The 10-day event at the Civic District kicks off on Friday (Jan 19). It will feature light projections and art installations, musical performances, and food and crafts stalls – and that’s just what’s available outdoors.
SINGAPORE: When the Light to Night Festival kicks off at the Civic District on Friday night (Jan 19), audiences can put their artistic stamp on the festivities, literally.
Among the event’s highlights is Chromascope, an interactive installation by Australia’s Spinifex Group where people can step on 12 stomping pads to control the visual images projected unto the facade of the National Gallery Singapore’s City Hall wing.
Visitors to Light To Night Festival can try their hand at manipulating Chromascope, an interactive installation where they can change the projection by stepping on stomping pads. (Photo: Christy Yip)
The game-like artwork will be complemented by the Instagram-friendly Art Skins On Monuments, a series of looped projections shown on the facades of the museum’s former Supreme Court Building wing, as well as its neighbours The Arts House, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM).
Curated by artists Brandon Tay and Safuan Johari, these will include creations by 30 Singapore artists such as Samantha Lo, Speak Cryptic, Zero, Kristal Melson and Mojoko.
The two outdoor works are among the various outdoor and indoor events and installations that visitors can check out at the precinct-wide festival, which is a marquee event of Singapore Art Week.
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Themed “Colour Sensations”, the 10-day event runs until Jan 28. It starts from 5pm till midnight on weekends (Fridays and Saturdays), while the outdoor light installations will be up from 8pm till 10pm throughout the festival.
On both weekends, the Padang will also transform into picnic ground featuring more than 80 food and craft stalls. There will also be music performances and poetry readings.
A seemingly endless labyrinth awaits those who enter House Of Mirrors by Christian Wagstaff and Keith Courtney at the Empress Lawn. (Photo: Christy Yip)
Meanwhile, other art installations will be scattered throughout the Civic District grounds.
Over at Empress Lawn, there’s House Of Mirrors by Australia’s Christian Wagstaff and Keith Courtney, where visitors can enter a very challenging and disorienting labyrinth of mirrors.
The Esplanade Park Tunnel also gets a futuristic makeover with lighting design collective Nipek's Trip To The Colourscape. (Photo: Christy Yip)
Architecture students from National University of Singapore have also created a site-specific work at ACM Green, while the Esplanade Park Tunnel has been given an artistic makeover by Singapore-based design collective Nipek. The latter will be complemented by weekend musical performances held at the Esplanade Park premises itself.
“We see this as a throwback to the Civic District’s rich heritage of being a shared space where people from all walks of life meet to interact and bond by the Singapore River,” said Suenne Megan Tan, festival director and National Gallery Singapore’s director for audience development and engagement.
The festival won’t be limited to outdoor events – there will also be performances and exhibitions inside the various institutions’ premises.
A kaleidoscope room by artist duo Other Half is one of the new indoor artworks seen at Asian Civilisations Museum. (Photo: Christy Yip)
The National Gallery Singapore, for instance, is presenting five newly commissioned indoor artworks. It will also extend its opening hours until midnight on weekends and offer free admission to all its exhibitions.
The Asians Civilisations Museum have also commissioned works, which include a life-sized kaleidoscope installation by artist duo Other Half.
During the festival’s two weekends, St Andrew’s Road will be closed from 4pm to 1am. For more details on Light To Night Festival, visit its website here.
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SINGAPORE ART WEEK
Singapore Art Week, which runs until Jan 28, is the year's biggest visual arts party.
Exhibitions lined up across the island range from intimate encounters in unusual spaces such as the Tiong Bahru Air Raid Shelter to light projections on major monuments in the Civic District. Here are some highlights.
LIGHT TO NIGHT FESTIVAL 2018: COLOUR SENSATIONS
The National Gallery Singapore puts on its best for Singapore Art Week.
Inside, be privy to a personal concert in Lee Mingwei's Sonic Blossom or put your stamp on Pinaree Sanpitak's D-I-Y pillow installation, The House Is Crumbling. Outside, the facade of the gallery is transformed by projections by Australia's Spinifex Group. It is part of a larger canvas for a light show, Art Skins On Monuments, created by 30 Singapore-based artists, illustrators and animators.
WHERE: National Gallery Singapore, 1 St Andrew's Road and the Civic District MRT: CityHall/Raffles City WHEN: Today to Jan 28. External projections run on Fridays and Saturdays, 8pm to midnight; Sundays to Thursdays, 8 to 10pm ADMISSION: Free for external projections. Free admission to National Gallery Singapore today and tomorrow (10am to 10pm) and Sunday (10am to 7pm) INFO: www.lighttonight.sg
HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS IN CONCERT
Watch Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (starring, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe) on a 12m screen while the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra performs the score by John Williams.
WHERE: Esplanade Theatre, 1 Esplanade Drive MRT: City Hall/ Esplanade WHEN: Today and tomorrow, 7pm ADMISSION: $69 to $255 from Sistic (call 6348-5555 or go to www.sistic.com.sg)
ALIWAL URBAN ARTS FESTIVAL
Aliwal Street will be closed to traffic.
In its place will be live music, freestyle football, skateboarding and plenty of art experiences.
Urban artists RSCLS and The BlackBook host a tour of street art in the Kampong Glam area, while other artists create works viewers can play with.
WHERE: Aliwal Art Centre and Kampong Glam area MRT: Bugis WHEN: Tomorrow, 5pm to late ADMISSION: Free, limited slots for some events INFO: tinyurl.com/y74jnysl
RAID
The Tiong Bahru Air Raid Shelter dates back to at least 1939, when it protected residents from shelling during World War II.
Eight artists, including organisers Daniel Chong and Zulkhairi Zulkiflee, have created art specially for this space, as part of Singapore Art Week. Look out for work such as Chong's Unconditionally and Zulkhairi's Crocodile.
WHERE: Tiong Bahru Air Raid Shelter, 78 Guan Chuan Street MRT: Tiong Bahru WHEN: Until Feb 3, Tuesdays to Sundays (noon to 6pm). Closed on Mondays. Artists' talk will be held tomorrow from 3 to 5pm ADMISSION: Free
