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16 January 2016 Issue Six
the avenue
for creative arts
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Singapore Art Week
16-24 January
Singapore Art Week is for everyone - visitor and resident alike -as it offers a myriad of quality art experiences, from art fairs, gallery openings, exhibitions, lifestyle events and public art walks, to enriching discussions on art and culture. It also aims to galvanise the arts sector to launch innovative art and lifestyle concepts and events in conjunction with it. Go here for the Full Programme of Art Week activities.
If you would like to see at least one preview of the 2016 Art Week, see what The Straits Times had to say on what not to miss.
Otherwise just walk the avenue way to our top twelve events to make sure you make the most of the week the Art World is talking about:
1. ART STAGE Southeast Asia's flagship art fair is back in its sixth edition,
 featuring 173 galleries from 34 countries. From 21 to 24 January, it is showcasing bold contemporary art from across the region and acts as an exchange of ideas through the medium of art. With a strong showing of Asia-based galleries - 132 exhibitors from across Asia - as well as the introduction of the Southeast Asia Forum, a thematic programme that offers a closer view into broad global issues that affect the region, there's so much more to Art Stage.
2. SINGAPORE CONTEMPORARY ART SHOW This is the inaugural edition and  it presents a vibrant collection of artworks - investment-grade art with a strong secondary market and auction following, plus works by some of the world's most interesting and promising artists. You can browse and buy original paintings, limited editions, sculpture and photography, and join an enriching programme of complimentary tours and special events for adults and children. Runs from 22 to 24 January from 12 noon to 6pm, at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre Halls. More on the Contemporary Art Show.
3. ART AFTER DARK On Friday 22 January from 7pm at the annual Art After Dark event,  check out the launch of SINGAPORE ARTS CLUB, a month-long curated exhibition of outdoor art around the Barracks presented by the Arnoldii Arts Club, and other exhibitions such as SCOUT Singapore: Emerging Art Practices, M1 Fringe Festival's Railtracks Songmaps and Andy Warhol: Social Circus. Make sure you also visit Sundaram Tagore Gallery and Yeo Workshop, while you're there and if you cannot make it Friday night, there's always something to see and do at Gillman Barracks, as you'll see here.
 4. ART WALK IN LITTLE INDIA From 9-23 January, 12 noon to midnight, it's a multidisciplinary art festival set in Singapore's cultural precinct of Little India. A collaboration between LASALLE College of the Arts and Singapore Tourism Board (STB), with support from the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association (LISHA), it aims to bring communities together by showcasing the rich history, tradition and culture of Little India through stories, art and exploration. More of Little India to walk and talk about. 5. ENVISION When you take the Jubilee Walk Art Trail from The Arts House,  via Empress Place, Asian Civilisations Museum and The Fullerton Hotel, you'll discover a commemorative 8km-long trail, covering 25 historic sites in and around the civic district. On the way you'll see ENVISION: Sculptures @ the Garden City, a new platform to exhibit a group exhibition of monumental sculptures by Singapore and internationally renowned Asian artists 16 January to 15 April. There's more to ENVISION.
 6. SAM AND SAM AT 8Q That's the Singapore Art Museum for the uninitiated, which will extend opening hours from 10am to 9pm on 15, 20, 21 and 23 January, and 10am to 10pm on 22 January, with free entry for all after 6pm. SAM is celebrating Singapore Art Week 2016 with a special line-up of events, including talks - Art and Architecture included - and tours with international artists, curators and art personalities, roving performers in the galleries, late night live music in the SAM courtyards and an art market. For all this at SAM and more!
7.ANTIPODEAN INQUIRY: AN EXHIBITION OF WORK BY AUSTRALIAN AND
 NEW ZEALAND ARTISTS From 22 January to 5 March at
 8. NATIONAL GALLERIES PREMIERES Two new special exhibitions and a forum on time-based art, besides their ongoing exhibitions and permanent galleries, especially for Art Week but they carry on for longer as there's always exciting things to see at this very new large gallery housed in the old Supreme Court and City Hall alongside the Padang. Earth Work 1979 from 22 January to 29 May in the Concourse Gallery 2, and A Fact Has No Appearance: Art Beyond the Object, from 22 January to 19 June in Concourse Gallery 1. Much more to see and do at the National Gallery.
9. FREELY, FREELY BY JANE LEE AT STPI. From 17 January - 5 March, the
 Singapore Tyler Print Institute, otherwise the STPI, is proud to present "Freely, Freely" by Jane Lee, the Singaporean artist's latest solo exhibition of works produced during her residency at STPI. The homegrown artist often blurs the line between the two and three-dimensional with her visually stunning tactile works. Go down by the riverside to STPI for this and more.
10. ART APART FAIR From 22 to 24 January from 11.30 am - 9 pm. Now in its 7th edition, this hotel-based art fair showcases the works of emerging and mid-career artists from all over the world. The 14th floor of PARKROYAL on Pickering will be transformed into an eclectic art collector's dream-scape of myriad different styles and forms of art adorning every inch of space available. Nothing keeps Art Apart here.
 12. ART IN MOTION 2016 Eighteen galleries from the Art Galleries Association Singapore get together from 19 to 24 January with a collection of art events and exhibitions for the big Art Week of the Year. Expect joint exhibition openings and art talks at places as different as Raffles Hotel and the Old Hill Street Police Station. There's much much more about Art in Motion here.
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Meet on the Esplanade
The M1 Singapore Fringe Festival is an annual festival of theatre, dance, music, visual arts and mixed media created and presented by Singaporeans and international artists. Themed differently each year, the Festival aims to bring the best of contemporary, cutting-edge and socially engaged works to the Singapore audience. Click here for more on the fringe. 16 - 18 Feb 2016
Macbeth -
Full Show Lane Studio (China)
Performed in Mandarin with English surtitles.
Looking ahead.
Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed new production of Les Misérables opens at the Esplanade Theatre, Singapore in May for a strictly limited season.
Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, Les Misérables (fondly referred to as Les Mis) is the unforgettable story of heartbreak, passion and the resilience of the human spirit that has become one of the world's most popular musicals.
Playing the iconic role of Jean Valjean is established actor and musical theatre star, Simon Gleeson who recently picked up the Australian Helpmann Award for the role. More on Les Miz is here!
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Shakespeare Comes Alive 400 Years after his Death!
In a flurry of words and media coverage, the world, particularly Britain, is talking all about Shakespeare. He's coming alive with gusto everywhere.
The British High Commission Singapore and British Council have announced a host of exciting activities for Shakespeare Lives, a major global programme to celebrate Shakespeare's works and his influence, which will run from January to December 2016. To kickstart Shakespeare Lives in Singapore, the British Council is offering a free online course which will look at the life and works of William Shakespeare, from his birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon to the Globe Theatre in London, from where he secured his central place in English literature. Read more here.
So look out for more, much more, where-ever you are or are going to be this year. We will keep you posted as best we can as you might know that we're big Shakespeare fans and have been for ages. Not seven ages, but close to it!
Everything you want to know about Shakespeare's Big Year, the British Council has it, where-ever you are in the world.
To go to right here to Shakespeare Lives |
The Art of Travel - Thai Street Food
What it is and how you eat it - Thai Street Food that is - might not be everyone's idea of art. But consistent with our commitment to the art of travel and travel for art, we are compelled to draw your attention to Long Chim, a restaurant in Marina Bay Sands that sets itself apart from everything else.
Set up by Thai chef extraordinaire, David Thompson, who hailed from Australia originally, the restaurant lives up to its billing....
Long Chim grounds itself in an urban street-level aesthetic, with rusticated textures that recall the cracked Bangkok building exteriors that informally provide the "walls" of the Thai Street scene.
Long Chim's layout is a playful physical rendition of the Thai street experience, with enticing sight lines that provide great activity.
Design is to the fore. A place to eat in comfort and enjoy the food that is as  genuine as it can be. For almost 30 years, Thompson has made Thailand his second home, his area of study, and his ongoing project of passion and perfection. Earning Thai food its first Michelin star ever is an achievement of legend, yet duplicating the feel, taste, aroma and energy of the Thai Street might be a more essential challenge.
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Books, Booker and Booked.....
Here's five and there's more. For book lovers - writers and readers all - I've come up with a "best of" list - or more correctly, books I've read last year that I recommend. Top Twenty Titles of note. Some are big international best sellers - or should be - others are significant in my mind and deserve attention.
You can find the complete list - titles, author, publishers, a brief comment as well as link for more. We've got all this on our new website - www.fifthavenue.asia - which we hope to grow into something very useful for us all.
 And we cannot go out with an issue of "the avenue" without an update on Geraldine Brooks and her latest "The Secret Chord". I have the book in my hot hands, signed by the author, with a personal message. She says "See you in Singapore!", so I'm hoping with booksellers and publishers in tandem, we can get her here this year. I have read the book and while this is not a review, I can recommend it totally. Singapore booksellers, where is it? Here's what I say about it to justify its appearance in my Top Twenty Titles for 2015. Described as a unique and vivid novel that retells the story of King David's extraordinary rise to power and fall from grace, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, The Secret Chord is Geraldine Brooks at her best. To me, she shows how her journalistic skills - research, reporting, interviewing and writing - can come to the fore in her mastery of the historical novel.
When I asked Edmund Wee of  Epigram Books to recommend a title I could mention here, he c
ame up with Ming
Cher's "Big Mole", as the author lives on a farm in New Zealand, which he thought would give it addition
Edmund is the very same man who introduced Singapore's biggest and best literary prize. The $20,000 award was won for the first time late last year by O Thiam Chin for his
novel "The Infinite Sea", due out in
March this year. From Epigram of course!
Another event organised by the National book Development Council is coming up.
Come join us in bringing the literary arts to the neighborhoods, and in unraveling the power of stories! This time, the guest writer is Dave Chua.
This event is kindly hosted by Aēsop. Date: 30 January 2016 (Saturday) Time: 6pm - 7.30pm Venue: Aēsop, 52 Club Street, Singapore 069429
Last Word: The Big Read goes to The Art House
My last word is about books indirectly. I've been a regular supporter of The Big Read, organised by Cheong Suk-Wai of the Straits Times. She is always writing about and presenting great writers from every corner of the globe, but this time I want to mention an event which she drew attention to and made sure the keen members of her unique book club got to go. It was an occasion to hear from two of Singapore's heroes - pioneers in the civil service - JY Pillay and Lui Thai Ker. Here's Suk-Wai's report of the occasion held, appropriately, in The Art House - where last year's Singapore Writers Festival was housed and which was previously Singapore Parliament House. Go here to read the rest.
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the avenue for creative arts
The first issue for 2016 shows there is so much on - and we cannot apologise for the fact that most of what we're telling you about is happening right here in Singapore. So if you're not here in the "artful island", you better make it your business to get here sometime soon. Singapore is dominating coverage so far - particularly in this issue - but share with us what you've got for art lovers like us. Everywhere. Wherever you are. Remember "the art of travel and travel for art!"
We only managed five issues in 2015 our first year, but we 're committing to do more this year as we also promise to do our best to make 2016 as positive, productive and purposeful as it can possibly be!
Ken Hickson
managing editor, the avenue for creative arts
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