South Garden one of the three section Gardens by the Bay which will open to the public from 29 June 2012. The elevator that takes one up, doesn’t of course travel that 2000 metres, climbing six floors or 35 metres up a man-made ‘mountain’ right on top of which the Lost World is found. The ‘mountain’, Cloud Mountain, that greets the visitor to the Cloud Forest, the taller of the two cooled conservatories in the Bay South Garden (the other being the Flower Dome), is one that will come the opening of the garden, be covered in lush vegetation and feature some 130,000 plants found in high altitude tropical zones such as on Mount Kinabalu and the mountain regions of tropical Africa and South America.
The Cloud Forest, one of two cooled conservatories at the soon-to-be opened Gardens by the Bay takes one on an ascent up into the clouds. Members of the media were given a preview of the conservatory in which the cool-moist climate of the Tropical Montane regions 1000 to 3500 metres above sea level is replicated.
The Bay South Garden, just across from Marina Bay Sands, will open to the public on 29 June 2012.
The Cloud Forest has some 2577 glass panels spread over the 12000 square metre of its surface.
The 58 metre high glass panelled structure which is the Cloud Forest is one within which the cool-moist climate of the Tropical Montane regions between 1000 and 3500 metres above sea level is replicated and besides the Lost World right on top of the man-made ‘mountain’ inside the amazing structure which features some 2577 glass panels of 690 varying shapes and sizes laid over its surface ares of 12000 square metres, is where one discovers eight other unique zones. The nine zones will offer a variety of experiences that aims to provide the visitor with a sense of the biodiversity and ecology of the so-called cloud forests and the various threats the environments they exist in now face. The eight other zones are the Cloud Walk, The Cavern, Waterfall View, Crystal Mountain, Tree Top Walk, Earth Check, +5 Degrees and Secret Garden.
An artist's impression of the inside of the Cloud Forest which features a 35 metre 'Cloud Mountain' with a 30 metre waterfall (image: Gardens by the Bay).
An external view of the Cloud Forest.
The inside of the Cloud Forest today - very much work that is still in progress.
The Lost World will feature carnivorous plants including pitcher-plants.
Ferns already thriving in the Lost World.
The Lost World, as well as the rest of the Cloud Forest, is still work-in-progress as it is being readied for the official launch of the Bay South Garden which will take place on 28 June 2012 (the garden will be opened to the public from 29 June 2012).
The waterfall flows down from the Lost World.
While the Cloud Forest is very much still ‘work-in-progress’ with it’s primary structure complete with finishing touches being put to it and with it in a ‘planting stage’, it wasn’t hard to visualise what it would be like when it opens in June. Besides the spray of the 30 metre high waterfall on yesterday’s visitors, I could also see that some of the ferns, flowering plants and carnivorous plants of the Lost World seemed to already be thriving. We also got to have a feel of the Cloud Walk – which takes visitors down a cantilevered walkway from the Lost World to the world down below it. Walking down the open metal gratings of the walkway, it wasn’t hard to imagine the view it will offer not just of the epiphytic plants that will clad the side of the ‘mountain’ when completed, but also the sensory experience of the descent down the mountain and the spectacular views of the inside and outside of the Cloud Forest.
The 30 metre high waterfall down the 'mountain' in the Cloud Forest.
The Cloud Walk which takes one on a descent down a cantilevered walkway on the outside of the 'mountain'.
The view downwards from the Cloud Walk.
Another view of the Cloud Walk (and the Tree Top Walk far below).
The descent down the Cloud Walk leads one towards The Cavern inside the ‘mountain’ – an education zone where visitors are able to learn more about the cloud forests, as well as to the back of the waterfall – the Waterfall View that prompts the visitor to consider the importance of fresh water and how cloud forests are able to capture water droplets from mist and fog. It is also on the inside that one finds the Crystal Mountain – where one is surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites typical of caves which are a common feature of mountains. Here the visitor will find a showcase on the formation of the continents, the age of the earth and the role that fossils play in helping us understand our planet’s past.
A view of the waterfall from inside the 'mountain'.
The Cavern will feature stalactites and stalagmites.
Planks for scaffolding inside The Cavern.
Another walkway that the Cloud Forest will feature is the Tree Top Walk which will take visitors, as the name suggests, over a tree canopy. Besides this, visitors will also find a special lab which provides a view of the state of the earth today and the threats to the earth from climate change and habitat loss – Earth Check. +5 Degrees will provide an experience of the effects of temperature increase due to climate change and Secret Garden at the foot of the mountain is a gentle ravine walk through a narrow gorge that provides visitors close to once abundant but now threatened plants.
The glass panels of the Cloud Forest being cleaned.
Besides the cool climate of the cloud forests which will be maintained in the conservatory between 23 and 25 degrees C, we got a feel of what the garden will be like. Again, that is very much work-in-progress. Along with the Heritage Gardens, the Dragonfly Bridge and Dragonfly Lake which was opened to the public during the 20th World Orchid Conference World Orchid Show in November last year, we also were taken through the World of Plants. This along with the Flower Dome, a sneak peek of which was given in November, and the Supertrees of the Golden Garden, Silver Garden and the Supertree Grove and Kingfisher Lake will be ready when the 54 hectare Bay South Garden opens in June. The Supertrees of the Supertree Grove will feature a cable suspended Aerial Walkway which we got to see for the first time yesterday.
A view of the Dragonfly Lake today from the Dragonfly Bridge.
The view of the clusters of 'Supertrees' around the Dragonfly Lake.
In conjunction with the opening (the official launch will be on 28 June 2012 and the garden opened to the public from 29 June 2012), events will be held in the garden over a period spanning two weekends from 29 June to 8 July 2012. The events will include live concerts by Grammy Award winner Jason Mraz and Corrine May, and other activities that include an outdoor movie under the stars.
The suspended Aerial Walkway on the Supertrees of the Supertree Grove.
The Bay South Garden will be opened from 5 am to 2 am daily and the cooled conservatories and aerial walkway in the Supertree Grove will open from 9 am to 9 pm daily. Admission to the Bay South Garden will be free, while admission charges will apply for the cooled conservatories and aerial walkway. Rates for local residents for entry to a single conservatory are S$12 (adults), S$8 (senior citizens above 60 years old / children 3-12 years old). Entry to two conservatories will cost local residents S$20 (adults), S$15 (senior citizens above 60 years old), S$12 (children 3-12 years old) and non-residents S$28 (adults), S$15 (children 3-12 years old). Discounts will be available for holders of PAssion Card, NTUC Plus! Card, SAFRA Card and Home Team NS Card. For entry to the Aerial Walkway, rates will be S$5 for adults and S$3 for children. Annual passes will also be available and in conjunction with the Singapore Garden Festival from 7 to 15 July 2012, a joint promotion will be held which offers discounted entry to the conservatories and for the Festival.
Information on Jason Mraz’s and Corrine May’s Live Concerts
Ticket prices (excluding SISTIC charges) for Jason Mraz’s 29 June 2012 Concert are S$98 (purchased before event day) or S$112 (purchased at the door on event day itself) and Corrine May’s 30 June 2012 Concert are S$38 (purchased before event day) / S$45 (purchased at the door on event day itself). Ticket sales start on 20 April 2012 at 9am (online) and 10am (at SISTIC booths).
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After what has been a wonderful three weeks of fun in glow of the light art installations at Marina Bay, here for Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival – i Light Marina Bay 2012, it is time to say goodbye. With it being the last day of the event today, there is still that chance for those who have not yet been down to bathe in the glow of lights as well as the many I am sure who have not had their fill of the festival to have a last dance with the light art installations – many of which do certainly make one want to dance with.
A child is seen dancing in the light of Parmendies I. Have a last dance this evening with the installations at i Light Marina Bay 2012..
There is little doubt about the buzz the festival has generated. The numbers thronging the waterfront promenade around Marina Bay where most of the 31 installations have been sited, even during the weekdays has been clear to see. The festival attracted both visitors from Singapore, as well as many from further afield, including the “overly caffeinated, full time travel photographer & Monkey to blame for a BlameTheMonkey.com“, Elia Locardi who hails from the Florida Keys. I had an opportunity to meet and and also speak at length with Elia, who had linked-up with a newly formed group of landscape photography enthusiasts Landscape Hunters Asia to conduct (cup of coffee in hand of course) a well attended photo-walk and a Q&A session for the group. I will be posting on the interview I did with Elia little later.
A stick-figure from Groupe LAPS installation, Key Frames, seems to use the Singapore Flyer as a running wheel.
It is probably the large-scale installations and those that permit some level of interaction that have perhaps gone down the best with the many visitors to the festival. One can’t help but be enthralled by the 3D sound and light project on the ArtScience Museum Garden of Light – best viewed from the look-out platforms of the Helix, and be drawn to the flicker and the music of the 30 stick figures of Key Frames that seem to dance at the seating gallery of the Float @ Marina Bay. It is probably however what has been described as the “Rainbow Merlion” that is the crowd’s favourite – an installation that certainly encourages interaction – one that nobody, young or old can resist wanting to have a hand in. This installation entitled Light of The Merlion is one that a visitor can influence the colours that are projected on the much loved 40 year old icon of the new Singapore through a touch-screen LCD panel which sees large numbers queuing up each evening.
Light of the Merlion.
Besides the installations mentioned, each of the other 28 installations are ones that offer differing experiences and each definitely is worth a visit – each as I have mentioned an observer as saying, offering “small delights”. There are about four clusters of installations around the bay, the largest cluster of which is under and around the seating gallery of the Float which includes Key Frames, Immersion and enLIGHTenment on the outside. Under the gallery, are several installations – my favourites of which are Parmendies I and White Rain.
Immersion by the Float.
Dancing in the light and reflection of Edwin Tan's enLIGHTenment on a wet evening.
Along the waterfront promenade of Marina Bay Sands is another cluster which includes Garden of Light and MEGAPOV – interesting a vertical line of light which in panning one’s head or a camera, one is able to see subliminal images. Further down at the Marina Bay City Gallery is the red beams of The Gate. Close to the Marina Bay City Gallery are the installations of the Promontory as well as where the festival village is located. The festival village is where one can find many of the fringe activities – a few of which, including Light Painting by LUMIX are still available on the last evening and are definitely not to be missed. If you do feel like there is that urge to head down to have that final dance with the lights this evening at one of the four clusters or at the Light of The Merlion at Merlion Park, do also make it a point to pass by Esplanade Park. That might hold a reward of seeing one or two who are not dancing with the lights, but talking to the few forgotten trees there. That is this one little delight that somewhat off the beaten path, is one that awaits discovery – Angela Chong’s Tree Stories which compels the visitor to interact with the trees. The installations will on this last evening, as with the other evenings, be turned on from 7.30 to 11 pm. More information on the activities and the event can be found on the i Light Marina Bay 2012 Activity Chart or at the event’s website: www.ilightmarinabay.sg.
Subliminal messages given by a vertical strip of light.
Another subliminal image.
No Emergency Exit is offered by The Gate.
Beams of light draw one into a portal that cannot be passed through - portraying Enlightenment as an unattainable goal.
After Light - an installation that involves 26 shipping containers at the Promontory which also incorporates two installations by Singapore based art college students.
All photographs in this post have been taken with a LUMIX GF-3.
Related posts:
Media Preview and an Overview of some of the installations
Opening Ceremony and the Light of The Merlion
Light Painting by LUMIX and other Fringe Activities
The View from Sands SkyPark and the Garden of Light
Lighting Up for Sustainability
About i Light Marina Bay 2012:
i Light Marina Bay 2012, the second edition of Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival, will be held from 9 March to 1 April 2012. Themed “Light Meets Asia”, i Light Marina Bay 2012 features innovative and environmentally sustainable light art installations by 31 multi-disciplinary artists, with a strong focus on works from Asia. The festival is organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in collaboration with Smart Light Singapore. i Light Marina Bay will be on nightly from 7.30pm to 11.00pm from 9 March to 1 April 2012. For more information, please visit www.ilightmarinabay.sg. In conjunction with the festival, LUMIX is running a photography competition for which participants who can capture the magical atmosphere created by the light art installations around Marina Bay stand to win attractive prizes. More information can be found at the festival website.
From a vantage point 75 feet (about 23 metres) over Singapore’s former harbour, officers with the Harbour Division of the Preventive Branch of the Department of Customs and Excise (which later became Singapore Customs), stood watch over the Inner Roads of the harbour for more than three decades. The vantage point, a panoramic lookout tower that we still today, was part of the Customs Harbour Branch Building built over an L-shaped pier along the waterfront at the end of Collyer Quay. The building and pier, built at a cost of S$1.8 million, was completed in October 1969. The complex housed the 300 strong force of the then Harbour Division, as well as provided berths and maintenance facilities (which included a slipway) for some 35 launches and speedboats of the Division when it first opened. The building also provided cargo examination facilities and its construction allowed the Division to move from its somewhat makeshift premises in a godown in Telok Ayer Basin.
What is today a posh dining destination, Customs House, with its very distinct 75 foot lookout tower, was formerly the Customs Harbour Branch Building. It was completed in October 1969 and housed the Harbour Division of the Customs Preventive Branch.
The Customs Harbour Branch Building in 2006 (source: URA site on Conservation Matters).
Collyer Quay in July 1974 seen beyond the Detached Mole, a breakwater that sheltered the Inner Roads from the opened Outer Roads. The Customs Harbour Branch Building and its distinct 75 foot tower is seen on the extreme left of the photograph (Photo courtesy of Peter Chan).
While 75 feet in the context of what now surrounds the former Customs complex, the tower allowed customs officers to keep a round-the-clock watch over the harbour for small boats attempting to sneak dutiable goods into Singapore. The octagonal shaped and fully air-conditioned watch tower which is supported by a cylindrical base provided a panoramic view which extended beyond the Inner Roads to the mouth of the Singapore River, the Geylang River and Tanjong Rhu. Officers spotting a suspicious boat could then alert their colleagues manning the speedboats which were on standby by the pier who would then head out to intercept the suspicious boat.
A side elevation of the former Customs Harbour Branch Building with its very distinct lookout tower (source: URA site on Conservation Matters).
At the bottom of the 75 feet climb up a spiral staircase to the lookout tower - reminiscent of climbs up several lighthouses I've visited.
In between heavy panting, I managed to appreciate the view halfway up.
At the end of the 75 feet climb - a view of the lookout tower's ceiling.
Looking down at the cause of my heavy breathing.
Use for the building and the pier in its intended role ended with the construction of the Marina Barrage which cut what were the Inner Roads of the old harbour off from the sea and the building then under the Maritime and Port Authority’s charge was passed over to the Singapore Land Authority in 2006. Customs House was given conservation status in 2007 and was reopened as a dining destination under the management of Fullerton Heritage, which also manages the former Clifford Pier and the Fullerton Hotel. The tower itself is however disused and remains inaccessible to the general public.
At the top of the lookout tower.
The lookout tower no longer commands a view of a harbour littered with bumboats, twakows and tongkangs, but of the new world that is Marina Bay.
Show me the money! An interpretation perhaps of the new view - as seen in the reflection of a window of the lookout tower offered by one of the installations for i Light Marina Bay 2012 - Teddy Lo's MEGAPOV.
Seeing double - BIBI's Bibigloo and a reflection of it as viewed from the lookout tower.
Observation of Earth Hour
i Light Marina Bay 2012 Installations will be turned off for an hour at 8.30 pm on Saturday 31 March 2012 to observe Earth Hour.
Lighting and colouring up the gorgeously beautiful world that is Marina Bay over a three-week period, are thirty-one light art installations making their appearance at i Light Marina Bay 2012. The biennial festival is the second edition of Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival. In bringing us the festival, the organisers also hope to send across a key message that advocates sustainability, particularly in the use of energy-efficient lighting technology for the future.
A close-up of Bibigloo by BIBI - one of 31 light art installations for i Light Marina Bay 2012 supplementing the sea of lights that the gorgeously beautiful Marina Bay is until 1 April 2010. Many of the installations feature the reuse or recycling of material - in this case Jerry Cans, to help send out the festival's key message of sustainability.
To send out the message of sustainability, criteria used in the selection of the 31 works out of 100 applications were the artists’ use of energy-efficient LED lights and the incorporation of sustainable, recycled / re-usable materials in their work. Some of the works do in fact feature the use of renewable or alternative sources of energy such as solar and wind energy or kinetic energy to provide the necessary power. The festival in promoting sustainability, has also enlisted the support of a number of the owners of buildings not just around the Marina Bay precinct, but also in other parts of Singapore to participate in the “Switch Off, Turn Up” campaign. The campaign will see some 42 buildings involved in a conscious effort to switch non-essential indoor/outdoor lighting and office equipment off whenever possible and turn up air-conditioning temperatures to 24 to 25° C during office hours. As with the festival, the campaign is in its second edition with the first edition featuring some 16 properties, which saw more than 41,000 kWh of electricity saved collectively. The buildings participating in the campaign include Marina Bay Sands, Marina Bay Financial Centre and The Fullerton Heritage in the Marina Bay area as well as Wisma Atria, New Tech Park and Tampines Concourse outside of the area.
Shinya Okuda's BioShell which visualises invisible but closely interconnected relationships between humans and nature.
The Sustainability Sponsor for the festival, The PowerSeraya Group, a Singapore based integrated energy company, is a strong advocate of energy conservation. The Group is a Merit Winner of the Singapore Environmental Achievement Award in 2011. The company hopes to highlight the importance of environmental awareness as well as energy conservation through their participation – part of a broader outreach programme that the company has embarked on to encourage power consumers to use energy and resources responsibly.
Receptacle by Marine Ky - a work that is supported by Philips.
A close-up of Receptacle.
Besides the participation of the organisers’, the building owners, and the main sponsors in promoting the message of sustainability, the festival also sees the strong support of companies behind the development of energy-efficient lighting solutions. One such company is Philips, which hopes to drive a revolution in the use of energy-efficient LED. As part of their participation in the festival, Philips has lent their support to powering a number of the light art installations which are The River, Coral Garden, Tree Stories, Sweet Home, enLIGHTenment, BioShell, 5QU1D, Receptacle, and Planting Shadows. The LED lighting solutions being used for the festival’s installations use as little as one-tenth of the power required by an incandescent bulb and last for up to 20 years of normal use.
Olivia d'Aboville's Coral Garden is one installation supported by Philips. The installation encourages people to interact with the light installation made from cocktail stirrers much like an actual coral reef attracts marine life to it.
Through its participation and support, Philips aims to also bring across a message that light has the ability to enhance life, beautify the urban landscape, and bring out the unique personality of each city. The company feels that driven by the LED lighting revolution, sustainable lighting solutions now available offer limitless possibilities of what light can do for urban spaces and rethink the way cities are lighted up, allowing urban planners and architects great leeway in exercising their creativity. The company also hopes to see government regulation aimed at reducing energy consumption and protecting the environment and the phasing out of incandescent bulbs through a switch to LED lights.
The Philips picnic under a Breeze Shelter which featured some of their gorgeous LED light illuminated home products. Philips arranged for several local artists to share on their installations.
It was during a picnic organised by Philips held under the cool comfort of the Breeze Shelters at the Promontory @ Marina Bay I attended that I learnt more of Philips aims in supporting artists for i Light Marina Bay 2012. Philips was also kind enough to arrange for an opportunity to meet with a few of the local artists they are supporting. On hand to speak about their motivations in the creation of their respective installations was Ryf Zaini (5QU1D); the very enlightened Edwin Tan (enLIGHTenment); and Joshua Yang, Fiona Koh and Justin Loke of Vertical Submarine (Planting Shadows).
Edwin Tan (L) in the glow of enLIGHTenment.
It was interesting to hear what the artists had to say about their creations. First to speak was the Vertical Submarine team whose work, Planting Shadows is an adaptation from the one created for an exhibition at the Singapore Botanic Gardens in 2009. The installation features a sense provoking field of grey sunflowers. The inspiration for the work is a poem by local writer Chien Swee-Teng. The poem tells a tale of a sunflower plantation owner’s pact with an imp who lived in an empty bottle of sunflower oil. In exchange for success in his trade, the farmer becomes blind to the colour of his trade. In presenting sunflowers in the grey of their shadows, the team tries not just to recreate the story, but also aims to direct the viewers’ attention to the form of the sunflower.
In the colour of their shadows, attention is drawn to the form of the sunflowers. Planting Shadows by local group Vertical Submarine draws inspiration from a poem by local writer Chien Swee-Teng in which a sunflower plantation owner’s becomes blind to the colour of his trade in exchange for success in a pact with an imp.
Another sense provoking work is that of Ryf Zaini’s 5QUID. An engineering graduate of Temasek Polytechnic, the artist’s interest saw him completing a diploma in interactive media at the LASALLE College of the Arts where he graduated with first class honours in media art. An engineering graduate from Temasek Polytechnic, Ryf Zaini’s interest in the arts led him to LASALLE College of the Arts, where he completed a diploma in interactive media and graduated with first class honours in media arts. Combining both fields, Ryf Zaini creates hybrids of technologically informed art like his installation 5QU1D which represents a squid that emerges from the sea and takes on a hybrid form to merge itself with the surroundings. 5QU1D is embedded with blinking lights and uses recycled and used electronic parts, and LED lighting systems.
Ryf Zaini's 5QU1D is another sense provoking piece. It represents a squid which takes a hybrid form to blend with rapidly changing surroundings - a reference to the rapid changes in the modernising world and the effects they have on the natural environment.
The other artist who made an appearance was Edwin Tan, the founder of local design studio Bravo Company. His installation, enLIGHTenment involves a video wall of multi-coloured light tubes. In an idle state, an animated screen saver is displayed and when activated through an interactive console facing the light display, the installation starts “thinking”, finding an answer to a question asked through the console. After a pause of a few seconds, the display literally enlightens the audience with a YES or NO answer. Interestingly, Edwin mentioned that how he arrived at the work and its name was that he had only five days to work on his proposal. Seeking inspiration – it crossed his mind that he required some “enlightenment” which also contained the word “light” which is how he hit on the idea. The installation is cheekily placed at the Helix (bridge) that takes one to Marina Bay Sands and its casino and is aimed perhaps at those who contemplating a visit to the casino.
Yes, No, and sometimes Maybe?
Should the answer to that question be a negative one, one could instead have a last look at the installations before the festival ends on 1 April 2012. Besides the 31 installations, there are also lots of fringe activities being held during the last weekend. One activity certainly to catch is the Nescafe Passion Movie Night on Saturday 31 March 2012 during which there would be a free screening of KungFu Panda 2 at the Lawn from 8 to 10 pm. Another interesting event on the same day is the 8DAYS’ Pets and the City event at the Promontory between 4 and 8 pm during which pet owners can glam their pets up and take them for a walk. There will also be a mass Light Catcher creation workshop that will be held from 5 pm in conjunction with the movie screening, as well as Junk Jam which features percussion performances using household junk as instruments on both Saturday and Sunday from 9 pm to 10 pm along the Waterfront Promenade. Visitors to the area can also turn their eyes upward to watch the Singapore Sky Dancers lighting up the sky with lighted kites on Saturday from 7 to 11 pm. More information on the activities can be found on the i Light Marina Bay 2012 Activity Chart or at the event’s website: www.ilightmarinabay.sg.
All photographs in this post have been taken with a LUMIX GF-3.
Related posts:
Media Preview and an Overview of some of the installations
Opening Ceremony and the Light of The Merlion
Light Painting by LUMIX and other Fringe Activities
The View from Sands SkyPark and the Garden of Light
About i Light Marina Bay 2012:
i Light Marina Bay 2012, the second edition of Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival, will be held from 9 March to 1 April 2012. Themed “Light Meets Asia”, i Light Marina Bay 2012 features innovative and environmentally sustainable light art installations by 31 multi-disciplinary artists, with a strong focus on works from Asia. The festival is organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in collaboration with Smart Light Singapore. i Light Marina Bay will be on nightly from 7.30pm to 11.00pm from 9 March to 1 April 2012. For more information, please visit www.ilightmarinabay.sg. In conjunction with the festival, LUMIX is running a photography competition for which participants who can capture the magical atmosphere created by the light art installations around Marina Bay stand to win attractive prizes. More information can be found at the festival website.
URA Press Release on Earth Hour 2012
Singapore, 28 March 2012 – i Light Marina Bay 2012, the sophomore edition of Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival, is going the extra mile in its commitment to the sustainability message with the Festival’s participation in this year’s Earth Hour.
Come 31 March 2012, all 31 featured artworks will be switched off for an hour between 8.30pm and 9.30pm. The public are invited to participate in a Mass Light Catcher Creation workshop at The Lawn commencing from 6.00pm, followed by a commemorative light-up. There will also be a free movie screening at the NESCAFE® PAssion Movie Night later that evening.
Besides participating in Earth Hour, the “Switch Off, Turn Up” campaign – an energy efficiency effort initiated by the festival to encourage properties in and around Marina Bay to switch off non-essential lights and turn up air-conditioning temperatures – is projected to achieve energy savings of at least 200,000 kWh (kilowatt hours), triple the energy saved during the inaugural edition in 2010. This equates to saving 100 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, which is enough to generate electricity for 762 4-room HDB flats for the same period.
The “Switch Off, Turn Up” campaign, with the support of Sustainability Sponsor PowerSeraya, has to date received the commitment of 47 properties to drive energy efficiency, which is close to a three-fold increase from the 16 buildings that took part two years ago. Participating partners include Marina Bay Sands, Prime Sponsor of the festival, as well as other developments around Marina Bay and beyond.
For more information about the festival, visit www.marina-bay.sg/ilightmarinabay.
About Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is Singapore’s national land use planning and conservation agency. URA’s mission is “to make Singapore a great city to live, work and play in”. We strive to create a vibrant and sustainable city of distinction by planning and facilitating Singapore’s physical development in partnership with the community. As the main land sales agent for the state, our multifaceted engagement strategy includes the sale of state land to attract and channel private capital investment to develop sites for meeting our land use needs. As the place manager for Marina Bay, we promote exciting activities within Marina Bay in collaboration with other government agencies and private stakeholders. To create an exciting cityscape, the URA also actively promotes architecture and urban design excellence. For more information, please visit us at www.ura.gov.sg.
About Smart Light Singapore
Smart Light Singapore (SLS) was established in 2010 as a not-for-profit entity to develop urban lighting festivals that would set new international standards for energy efficiency and provide family-friendly, outdoor celebrations by illuminating public spaces through art sculptures and other smart light activities.
Through these events and activities, SLS aims to increase awareness in the reduction of energy usage, engage public and professional participation in best practices in lighting design, promote dark city skies and improve on energy-efficient lighting performances.
The streets around the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) are ones that once spoke to me. It was on these streets and some that are no more that as a schoolboy, I had spent four years wandering through a little more than three decades ago, developing a strong attachment to them as they were back then. My schooldays in the area ended at the end of 1980, and leaving that behind me, I did not realise that that it was the world around it that I so loved that I was to leave behind as well.
The streets around the Singapore Art Museum are ones that were familiar to me from my school days at the end of the 1970s. The streets are colourless and silent now, a silence that is broken by the sounds of traffic that pass it by.
I often wander down the same streets today, hoping to find that world that in the distractions of my passage into adulthood was swept away by the winds of change that blew over the area in the decade that followed my last days of school. It is not the voices that I had been familiar with that now greet me, but the screams of a deafening silence that I am unable to close my ears to. The world that was coloured by the uniforms of school children scurrying to school or thronging the many book shops the area had a reputation for; its silence broken by the passing of those who lived, worked and shopped along the well worn sidewalks and five-foot ways; is but a pale shadow of its former self, rendered silent and colourless by the world we have chosen to embrace.
A world that has changed.
Once a world dominated by the towering spires and domes that flavoured the area, it is now a world where the same spires and domes have become mere reflections on the glass and steel edifices that now tower over the area. It is in these reflections that the voices of that old world are sometimes heard. They no longer are the loud and confident voices I had grown accustomed to, but fading whispers which I struggle to hear over the loudness of the silence that has befallen the area.
A world once dominated by the spires and domes, is now one where the spires and domes have become mere reflections of that world in the glass and steel of the new world.
A reflection on a world that I once knew - the SAM reflected on the polished walls of the NTUC INCOME Centre.
One whose whispers I can sometimes hear is the soul of the magnificent domed building that is today’s SAM. The building, gazetted as a National Monument in 1992, was where I attended school – St. Joseph’s Institution (SJI), one that I spent four wonderful years going to. Although a lot has changed since it held airy classrooms behind the green louvered wooden doors that are now painted grey, it is a building that I still have a deep attachment to. Beyond the coolness of the climate controlled galleries that now fill the spaces behind the grey doors, there are many areas in which I can hear those whispers of its forgotten past.
The buildings of the former St. Joseph's Institution now houses the Singapore Art Museum.
It is no longer through gates manned by school prefects identifiable by the green ties that stood out against the all white uniforms we wore that I now pass through – the half height walls on which iron grilles had stood are no more, but across a lawn that I rebelliously can now walk across to arrive at the portico on top of which a famous statue stands. The lawn had been a garden populated not just by shrubs, but also a weather station and a fountain that I don’t remember seeing come on.
SJI in the 1970s
St. Joseph's Institution by night in the 1970s.
The garden in front of the school building in the 1980s.
The famous statue is that of St. John the Baptist de la Salle, showing what seems to be the way to two boys beside him. St. John the Baptist de la Salle was the founder of the De La Salle Brothers – a Catholic missionary organisation dedicated to the education of boys from poor backgrounds. Aside from the many jokes we heard about the statue that wore a coat of silver paint back then, it was famous as a landmark for the area, having stood in its place above the portico since 1913. The bronze statue was cast with money donated, coincidentally it may seem, by an old boy of the school John La Salle on the occasion of the school’s Diamond Jubilee in 1912. The statue is a replica a marble sculpture by Cesare Aureli that stands in Saint Peter’s Basilica.
The statue of St. John the Baptist de la Salle above the portico of the former school building (seen here in 1980), served as a landmark for the area.
To the right of the portico is another area that whispers loud enough to be heard. The shallow fishpond coloured green by algae lay and the guava tree which lent its shade to the pond is now an area that has been paved. The pond had been a convenient point for several of us to meet. Immediately behind the area where the pond was, the corridor beyond the arches of the building had been one that led towards first the staff room and turning left at the end of it, the tuck-shop. The tuck-shop was on the ground level of a building which had above it, the Brothers’ Quarters, along Queen Street. The building is one that has since been replaced by a new building. The Brothers’ Quarters with flagpoles mounted on the ledge on the second level was where we faced as we said our prayers, sung the National Anthem and recited the Pledge during our school assemblies that were held on the tarred surface of a courtyard that has now been made much smaller. At right angles to the Brothers’ Quarters with its back to the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, was another building that lined the courtyard that has been replaced. This held rooms for several societies including the Co-op and the 2013 Hippo Scout troupe’s den.
Assembly at the Courtyard.
The 2103 Hippo Scout Unit had its den at a building that lined one side of the courtyard.
Prize giving during school assembly. The doors led to the school's tuck-shop on the ground level of the building that housed the Brothers' Quarters.
Across from the Brothers’ Quarters was the building (still there) which held the dark school hall (now the very bright Glass Hall) on the lower floor, and the school’s chapel (now the Chapel) on the upper floor. The chapel was where as schoolboys we could sit in quiet contemplation. The chapel stripped of its benches and Sanctuary does still fill me with a sense of calm and peace. It does still thankfully bear some reminders of its days as the school’s chapel: the floor tiles; the ceiling panels; and the plaques that served as the 14 Stations of the Cross a Catholic place of worship is never usually without.
The chapel in 1977.
The building we see today, wasn’t always how it had looked like. It took on its distinctive appearance in 1903 when the curved wings and the portico were added. The school the building was home to dates back long before 1903. It started its illustrious life as Saint John’s School on 1 May 1852 on the premises of an old Catholic church on the same grounds. It establishment in 1852 was due largely to the efforts of a French missionary priest, Father Jean Marie Beurel. Father Beurel, who arrived in Singapore in October 1839, had spared no effort in the early years of his posting to Singapore in trying to enlist the services of the De La Salle Brothers to set up what was to be the first De La Salle school in the Far East. Father Beurel was also instrumental in the construction of the new prior to that – the Church of the Good Shepherd (which is the present Cathedral of the Good Shepherd) and also in bringing the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) to our shores two years later in 1854.
Fr Jean Marie Beurel, a French priest whose efforts were instrumental in the setting up of not just SJI, but also the setting up of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus and the construction of the Church (now Cathedral) of the Good Shepherd.
A view of CHIJ as it was in its early days. Father Beurel is credited with bringing the Convent in two years after his efforts brought the De La Salle Brothers to our shores.
The complex of buildings that housed CHIJ and also the Cathedral are ones where the spires that dominated the area stands, along with that of the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (then referred to as ‘Chinese Church’) on Queen Street. The three (or parts of then in the case of CHIJ) have also been gazetted as National Monuments. The most beautiful of the buildings that hold up the spires is the beautiful Gothic styled former chapel of CHIJ – now the CHIJMES complex. It is however the other two whose whispers I hear, having interacted with them both as a child and during my days in school when we attended many school Masses in both churches. The earliest of the buildings to be gazetted as a National Monument, the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd (gazetted in 1973) is one that is perhaps one that is most in need of attention. The structure of the building has suffered not just from its age (it was opened on 6 June 1847), but also from more recent construction activity in the area – ironically ones that were to have a minimal impact on the character of the area, the tunnelling work for the MRT as well as the construction of the Singapore Management University campus which was to blend in with the surroundings (some think it otherwise).
Temporary shoring of the Cathedral's structure is obvious when seen from Victoria Street.
Stepping into the Cathedral, one can’t help but notice the large crack at the wall at the far end to the right above the Sanctuary, and behind that – very obvious temporary shoring can be seen supporting the building’s structure on the outside. Being a National Monument that is run by a religious or non-profit organisation, the Cathedral is only able to draw on the limited public funds available to such monuments badly in need of repair. Based on information on the Preservation of Monuments Board’s (PMB) website, the funds available for the 29 monuments run by a religious or non-profit organisations for such urgent repair work is limited to a total of $5 million that is to be distributed to qualifying monuments over a five-year period (i.e. $1 million per year) from 2009. A pre-requisite for monuments to qualify for the funding is that the organisations involved must first have the means to fund the required work. The amount does seem rather misery considering the amounts being spent on some of the other National Monuments. The repair has been estimated to cost up to some $35 million. As of now only a fifth of the amount needed has been raised. The Cathedral is attempting to raise the remainder of the much-needed funds privately with fund raising activities organised at the Cathedral.
A large crack is clearly visible on the wall of the Cathedral's Sanctuary.
The Cathedral is attempting to raise much needed money - some S$35 million is needed, to repair and restore the building.
A close-up of an information board providing the progress of the fund raising shows that only about a fifth of the money required had been rasied as of December 2011.
As I leave behind the whispers of familiar voices, the contrast that the silent new world is becomes apparent. In the coldness and greyness and in the hush of that new world, I can sometimes hear the silent screams of the faces of the old. The screams are ones that fade with the passage of time. The whispers are ones that in the decrescendo of voices that I hope I would still be able to listen to, in a world where the only other sounds are the sounds of traffic that passes it by, much as the new world that has now passed it by.
The Cathedral is an oasis of calm in a sea of deafening silence.
One of the wonderful things I was able to do as an official blogger for i Light Marina Bay 2012, was to spend part of an evening right on top of the world. That world that I write of is Marina Bay – a showpiece of modern Singapore, which when viewed 57 floors up from the Sands SkyPark, is a world that is certain to take one’s breath away. The view around Marina Bay from SkyPark is stunning to say the least and has to be the highlight of a visit to the roof of Marina Bay Sands – a view that for a little more than 3 weeks is being enhanced by some of the more visible of the 31 light art installations scattered around the body of water for what is Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival.
The view of the showpiece of the new Singapore - Marina Bay, 57 floors up from the Sands SkyPark.
Being 57 floors up does provide a very different experience of the installations around Marina Bay that can been clearly seen. The Light of The Merlion that lies across the bay is certainly one that is to be noticed, as is the red-orange glow of the illuminated plastic igloo that is Bibigloo located at the Promontory @ Marina Bay. Surveying the scene around the incomplete circle of light that is Immersion at the far end of the Float @ Marina Bay would also be seen. It is however, with one’s feet firmly on the ground, that offers one the best multi-sensory experience of most of the installations. This is especially so for the festival’s largest projection – the light and sound show that is the Garden of Light.
Garden of Light - an animated projection on three fingers of the ArtScience Museum using 3D digital mapping techniques by Hexogon Solution.
The Garden of Light is an animated projection on three of the fingers of the ArtScience Museum. The projection, created using 3D digital mapping technology, is on the evidence of the interest created, one of the more popular installations. Best viewed (and photographed) from the viewing platforms on the Helix (bridge), it has been one that never fails to catch my attention, despite having watched the show several times from both the Helix and also below the ArtScience Museum. The show is the work of Singapore based Hexogon Solution and was conceived by its founder, Adrian Goh. Having moved into the field of video mapping projections in 2009, Hexogon has been involved in several large-scale projections that includes one on a commercial airliner and also one on the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. The eight-minute show uses a combination of light and sound effects intended to send out a message of environmental sustainability that highlights the beauty of the natural world. The light and sound show is one I have to say is one of the most spectacular and one that greatly enhances the visual experience of the ArtScience Museum. It would be nice to see the installation being there on a permanent basis to allow future visitors to the area, and those like me who never tire of it to have an opportunity to take-in what has to be said celebrates the ArtScience Museum’s unique architecture – something that perhaps Marina Bay Sands may want to consider.
Another 'scene' from the Garden of Light.
The installation along with the Light of The Merlion has to be one of the most photographed installations at i Light Marina Bay 2012.
Martin Bevz and Kathryn Clifton's Immersion as seen from Sands SkyPark.
BIBI's Bibigloo seen from Sands SkyPark.
OCUBO's Light of The Merlion seen from above.
The location of the Garden of Light, is close enough to a cluster of 8 installations in and around the seating gallery of the Float @ Marina Bay to include a visit to the eight installations – one that has gone down very well is Key Frames from Groupe LAPS. The are also several under the seating gallery. A few of these I have already made a mention of such as Aleksandra Stratimirovic’s well received and rather successful attempt at making an ugly space beautiful, Sweet Home, Dev Harlan’s Parmenides I, and Andrew Daly and Katherine Fife’s Crystallised. Besides those already mentioned, there are two other installations under the seating gallery, one is Light Collective’s Urban Makyoh and the other – one that absolutely delighted me, is Takahiro Matsuo’s White Rain
Key Frames.
And what made me think Parmenides I was an installation one couldn't interact with?
Urban Makyoh involves light reflections projected from mirrored stencils.
White Rain – takes a little bit of effort in finding – an effort that was certainly worth it. The description I received describes it is an installation of white light which focuses on the sense of infinity produced by the behaviour and the beauty of light in which participants experience the poetry and beauty of light which falls like rain around them. What makes the installation a joy to take-in is that the rain of light that seems to fall as natural rain does, falls as one moves through it, intensifying and easing off depending on how one moves through it. It is one that I enjoyed observing especially standing away from the installation. As I stood and stared in the silence and the darkness, it seemed that I could almost hear the sound of the falling rain.
Takahiro Matsuo's White Rain.
There are just two weekends left before the festival ends on 1 April 2012 to take in each of the 31 installations. 31 “small delights” as one I met would have it. It is a festival that has certainly delighted me greatly, and one which I will continue visiting for the small delights that the interaction with each of the installations does bring. More information on the installations and on the festival and fringe activities can be found at www.ilightmarinabay.sg.
All photographs in this post have been taken with a LUMIX GF-3.
Related posts:
Media Preview and an Overview of some of the installations
Opening Ceremony and the Light of The Merlion
Light Painting by LUMIX and other Fringe Activities
Lighting up for Sustainability and Philips Supported Installations
About i Light Marina Bay 2012:
i Light Marina Bay 2012, the second edition of Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival, will be held from 9 March to 1 April 2012. Themed “Light Meets Asia”, i Light Marina Bay 2012 features innovative and environmentally sustainable light art installations by 31 multi-disciplinary artists, with a strong focus on works from Asia. The festival is organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in collaboration with Smart Light Singapore. i Light Marina Bay will be on nightly from 7.30pm to 11.00pm from 9 March to 1 April 2012. For more information, please visit www.ilightmarinabay.sg. In conjunction with the festival, LUMIX is running a photography competition for which participants who can capture the magical atmosphere created by the light art installations around Marina Bay stand to win attractive prizes. More information can be found at the festival website.
Love is literally very much in the air around Marina Bay. Visitors to the i Light Marina Bay 2012′s Night Carnival on the Waterfront Promenade just by the Promontory @ Marina Bay would have chanced upon many creating light messages and sketches next to the activity marquee – painted in the air. The activity is one of the more popular ones at the Night Carnival which involves “light painting” – moving hand-held lights through the air to spell words or sketch symbols which is captured using a long enough exposure setting on a camera. Subjects being “light painted” range from expressions of love and smiley faces to birthday greetings and on the evidence of what I observed – expressions of love seem to be the most frequently chosen subject.
LOVE is very much in the air at i Light Marina Bay 2012! Free Light Painting by LUMIX allows participants to paint light messages and sketches which are captured by a camera and emailed to participants.
The activity, Light Painting by LUMIX, is one of several festival fringe activities and events that the weekend crowd can participate in around Marina Bay – images will be sent by email to participants. Visitors to the festival can also catch LED light performers along the Waterfront Promenade, free movie screenings, a Night Carnival at the Promontory, as well as participate in various workshops that are suitable for both the young and the old.
Activity guide for i Light Marina Bay 2012 (click to enlarge).
Performers that roam the Waterfront Promenade include LED Twirlers who colour the night with performances best captured by a camera on a long exposure. In addition to the LED Twirlers, there are also LED Stilt Walkers, junk percussion jammers, story-telling sessions and synchronous lighted kite flying displays to catch on the two more weekends left to do so!
A 30 second exposure of LED Twirlers in action at the Promontory @ Marina Bay over the weekend.
More long exposures of LED Twirlers.
The cluster of marquees by the Promontory where the free light painting activity by LUMIX is held – the location of the festival’s Night Carnival, is also where free coffee by Nescafe is available (given out on a first-come-first-served basis). Two workshops which are held in the area would appeal especially to the kids. One, the Light Catcher Creation Workshop, involves transforming commonly used materials into simple to make, yet gorgeous light catchers. This workshop which is held in the comfortable environment of a Breeze Shelter, takes approximately 45 minutes to complete and costs $6 per participant. The second workshop, “Switch-It” Painting Workshop and Competition, involves the painting of light switches in which one’s creativity can be rewarded – participants are asked to paint the switches with a sustainability message which can be entered into a competition in which the top 3 designs stand to win fabulous prizes (entries should be submitted by 27 March 2012). Do allow for 30 minutes to complete the switch painting which costs $5 per participant. The workshops are held on Saturdays and Sundays from 7 to 9 pm.
The night carnival during the weekends feature activity marquees at which participants can sign-up for free light painting by LUMIX and also the Light Catcher Creation Workshop and the "Switch-It" light switch Painting Workshop and Competition.
The workshops are conducted under the very comfortable Breeze Shelters along the Waterfront Promenade by the Promontory @ Marina Bay.
Materials used everyday go into the making of light catchers. Participate in a Light Catcher Creation Workshop - fun especially for the young, on Saturdays and Sundays from 7.30pm to 9 pm up until 1 April 2012.
Arranging the reflectors.
Finishing up ...
And voilà! A beautiful light catcher that can be easily re-created at home.
Another light catcher.
Besides light catchers, the public can also participate in other activities, including a "Switch-It" light switch painting workshop and competition. The competition offers attractive prizes - submissions should be made by 27 Mar 2012.
Some of the painted light switches on the competition wall.
During the festival, visitors are also able to get on free guided tours which take place on Fridays to Sundays at 7.30pm, 8.30pm, and 9.30pm. Registration is required and closes one day prior to the event on the festival’s website or 30 minutes prior to the specific tour at the festival’s information kiosk. Visitors will have two routes to choose from: Tour 1 starts at Event Square and Tour 2 starts at the Info Kiosk at the ArtScience Museum. For a full list of and a calendar of activities and events, do refer to the activity guide (click here).
More expressions of love ...
A smiley face ...
All photographs in this post have been taken with a LUMIX GF-3.
About i Light Marina Bay 2012:
i Light Marina Bay 2012, the second edition of Asia’s first and only sustainable light art festival, will be held from 9 March to 1 April 2012. Themed “Light Meets Asia”, i Light Marina Bay 2012 features innovative and environmentally sustainable light art installations by 31 multi-disciplinary artists, with a strong focus on works from Asia. The festival is organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in collaboration with Smart Light Singapore. i Light Marina Bay will be on nightly from 7.30pm to 11.00pm from 9 March to 1 April 2012. For more information, please visit www.ilightmarinabay.sg. In conjunction with the festival, LUMIX is running a photography competition for which participants who can capture the magical atmosphere created by the light art installations around Marina Bay stand to win attractive prizes. More information can be found at the festival website.
One of the busiest stretches of Singapore’s Orchard Road was closed to vehicular traffic for a few hours last evening – all for the sake of fashion. The closure was to allow a 600 metre stretch from ION Orchard to the Mandarin Gallery to be used as a runway for the launch of Fashion Steps Out @ Orchard 2012 (FSO 2012), a six-week long shopping extravaganza that promotes fashion for everyday use. Dubbed “The Day when Fashion Stops Traffic”, the launch saw more than 170 models showing off creations from both international and local designers, including Vivienne Westwood, walking down road turned catwalk. This is the first time here that a busy road has been closed and used as a fashion runway – a brilliant idea that has definitely put the festival in the spotlight as well as allowing the festival to achieve its aim of reaching out to those on the street.
Fashion and Fever on Orchard Road. Alicia Pan entertained with a rendition of Fever right in the middle of the road.
A 600m stretch of Orchard Road was transformed into a fashion runway for the launch of Fashion Steps Out @ Orchard 2012.
One of the busiest stretches of Orchard Road from ION Orchard to Mandarin Gallery was closed to vehicular traffic on what would normally be a busy Saturday evening.
The a downpour prior to the opening and the inconvenience of the closure of the road to vehicular traffic did not at all deter those who came to watch the opening of the event – a large crowd had already lined the barricades well before the show started. The fashion show started with host Junita Simon strutting down the street accompanied by bare-chested male models which must have set the hearts of many in the crowd racing.
A large crowd gathered by the barricades set up well before the show started.
Host for the evening, Junita Simon, struts along the road runway to open the festival.
Over the hour-long show, a steady stream of models showing off collections from Vivienne Westwood, Dsquared2, Dip Drops, Rosebullet, iCB, J.Press, Robinsons, Marks & Spencer, Just Cavalli, Paul & Joe and Maria Grachvogel took to the road turned catwalk. The show also featured the appearance of singer/songwriter Alicia Pan – who seemed to have caught everyone there by surprise with a rendition of Fever on the road right in front of Paragon.
The fashion parade down Orchard Road begins with a collection from one of the participating international designers, Vivienne Westwood.
It wasn't just the models who attracted the attention of the cameras. A glamourously dressed photographer has a camera trained on her.
The opening of fashion festival was certainly one to remember and one that has set the tone for six weeks of activities and deals, including those from MasterCard – the Official Credit Card. More information on the festival which runs until 29 April 2012, can be found at the FSO 2012 website, or the FSO 2012 Facebook Page.
Some highlights of the Fashion Show:
I’ve often wandered down Collyer Quay in the evening in the days when the smell of the sea filled the air to catch the evening’s breeze. Glancing out to where the sky met the sea, the view in the dark was one of the flicker of the sea of lights of the numerous ships that lay at anchor, interrupted by the sweep of the beam that shone from Fullerton Light – the lighthouse that stood atop the Fullerton Building – then the General Post Office (GPO). It was always a fascinating sight for me – one that I was always thrilled to take-in. That was years ago and the world as I had known it then, has been transformed to the glow of lights that seemed to have grown out of the seeds planted by of the lights of the old harbour. The glow is the new world that is Marina Bay, a world that glitters with the gold that the old harbour it grew out of has given. The new glow – brighter than the old, makes Marina Bay a world that is one to marvel at and one that for three weeks will glow even brighter with the colours and the lights that i Light Marina Bay 2012 brings to it.
Coming of age - one of the older icons in the brand new Marina Bay will be bathed in a sea of light during i Light Marina Bay 2012.
The highly anticipated festival, the second edition of i Light Marina Bay, was opened officially by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minster and Minster for Finance and Minister for Manpower on Friday. At the ceremony at the Promontory @ Marina Bay, Mr Shanmugaratnam spoke of his pleasure to be at Marina Bay, which he said attracted a record 23 million visitors last year, “to be immersed in the energy of a new downtown which has been evolving” and observed that the many developments in the area have transformed the skyline, and “imbued our city with more excitement, colour and vibrancy”. Mr Shanmugaratnam in his speech, spoke of the ‘software’ that was required to make and sustain a place – such as the festival, which serves to bring the community together to enjoy the place, and also help in defining an identity for the Bay. The Deputy Prime Minister also observed that “do so through a display of beautiful light art installations is creative, fun and delightful”.
Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam speaking at the opening ceremony of i Light Marina Bay 2012.
Launching the festival.
After Light, an installation involving projections on shipping containers, is seen behind the stage at the opening.
Street performers - who were present at the opening, will also feature in the area during the period of the festival (top photo taken with LUMIX GF-3).
Fun and delightful the festival certainly has, in the first few days of the opening, proved to be. The festival’s 31 installations drew large crowds to the bay area over the weekend and judging from the number of visitors – one of the crowd favourites must be the Light of The Merlion – the brainchild of Nuno Maya and Carole Purnelle of OCUBO. OCUBO translates into “The Cube” in Portuguese, a name which reflects the geometric nature of the team’s projection work which for the work commissioned for i Light Marina Bay involves the projection of a combination of colours on the surface of the Merlion that are determined purely by members of the public through an interactive screen at the site. It is through this interactivity – a feature of all the group’s work, that the colours of the 40-year-old much-loved icon are changed through the evening – something which is designed to create a memorable experience with which the Merlion can be rediscovered with members of the public placed in the role of the creator. Based in Sintra, a delightful hilltop town in Portugal which boasts of the magical Sintra National Palace, OCUBO – an art and multimedia studio dedicated to light projects has presented light, multimedia and interactive art works in countries such as Japan, Australia, Singapore, Israel, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Poland and also conceived, produced and directs Portugal’s only light festival, the LUMINA Light Festival.
Light of The Merlion allows members of the public to play the role of the creator through an interactive panel which lets the public choose the colours to be projected on the much-loved 40-year-old icon (photo taken with LUMIX GF-3).
Nuno Maya (left), one half of OCUBO, at the opening ceremony (photo taken with LUMIX GF-3).
The many colours of the Light of The Merlion ... (photo taken with LUMIX GF-3)
After the opening ceremony, Mr Shanmugaratnam and guests were also able to take a tour of the bay by boat – a wonderful way of not just taking-in the sights around the bay, but also to have an excellent view of The Light of the Merlion and other installations that are around the bay’s waterfront including the festival’s largest projection Garden of Light, and the unmistakable red glow in the dark – BIBI’s Bibigloo at the Promontory @ Marina Bay. The eye-catching installation is an igloo made of 250 plastic jerry cans and is a replacement igloo intended to spread awareness of global warming and melting glaciers. BIBI has since 1992, attempted to explore man’s relationship to the environment, as well as the capacity to confront the contradictions with regard to waste production, through the use of everyday objects made from materials such as plastic using light to give life to his installations.
The eye-catching red glow in the dark - Bibigloo made out of 250 plastic jerry cans aims to raise awareness of rising temperatures and melting glaciers with a replacement plastic igloo (photo taken with LUMIX GF-3).
BIBI (right), the creator of Bibigloo.
The Festival Director, Ms Mary-Anne Kyriakou (centre) with artists present at the opening and Mr Mark Goh of URA.
The trial of light that I followed after the boat ride, somehow compelled me to take a walk towards the ArtScience Museum and onwards to the seating gallery at the Float @ Marina Bay, under which there are several other interesting installations. One – Sweet Home, which a mention of was made in my previous post, is an attempt by Swedish based Aleksandra Stratimirovic to make ugly places pretty. Ms Stratimirovic’s attempt to create a homely atmosphere through the use of lanterns must have been a very good one as the artists had used the installation to hold an opening night celebration late into the night.
Sweet Home an installation by Swedish based Aleksandra Stratimirovic under the seating gallery of the Float @ Marina Bay, aims to make an ugly place pretty - colourful forms of lanterns used in the installation are designed to spread warmth and homeliness in the urban environment (photo taken with LUMIX GF-3).
The artists certainly gave their thumbs-up! They found Sweet Home homely enough to spontaneously hold a party there on opening night (photo taken with LUMIX GF-3).
i Light Marina Bay 2012 is on until 1 April 2012 and several fringe activities and events will be held during the weekends – for a listing, do visit the events page on the i Light Marina Bay 2012 website. Information on Boat Taxis which provide an excellent way to see the installations on the waterfront also operate during the weekends, departing every 15 minutes between 7.30pm to 10.00pm from Fridays to Sundays from 10 March to 1 April and cost $4 per trip – more information is also available on the website’s events page.
Come Friday (9 March 2012), Marina Bay will be aglow, bathed in the colours of lights that will transform the area into a greater spectacle than it already is. Friday sees the opening of the sequel to the highly successful first edition of Asia’s only sustainable light art event of two years ago, i Light Marina Bay 2012, which on the evidence of a media preview of the event – Asia’s first and only sustainable Light Art Festival held last evening, is one that will be a feast for the senses.
i Light Marina Bay 2012 brings a spectacle of colour and light to the already spectacular Marina Bay.
Organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and with festival direction provided by Smart Light, this year’s edition will feature 22 works which will be by Asian based artists and designers. This is in line with the festival’s theme of “Light Meets Asia”. Beyond the theme, the festival aims to also promote sustainability and the use of energy-efficient technology – a message that the 31 works selected for the festival will carry. A total of 17 countries are represented in the 31 works, which were selected from some 100 submissions. 21 of the works are festival commissions.
Ms Mary-Anne Kyriakou, the Festival Director and Mr Mark Goh, Deputy Director of URA’s Place Management Department, speaking at the media preview.
As the area around which the 31 installations is large, the media preview, led by Festival Director Ms Mary-Anne Kyriakou, covered some of the highlights of the festival. One of the highlights Key Frames – a delightful installation set by the Float @ Marina Bay which has not just 30 light stick figures in various poses seemingly dancing in a routine choreographed to the music, it makes the viewer want to also dance with them. The installation is by French light artists, Groupe LAPS, which hails from the World’s largest light festival, Lyon’s Fête des Lumières.
Lighted stick figures are brought to life in a choreographed display by the Float @ Marina Bay. The light and sound show, Key Frames, is the work of Groupe LAPS from the World's largest light festival, the Fête des Lumières, Lyon.
A full exposure of Key Frames.
The highlights also included some of the more eye-catching installations – those that involved projections on two of the new icons of Singapore that are hard to miss. One is that of the interactive projection on the Merlion, Light of the Merlion – the work of Portuguese projection artists, OCUBO, which I did not have an opportunity yet to photograph. With Light of the Merlion, visitors are able to control light projections on the surface of the Merlion through an interactive touch-screen at Merlion Park. The other installation that certainly cannot be missed is the animated projection on three fingers of the ArtScience Museum, which uses 3D digital mapping technology – best viewed from The Helix (bridge), which is the work of local projection artists Hexogon Solution. The work, entitled Garden of Light, is also the largest projection at the festival. Hexogon Solution is one of eleven Singaporean artists whose works would be seen at the festival.
A close of the animated projection on the ArtScience Musuem.
Three interesting works can also be found in a rather unconventional space – under the seating gallery of seating gallery of The Float @ Marina Bay. The first, Sweet Home, is a site-specific work by Swedish based Serbian artist Aleksandra Stratimirovic is an adaptation of an original work created for Belgrade of Light 2011. The work aims to make ugly places pretty – the original work in Belgrade was an attempt to bring warmth and a homely atmosphere to one of the most polluted, busiest and exciting streets in Belgrade. For i Light Marina Bay 2012, Sweet Home, supported by Philips Lighting, attempts to use the colourful forms of the lanterns used in the installation to spread warmth and homeliness in the urban environment. The second installation here is American artist Dev Harlan’s Parmenides I. This is a large-scale geometric sculpture which incorporates a 360 degree projection mapped video which was previously exhibited at the New Museum’s New Ideas for the New City Festival in New York. The work features hypnotic 3D projections of swirling abstract patterns that gives a sense of movement, colour and form. The third, Crystallised by Andrew Daly and Katherine Fife from Australia, is one to look up to. The work which is an abstraction of the starry night sky, is an installation of five thousand hollowed-out and edge-lit acrylic rods which attempts to create a glowing internal landscape like a ceiling of a cave with glittering stalactites. It is under this that visitors walk and reflect on the impact of poorly considered lighting on city life.
Dev Harlan's Parmenides I.
The glowing internal landscape under which visitors walk and reflect on the impact of poorly considered lighting on city life - Crystallised by Andrew Daly and Katherine Fife.
Several installations are also located across the bay at the Promontory and the Waterfront Promenade. This includes After Light – which makes use of shipping containers the ends of which projections are made on which will examine the significance of light in New Zealand, from where the group behind the installation, StoryBox hails, and across cultures to Asia. The containers will also incorporate two site specific installations inside the containers that feature the work of budding talents from Singapore’s La Salle College of the Arts and School of the Arts. The area will also feature the glow of cocktail stirrers that have been transformed by French/Filipino artist Olivia d’Aboville into a glowing reef of coral-like sculptures that encourages visitors to interact with, much as a coral reef attracts life under the sea to do so, entitled Coral Garden. Other works in the area include Planting Shadows by Singapore’s Vertical Submarine; Thai sculptor Be Takerng Pattanopas’ Gap the Mind; the orange-red glow of France’s BIBI’s Bibigloo; Receptacle by Cambodia’s Marine Ky; Uh by the Propeller Group from Vietnam and one that is definitely should not be missed – Classification Pending by Craig Walsh from Australia which has 3D animated projections of artificial marine life forms on the waters of the bay.
Installation being carried out for After Light, by Story Box from New Zealand.
The coral garden at the Promontory - Coral Garden by French/Filipino artist Olivia d’Aboville.
Over the Marina Bay City Gallery, The Gate promises to be a huge attraction with its red beams of light. The work of Li Hui, which uses a powerful symbol of a portal which the red beams lead to – a passage perhaps to enlightenment, is one that we are not able to pass through. It suggests that enlightenment is a goal that cannot be attained.
The Festival Director Ms Mary-Anne Kyriakou speaks through the red beams of light of Li Hui's The Gate.
Li Hui, whose silhouette is seen at the right, speaking about his work.
An exit it is not. The Gate which can be seen to look at enlightenment as a goal that can never be achieved, is one that we are not able to go through.
Along the waterfront promenade leading to Marina Bay Sands and in front of Marina Bay Sands are a series of 9 other installations, which include two works by Singaporean artist we were introduced to – a squid like creature 5QU1D by Ryf Zaini and the work of Zulkifle Mahmod named Deck Journey. The series of 31 installations are spread around the bay and would definitely take much more than an evening to fully appreciate. One, the work of another Singaporean artist Angela Chong, Tree Stories, is found somewhat off the beaten track over at Esplanade Park. Tree Stories involves illuminated text on tree trunks which encourages interaction in the form of dialogue between the reader and the tree. Besides Tree Stories and Light on the Merlion, there are also several other installations that invite interaction – something that would appeal especially to the kids. These include several located in and around the seating gallery at The Float @ Marina Bay – White Rain by Japan’s Takahiro Matsuo, Urban Makyoh by UK based “lighting guerillas” Light Collective and Immersion by Martin Bevz and Kathryn Clifton from Australia. Several are also located over at the waterfront in front of Marina Bay Sands – The Light Dam by Taiwan’s Uno Lai, Illumination Disorders II by Singapore’s Tay Swee Siong and Bio Shell by Shinya Okuda of Japan. Installations can all be visited free of charge and will be on from 7.30pm to 11pm nightly.
Ryf Ziani and 5QU1D.
Zulkifle Mahmod's Deck Journey.
A series of activities and events has also been arranged during the festival which include free guided tours, workshops and also a photography competition in which participants will have a chance to win prizes worth up to $10,000 sponsored by LUMIX (who have also kindly lent LUMIX cameras for the Photo AmBayssadors and Official Bloggers to use during the period of the festival. More information can be found at the i Light Marina Bay 2012 website.
All photographs in this post have been taken with a LUMIX GF-3.
One experience that many who lived in or visited Singapore back in the days when Policemen did wear shorts, often look fondly back to, is that of dining on the streets. In those days, whole streets and car parks would magically be transformed into bustling eating places as night fell. The invasion would first be led by the army of push-carts laden with the raw ingredients that would be turned into scrumptious street fare, and the load of stools and foldable tables that would seat hungry patrons. As day turned to night, the concentrations of pushcarts, with tables arranged in front of them, would turn the otherwise dark and dingy streets into a sea of light and shadow, as diners began to fill the tables that never quite seem to sit firmly on the ground, greedily wolfing down what lay in front of them. It was in this hot, sticky and less than sanitary environment, in the glow of kerosene pressure lamps, and flicker of flames that leapt from under the blackened woks against which the almost musical and somewhat rhythmic clang of spatulas being furiously moved would be made, that many popular hawkers acquired and perfected their art. For those who dared to brave not just the conditions, but also the often ill-mannered assistants one needed to shout orders at, the reward wasn’t just the fare on offer, but the unforgettable atmosphere that unfortunately could not be replicated in the more sanitary food centers the same hawkers were to eventually move to.
Silhouettes against the spotlight - the Singapore Food Trail livens up the recreation of the 1960s street dining atmosphere by brining in various forms of street entertainment - not necessarily from the 1960s, from time to time.
The Singapore Food Trail brings the experience of street dining back to Singapore.
There are many who lived through those heady days of a Singapore in transition who now look back and realise that the relentless pace of change has consigned much of what made Singapore, Singapore, to seemingly distant memories. There is a current wave of nostalgia that sees attempts to bring some of the experiences that would otherwise be lost back. One such attempt is the Singapore Food Trail at the Singapore Flyer, a 800-seat themed food court which attempts to take the diner back to the days of dining on the streets of the 1960s Singapore. Walking through the Singapore Food Trail, it is easy imagine that you are where the setting aims to place you in. Old style tables and chairs – maybe not the type you might have found used on the streets, set against a disordered backdrop of push-carts that are the food stalls, each different to give a feel of what it might once have been like, arranged in front of what appears to be shop houses and five-foot ways. No effort has been spared in trying to recreate the atmosphere – all around, there are those reminders of that forgotten world that many would recall with fondness – the very recognisable logos of famous brands, old style signboards, bamboo chicks (blinds) painted with logos that were commonly seen providing shade to coffee shops and sundry shops, and lots of paraphernalia from those days of old. Help was enlisted from the likes of clan associations as well as some of the owners of the famous brands (including Nestlé Singapore in recreating signboards and signs to lend an air of authenticity to them. The push-carts serve up fare from what perhaps are the who’s-who of today’s hawkers – hand picked from over 100 who applied. It is also amongst the stalls where some old time favourites – ice-balls, kacang putih and bird’s nest drink, await rediscovery.
It is easy to imagine that one is immersed in the atmosphere of the 1960s street dining scene at the 800 seat Singapore Food Trail.
One of the things I enjoy about dining “under the flyer” (some may recall a very popular hawker – the Whitley Road Food Centre which was located in the shadows of the Thomson Road flyover which was commonly referred to as “Under the Flyover“), are the attempts to also liven up the “streets” with various forms of entertainment – some of which would have been a common feature of the 1960s, as well as some forms which are more common these days that have evolved from some of what we did occasionally see on the streets. This included the very well received Teochew Opera performances by the Thau Yong Amateur Musical Association in July of last year, and over the last weekend, a Getai Extravaganza.
吴佩芝 (Wu Pei Zhi) on stage. Kitsch as it may seem, Getai has a wide reach in Singapore.
Love it or hate it – some find the form of entertainment crude and even kitsch, Getai (歌台) has firmly established itself as a very popular form of street entertainment in modern day Singapore. It had its roots not in the 1960s, but in the 1970s when waning interest in Chinese puppet shows and opera performances which were features of temple festivals and seventh month (Hungry Ghosts festival) auctions saw them being replaced by live variety shows which came to be referred to as Getai, which translates into “Song Stage”.
A pair of twins, the Shinning Sisters (闪亮姐妹) were among the performers for the night.
吴佩芝 (Wu Pei Zhi).
The 3 day Getai Extravaganza brought in by the Singapore Food Trail was one that saw many well know personalities in the getai scene – both emcees and performers, and based on the the crowd it attracted and the reaction of the crowd which counted both young and old in it, was a huge success. Sunday’s show was hosted by Marcus Chin (陈建彬) and Lin Kai Li (林凯莉), and featured performances by Zhan Yuling (詹玉玲), Shun Qiang (孙强), the Shining Sisters (闪亮姐妹), Desmond Ng (黄振隆), Ting Ting (婷婷), Wu Pei Zhi (吴佩芝), Zhang Xiong (张雄), as well as an impersonation of the comedy pair Lao Fu Zi and Da Fan Shu (老夫子与大番薯). Most of the audience at Sunday’s show were glued to their seats throughout the evening which also attracted a large number of bystanders as well as had those manning the stalls off their seats. Although I am not a huge fan of Getai myself, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment provided at the show and it definitely was for me, a Sunday evening that was well spent.
Emcees for the evening, Marcus Chin (陈建彬) and 林凯莉 (Lin Kai Li).
Marcus Chin had many in stitches.
Desmond Ng (黄振隆).
The Shinning Sisters on stage.
Some of the members of the audience were off their feet.
The impersonation of Lao Fu Zi and Da fan Shu had many laughing ...
... including those manning the stalls.
Finding myself early one morning in a delightful old world I once knew that now is surrounded by a new world, I was drawn to the eerie blue glow that now colours the trusses of the gorgeous Anderson Bridge to venture in that direction and a little beyond it. As I walked past the Boat House – I half expected to be greeted by that joyful chaos that would have been the harbour of old, coloured by the icons of the old Singapore – that of the bumboats, tongkangs and towkows that Singapore’s success depended on. It wasn’t the old harbour however that greeted me, but a sea of calm coloured by the glow and the hues of the lightening sky, a sea without the chaos of old, surrounded by the icons of the Singapore we have become.
An icon of a developing and newly independent Singapore, the Merlion, stares at the icons of the new Singapore across a body of water that played an important role in Singapore's development.
The sea that I speak of is actually not anymore a sea. Bound by fingers of land carved out from the depths of the old harbour, it is now a body of sweet water, Marina Bay – a resource to supplement Singapore’s growing thirst for a resource it never has enough of. The icons we see around it are now the icons of the present and the future – representative of the Singapore we’ve become perhaps. One is the Merlion – a curious and unlikely fusion which is the icon of a confident and developing Singapore that emerged from the darkness that was the uncertainty of the early days of our independence. The Merlion stares towards even more curious edifices on the piece of land that sits over the old outer harbour – the edifices of the Marina Bay Sands Complex – which silhouetted against the glow of the lightening sky is a sight to behold.
The sunrise over a new Singapore.
As I sat in quiet contemplation marvelling at the magnificence of the sight that was before my eyes, I tried hard to imagine the world that once had been there, a world that I deeply miss. The gentle undulations of the water’s surface which was otherwise undisturbed served to remind me that world is no more, replaced by a world I often struggle to come to terms with. It is this new world however that I must now must love – one that when seen in the calmness and light of the new day, is one that certainly is hard not to grow love.
The Singapore Airshow (formerly the Changi International Airshow) is an event that I looked forward to with much anticipation, with its promise of getting up close to some of the latest aircraft – both civilian and military and the opportunity to watch some spectacular flying displays. This year’s edition of the biennial Airshow was held from 14 to 19 February at the Changi Exhibition Centre and saw the likes of the newest addition to the Boeing Civil Aircraft range – the state-of-the-art 787 Dreamliner, as well as the latest addition to the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) – the Boeing F-15SG Strike Eagle gracing the event. The RSAF’s F-15SG features also in a duet with the RSAF’s Lockheed Martin F-16 in an aerial duet during the flying display programme which also sees the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s (RMAF) five MIG-29 RMAF Smokey Bandits aerobatic display team which includes the world’s only female MIG-29 pilot, Major Patricia Yapp Syau Yin.
A RMAF MIG-29 - one of the five MIG-29 RMAF Smokey Bandits aerobatic display team.
The Smokey Bandits are so named due to the trail of black smoke the MIG-29s leave. One of the solo pilots of the RMAF's Smokey Bandits is Major Patricia Yapp Syau Yin - the world's only female MIG-29 pilot.
The highlight as with every airshow must be the flying display and besides the duet of the RSAF’s F-16 and the F-15SG, and the RMAF’s Smokey Bandits, there were also displays by the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) team of six Pilatus PC-9/A aircraft, a solo acrobatic display by RAAF pilot Tony Blair piloting a Rebel 300 unlimited aerobatic aircraft and a fly past by a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III – a troop deployment and cargo craft used for tactical airlift and airdrop missions by the United States Air Force (USAF).
The RSAF's latest acquisition - the Boeing F-15SG Strike Eagle debuts in a aerial dance with the RSAF's Lockheed Martin F-16 during the flying display.
The RSAF F-15SG Strike Eagle.
The RMAF Smokey Bandits performed some eye-catching aerial stunts ....
Another spectacular display was by the RAAF Roulettes team of six Pilatus PC-9/A. The flying display segments also included a fly past by a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and a solo acrobatic display by RAAF pilot Tony Blair piloting a Rebel 300 unlimited aerobatic aircraft.
The airshow also saw the appearance for the first time in Singapore of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner which with the extensive use of composites features an extremely lightweight structure which improves fuel efficiency. The appearance of the state-of-the-art in Boeing’s wide-body long-range fleet was also complemented by the appearance of one of Boeing’s success stories – the Boeing 747. A retiring 747-400 – one of the three that remain in Singapore Airlines’ fleet – the ’9V-SPQ’ made an appearance over the weekend to commemorate the retirement of the airline’s B747 fleet after nearly 40 years of service. The aircraft was opened to some 1000 members of public during the public days for a guided tour and starts a series of events to commemorate the B747′s many years of service with the airline – during which it was the flagship aircraft. The B747-400 is scheduled to operate its last commercial flight to Melbourne on 24 March 2012. An additional commemorative flight is also being considered. Singapore Airlines took delivery of its first B747-200 in 1973, with the B747-300 BIGTOP joining the fleet some 10 years later which allowed the airline to fly non-stop from London to Singapore in 1984. The first 747-400 arrived in 1989 and with the delivery of the 23rd B747-400 in 1994, Singapore Airlines became the largest B747-400 operator in the world. By 2003, the airline operated a record 51 B747s.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner made an appearance in Singapore for the first time.
The raked wingtip of the 787 Dreamliner.
The retiring Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 '9V-SPQ' made an appearance over the weekend. The plane is one of three 747-400s left in the airlines' fleet and its appearance at the airshow commemorates the retirement of the B747 fleet after nearly 40 years of service.
The airshow’s static display also included a display of more than 50 aircraft that also included a display of the latest business jets which also featured Jackie Chan’s Embraer Legacy 650 executive jet which made its first public appearance and an Airbus ACJ318 corporate jet. Interesting highlights of the exhibition included the Changi Airport Group’s Butterfly Garden and walk through tropical garden which offered a break from the seriousness of the rest of the exhibition and a booth that celebrated 100 years of aviation in Singapore.
The nose of RSAF G550 AEW airborne early warning platform.
The RSAF's F-15SG.
The frontal view of the F-15SG.
Rain falling on the tarmac.
A reflection of the tail of an aircraft on static display with a visitor under the shelter of an umbrella in the rain.
Another relfection in the rain.
Students taking shelther under the wing of an aircraft - the wet weather did not dampen enthusiasm for the airshow.
A model of a ship flying at the airshow?
There were several distractions at the airshow as well ...
Vote for me!
The Long and Winding Road has been selected as one of ten finalists in the PANASONIC ECO BEST PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG category of the Singapore Blog Awards 2012. I would very grateful for your kind support. Votes may be cast at Singapore Blog Awards 2012 PANASONIC ECO BEST PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG page. One vote may be cast per day from now till 30 June 2012.
At least nine Dragon (or Snake) Kilns were once found along the 13th to 18th Milestones of Jurong Road, attracted by the availability of Jurong White Clay - ideal material for clay latex cups. The cups were fired by the kilns to feed a huge demand from the rubber estates in the area. Over the years, most of the kiln closed due to the vanishing demand as the estates gave way to urban development. Only two, both of which have stopped operating commercially, have survived. The area the two, the Jalan Bahar and Thow Kwang kilns, are in is slated for development as a CleanTech Park, and the future for these kilns now looks bleak.
Articles relating to the Dragon Kilns:
Viva Bukit Brown
Bukit Brown Voices
Trailer for BUKIT BROWN VOICES. The a short independently-made documentary tells the story of Singapore's oldest Chinese cemetery on the cusp of major change. Filmed during what is the last Qing Ming (grave sweeping) festival for some families whose ancestors are buried there, we hear their thoughts and memories about what the place and the customs they practise mean to them (a Film by Su-Mae Khoo & Brian McDairmant of Two Chiefs).
A Road, but not the End of the Road
25 Mar 2012 : Bukit Brown and the soul of Singapore (Ignatius Low in the Sunday Times)
19 Mar 2012 : Announcement on Road Alignment through BBC
05 Mar 2012 : Speech by MOS(ND) Tan Chuan-Jin during Budget Debate
16 Feb 2012 : URA Reply to Letter to Today on Drainage Impact Assessment
20 Nov 2011 : Bukit Brown Road Project 'Can't Wait': LTA
12 Sep 2011 : Announcement on Construction of the Road
19 Jun 2011 : ST: An Uphill Struggle Saving Bukit Brown
18 Jun 2011 : URA Reply to Letter to ST on Destroying Natural Habitat
11 Jun 2011 : URA Reply to Letter to ST on Shutting Window to History
What promises to be a spectacular section of the Gardens by the Bay, the Bay South Garden, opens to the public on 29 Jun 2012. I've attended two media previews of it including a recent one which included a visit to the still under construction Cloud Forest - one of two cooled conservatories at the garden. I was also invited for a dawn and dusk photo shoot in May - two of my photographs are among 20 that have been selected for a roving exhibition which is now making its rounds. Here is some of what I saw:
May 2012 : In the merry month of May
Apr 2012 : Ascent into the Clouds
Nov 2011 : New Light in the Old Harbour
Nov 2011 : Sneak Peek at the Gardens
Share your personal memories on the Singapore Memory Portal - an initiative by the National Library Board (NLB) as part of the Singapore Memory Project (SMP). The SMP is a national initiative started in 2011 to collect, preserve and provide access to Singapore’s knowledge materials, so as to tell the Singapore Story and aims to collect 5 million personal memories by 2015.
i Light Marina Bay 2012, the 2nd edition of Asia’s 1st and only sustainable light art festival, was held from 9 March to 1 April 2012. Themed “Light Meets Asia”, i Light Marina Bay 2012 featured environmentally sustainable light art installations by 31 artists.
Posts on i Light Marina Bay 2012:
Lighting up for Sustainability and Philips Supported Installations
Meet on a little street in Singapore 
...
my posts on asia!
Jun 11: A Tearful farewell to Romance
Jun 11: That One Man Isn't Alone
Apr 11: Sea of Light
Jan 11: Wonderland without Glasses
Sep 10: Keeping Track of Time
Aug 10: Tides of Yesterday
Nov 09: School Days in Singapore
School Days in Singapore was ranked #2 among the top ten stories of 2010 on asia!
Divas Anita Sarawak and Ning Baizura and a host of stars at the Malam Anugerah Seri Temasek 2011
Artistes from the Golden Era of Malay Film and the filmmakers of today from both sides of the Causeway gathered for a Gala Night on 5 Feb 2011 in Singapore, and were entertained by Divas Anita Sarawak and Ning Baizura, as well as Fredo of Flybaits, Sarah Aqilah, Didi Cazli, Rudy Djoharnean, Syamsul Yusof, R. Ismail and Rozita Rohaizad.
Beyond the Slumber (Sembawang - 27 Mar 2011)
Highlights of a heritage tour of Sembawang, with a focus on the Sembawang that I was familiar with in the 1970s. The two and a half hour tour included a visit to the last kampung mosque in Singapore, as well as to several other points of interest in Sembawang. Information relating to the walk and some of what we saw or were transported to can be found in the post “Sembawang beyond the Slumber”.
One Hundred Steps to Heaven (Central - 26 Feb 2011)
I took participants on a walk with the NLB up a hundred steps to the heavenly world of Mount Sophia that was home to the fairy-tale like mansions such as Eu Villa (demolished in 1981). We also explored the neighbouring Mount Emily, the site of Singapore’s first public swimming pool and along with that, some of the areas that were once part of a Jewish and then Japanese quarter. Information relating to the walk and some of what we saw or were transported to can be found in the post “One Hundred Steps to Heaven”.
A Journey through Time (ToaPayoh - 20 Nov 2010)
I took an enjoyable walk back in time with several participants in a heritage trail at the Toa Payoh Library, to a Toa Payoh that was taking its first steps as the first planned satellite town. Details of some of the places we visited can be found in the post “A journey through time: a heritage trail through Toa Payoh”.
Journeys on the railway out of Tanjong Pagar and adventures in and around the railway corridor.
Please sign this online petition if you would like to see Tanjong Pagar Railway Station converted for use as a museum.
Join the party on the Last Train into Tanjong Pagar
Explorations through the railway corridor which the Nature Society (Singapore) proposes should be retained as a Green Corridor.
A collection of posts related to that old Singapore that I grew up having so many wonderful experiences in.
My fascination with all ships big and small.
The day in 1972 when the Queen of England visited my humble HDB flat.
Remembering the National Stadium which is in the process of being demolished to make way for the new Sports Hub.
My Melbourne Experience
An adventure in springtime Melbourne courtesy of Tourism Victoria, Jetstar and omy.sg with nine other bloggers. My set of experiences can be found on this site or at the Colours of Melbourne omy site.
Courtesy of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), I had the opportunity to have a 4 day adventure in Hong Kong with 9 other bloggers. To read our collective Hong Kong Travel Blog entries, please click on the icon below:
The world spinning ’round …
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