February 6th

NEWS!!!

Posted by Ng Yi-Sheng | No Comments

Which is not so new, really.  Info about the next Biennale has been out for some time already, but it’s shamefully scattered.  Anyway, here’s the dirt:
1. There is NOT going to be a Biennale this year.  It’s been shifted to 2011, to give the curators some time to really process.
2.The theme is OPEN HOUSE.  I.e. [...]

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Category: General

July 5th

UPDATE: We have an Artistic Director!!! for 2010

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And it’s Matthew Ngui!  Remember him?

He was one of the Curators last year.  He’s gonna be assisted by Curators Russell Storer from Australia and Trevor Smith from the UK.  More info from the NAC website.  Old news, actually, from about 3 June this year.  Sorry for dragging my feet.
In other news, Singapore/London/Berlin artist Ming Wong [...]

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Category: General

March 17th

Assuming anyone still reads this blog… (call for Interns below)

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Hey!  Two pieces of news:
1. My POWDER List of overlooked Singapore artists is up here at Substation Magazine: (happened back in Feb actually) http://www.substation.org/mag/features/the-powder-list.html
2. The artist(s) for the Venice Biennale Singapore Pavilion this year has/ve been chosen!  I know who s/t/he/m is/are but I’m not allowed to say yet, but I’m rather happy with the [...]

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Category: General

December 30th

Recommendations for SB 2010 (ignore at your own peril!)

Posted by Ng Yi-Sheng | No Comments

As an auld-lang-syne post, I’m just gonna jot down some advice for the curators/administrators for the third Singapore Biennale, if (inshi’allah) it actually takes place in our financially troubled times.
1. Move it up to the summer so that it’s actually somewhere around the Youth Olympics.  Also ensure that hotels do not overcharge for the Youth [...]

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Category: General

December 18th

Re: Re: Noteworthy - what the media say about Singapore Biennale 2008

Posted by Ng Yi-Sheng | No Comments

I feel I oughta mitigate some of what Ranger Mills said by mentioning some other comments from Singapore Art Gallery Guide.  Post-Museum did an interview with eight local artists to get their insights, and they were mostly pretty approving.
Some excerpts:

ARTHUR WONG: It was well curated, better than the first one. Individual works were very strong. [...]

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Category: General

December 14th

Re: Noteworthy - what the media say about Singapore Biennale 2008

Posted by Ng Yi-Sheng | 1 Comment

To balance my esteemed co-blogger Ephraim Loy’s tub-thumpery, here’s a few quotes from the December issue of the SINGAPORE ART GALLERY GUIDE. Executive editor Usha Nathan’s been critiquing the setup mercilessly. In this issue, she quizzes American artist-who-never-exhibits Ranger Mills on his opinions, and boy, he’s vicious.
For the full interview (and lots of important [...]

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Category: General

December 12th

Deinstallation of the Singapore Biennale

Posted by Ephraim Loy | No Comments

The next stage after the official closing of Singapore Biennale 2008 is deinstallation. While the buzz remains outside, what is left is quiet on the inside. It’s the end of the hundred years of solitude and the start of some attitude.

Photo credit: Apryl Tan
The boxes from Address are sent back home to where they belong [...]

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Category: General

December 9th

Noteworthy - what the media say about Singapore Biennale 2008

Posted by Ephraim Loy | No Comments

“The second Singapore Biennale is drawing crowds, with visitors praising its unique artworks which they say are easy to relate to. Even school children are finding it easy to connect to the works.”
- The Straits Times
“Curators of the Singapore Biennale 2008… have brought together an interesting group of emerging artists and should be credited with [...]

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Category: General

December 8th

Garden Shifty

Posted by Ng Yi-Sheng | 2 Comments

In response to mash’s gush about ISEA2008, I’d like to celebrate another recent international contemporary art whatchamacallit held here: THE SINGAPORE GARDEN FESTIVAL.
(Photos ahead! Enjoy!)

Don’t be fooled by the name: it’s not about gardens at all, at least not the kind you’d actually imagine having in your back yard or balcony. It was all about [...]

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Category: Events

December 6th

The Arts POWER List vs. the Arts Powerless

Posted by Ng Yi-Sheng | 2 Comments

Did you read the Straits Times yesterday? (Correction: Thursday Dec 4th.) Life! had this big article ranking ten persons/organisations as the most powerful “movers and shakers” in the Singapore arts scene. All the usual suspects were there: No.1 was Lee Chor Lin, Head Curator at the National Museum, followed by folks from the [...]

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Category: General