Being Singaporean

Inspirations

Singapore Bienalle artworks at National Museum of Singapore (NMS)

I love being Singaporean. It's just that I don't know how to write about it. Making the familiar unfamiliar is a tough task, I think. This point was brought home last weekend when I was on a currator's tour of the Singapore Bienalle artsworks at NMS.

Initially, I was pretty apalled by the lack of depth shown by the two artworks by Singapore artists. One was entitled 'Chalk and Cheese', and comprised marble mops and brooms made of some old-fashioned soap that apparently people used to use a lot in the past. I wanted to roll my eyes at the lengthy description, especially the way the word 'labour' was linked to birth pangs and politics.

The other was basically just a reaction to quite a stunning piece of 31 chandeliers made of uranium-dipped glass, glowing in UV light. The piece looked like corals, and was so inconspicuously hidden in one corner of the dark gallery space that I would have missed it if the currator hadn't pointed it out.

These are the write-ups to both on the Singapore Bienalle page(http://www.singaporebiennale.org/?page=artist_bio&artist=64):

 

Chalk & Cheese 2013
Marble, Lam Soon soap and wood
Dimensions: Various
Collection of the Artist
Singapore Biennale 2013 Commission
Sofyan’s installation of ‘brooms’ and ‘mops’ – implements used for the menial and laborious task of cleaning – casts the spotlight on that which is occasionally valourised but largely overlooked: labour. It fuels political parties and manifestos, even as it wears people down in the daily grind. It also describes the pain a woman endures in giving birth: labour underpins society and human life at its most basic. This work, part of Sofyan’s ‘Whitewash’ series, delves into the metaphorical implications of cleaning when situated in a museum dedicated to preserving and presenting the nation’s history. In a country’s quest for progress and ‘upgrading’, what space is left for the old and obsolete, what dirt has been removed, and what sparkling story has been set in its place?

Moment 2013
Mixed Media
Dimensions: Variable
Collection of the Artist
Singapore Biennale 2013 Commission
This site-specific installation is informed by Tan’s pursuit of a deeper meaning of self in response to the world. We often forget what is important to us and stop connecting with our surroundings, the people around us and our inner selves. Ultimately, our existence in this world is temporal and will come to an end. How then do we ‘find’ ourselves in this changing world? Handcrafted on site from a combination of industrial materials, this low-lying, landscape-like form reacts to the ultraviolet light source emitted by the overhanging Crystal Palace installation by Ken + Julia Yonetani. The glowing installation embodies humans’ instinctive nature to make and create. The hand underscores the intention of making – making hope, meaning, memory, connection.

While trying to make 'Next' a bit more Singaporean though, I struggled with explaining what a pasar malam, or night market, looked like, and cut out that bit. It was tough trying to describe something that I know so well. Plus, I had nothing to say about it. I'm guessing maybe the 2 Singaporean artists must have struggled with that as well: What to talk about in Singapore. The Cambodian and Vietnamese artists seem to like to talk about their resilience to outside influences, the seepage of Western culture. The Indonesians like to refer to nature and a simpler way of life. The Filipinos like to talk about survival and joy in adversity. I think post-colonial Singapore art and writing has always been about identity: what it is to be Singaporean. Now though, what does it mean to be a Singaporean writer? I attended a talk with A the other day on cultural identity and writing at the Singapore Writers Festival. Ma Jian was one of the speakers and he said something very interesting: Writing should be about traumatic events, and it should be to give hope. I'm still wondering how that is possible without being too cliched, and if that should be my writing goal.

P is visiting from NYC next month and I'm bringing her around all the touristy spots. I'll also be preparing to guide at A Changed World exhibit on Singapore art from 1950-1970 -- hopefully I'll gain some insights on what it means to be Singaporean now, and how my writing should respond to my environment.