Singapore puts the humble recorder in the celebrated Venice Biennale spotlight
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Singapore puts the humble recorder in the celebrated Venice Biennale spotlight
Artist Song-Ming Ang and curator Michelle Ho's Music For Everyone makes the musical musical instrument from every Singaporean's babyhood an international star.
A picture show all the same from Song-Ming Ang's Recorder Rewrite video installation. (Photo: Song-Ming Ang)
When the prestigious Venice Biennale opens to the public this weekend (May 11), the playful sounds of the humble recorder played by Singaporean children are set to lure curious tourists and art lovers to ane corner of the Italian city similar a Pied Piper moment.
The music they'll hear (and see performed) is function of Recorder Rewrite, a iii-video installation by Singaporean artist Song-Ming Ang, who is representing the country at the 58th edition of what is often regarded as the international fine art globe's version of the Olympics, which runs from May 11 to November 24.
Ang's fifteen-min video piece – which features 20 children either performing or playing (or both at the same time) at various locations at the Singapore Conference Hall – is the main component of the 5-function evidence Music For Everyone: Variations On A Theme.
The testify was unveiled on May 9 at the Singapore Pavilion, located in the Arsenale complex. At the opening, a group of children from Venice besides fittingly performed a new limerick on recorders, which was inspired by the video slice.
The exhibit takes its cue from the Music For Everyone serial of public concerts organised by what was then Singapore's Ministry building of Culture back in the 1970s and 1980s.
Conceived by Ang together with Singaporean curator Michelle Ho, it as well includes a series of affiche reproductions from the 1970s: Huge textile banners of old Music For Anybody concerts also equally watercolour paintings of lyric and songwriting contests of the time.
There are too sculptures of reassembled parts of the recorder and a series of blank music manuscripts that accept been turned into quirky paper fine art through folding, crumpling and splicing.
The 38-yr-onetime gimmicky artist is known for making works that are music-themed, which has previously included everything from reassembling an sometime piano to holding "listening parties".
"You tin can get to many places with music, and in my practice, it has an anthropological aspect. Near of the time I don't fifty-fifty make music. I make art nearly music, then there's a flake of distance. I think a lot most contexts in which we eat music, how music reaches us," said Ang, who incidentally, will be presenting another separate piece of work back in Singapore this month during the National Gallery Singapore's Children's Biennale.
The presence of the recorder – whether reconfigured as sculptures or played by children in the video installation – is a nod to the musical instrument'southward ubiquitous presence in the lives of Singaporean children.
"In Singapore, we inherited the recorder equally part of our music education due to the legacy of British colonialism," he added. "But if we wait beyond the instrument's history, what nosotros see is that many people around the world actually share a common experience through it. Ideally, the audience [watching the video] should walk away feeling excited, thinking, 'Ah, I didn't know you could do that with the recorder!'"
Curator Ho, meanwhile, pointed out how the prove offers 2 perspectives of what the idea of "music for everyone" can be.
Citing how the Music For Everyone serial began during Singapore'southward early nation-building years, she said: "From the Ministry of Civilization's betoken of view, music has been put into somewhat neat categories [such as] the genres of instruments or types of performers. And when we offset to look at Song-Ming'southward works, there'southward a much lighter sense of gratis play going on. At that place's a lot of improvisation techniques; how to expand on the possible forms of a music musical instrument that turn into sculptures."
In his opening spoken communication, guest-of-honour Baey Yam Keng, senior parliamentary secretarial assistant for the Ministry of Civilisation, Community and Youth, and Transport, announced there are plans to bring the exhibit to Singapore side by side yr.
"It is fascinating to run into how historical athenaeum are given new life through this exhibition," he said, referring to the prove's posters and banners.
He also highlighted the show'southward use of the recorder, recalling how he and his children had likewise learned it in primary school. "Today, information technology is still taught in main schools in Singapore too as in many other countries equally one of the earliest introductions to music."
Paul Tan, deputy chief executive of the National Arts Council, which deputed the show, added: "It shines a spotlight on a humble and familiar musical instrument and through it, retells Singapore's cultural history and the story of music didactics."
Singapore has been participating in the Biennale since 2001, and Ang follows other previous creative person representatives, including recent ones such every bit Zai Kuning (2017), Charles Lim (2015), Ho Tzu Nyen (2011) and Ming Wong, who won a Special Mention prize dorsum in 2009.
Since 2015, Singapore has been presenting at a space in the Arsenale'southward Sale d'Armi building, where it has a 20-yr charter.
Ang isn't the merely Singaporean or Singapore-based artist in town. Elsewhere, sculptor and painter Kumari Nahappan is exhibiting a huge sculpture of entwined chillies titled Talktime at the Giardini Marinaressa equally role of the Personal Structures international exhibition.
It'south Nahappan's second sequent participation at Venice Biennale parallel show. In 2017, she exhibited giant saga seeds at an indoor venue, only this yr, her sculptures are out in the open up.
"So far, everyone's been taking a lot of photos," she said, with a laugh. "Two years ago, (my piece of work) was in a closed space where the impact was intense, whereas this is free and open, and information technology kind of draws people's attention while they're walking."
As well participating in shows running parallel to the Biennale are new media creative person Urich Lau, operation artists Adeline Kueh and Lynn Lu, photographer Teo Chai Guan, painter Laila, also as curators Annie Jael Kwan and Erika Tan.
Elsewhere, there was news of creative person Shubigi Rao existence was appointed curator of the 5th Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India'southward largest art event, which will be held in 2020.
Early this year, Rao was part of a joint exhibition with actress-creative person Lucy Liu held at the National Museum Singapore.
This year'southward Venice Biennale features a slew of events including a main exhibition that revolves around the theme May Y'all Alive In Interesting Times. There are also 90 national pavilions, including a handful from the region.
Aside from Singapore, other South-east Asian countries present include the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, who will exist participating for the start fourth dimension.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/entertainment/singapore-artist-song-ming-ang-venice-biennale-2019-recorder-225426
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