Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Singapore
As thousands of balloons last Saturday night configured in the sky in a spectacular artwork by Usman Haque, thousands of people coming to the Padang (a historical green field opposite the old City Hall) witnessed the colorful light up of the same balloons signaling the official start of Singapore's inaugural Biennale.
The balloons lighting up in the sky could well be considered a metaphor of Singapore's flight to the firmament of contemporary arts.
The S$8 million dollar event, to which the Singaporean government contributed S$3.4 million, is a showcase of amazing quality of management, concerted coordination and impeccable skills aspiring for an exemplary place on the world map of global cities. Giving the arts such an eminent role in fulfilling its aspirations, the city state of four million people, much less than half the Jakarta population, stands out for bringing its vision into such fascinating reality.
Organized by the National Arts Council in partnership with the National Heritage Board, the Singapore Biennale, curated by Fumio Nanjo, with Sharmini Perera, Roger McDonald, Eugene Tan, and touted as the largest ever arts event in Singapore, coincides with the international anniversary exhibition of the collection of The Deutsche Bank, shown at the Singapore Art Museum. This is enhanced by the fascinating intervention of award-winning London based architect Zara Hadid, plus a retrospective exhibition on art movements in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore in the 1970s, besides the ARTSingapore Fair which hopes to be a forum for both art connoisseurs, collectors and buyers.
One of course must not forget the Annual Meeting of the boards of governments of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group, which brings an estimated 16,000 delegates and visitors from 184 countries for thousands of meetings at Suntec Singapore Convention Center. Rumors that the Biennale was paid for by IMF/the World Bank Group was denied by Biennale Manager Low Kee Hong, who is also the deputy director for the visual arts at NAC. ""What happened is that we made use of the World Bank Group having their annual event here"", he said explaining how proposals had to be packaged in a way that banks and companies felt attracted to be a sponsor as it would give them the desired exposure.
Showing an advanced notion of art and the artistic, traditional performances of the ethnic groups which usually honor special guests, are giving way to Ong Keng Seng's theatrical play on Diaspora, an issue that is high on the list of issues in the world. Specially commissioned in honor of the IMF/World Bank's meeting, Ong's play includes cooperation with visual artists from other countries, including Indonesia's Tintin Wulia and the 80-year-old singer Masnah of Gambang Kromong (a musical form found only on the outskirts of present-day Jakarta).
""Belief"", the theme of the Biennale, could not have been chosen more aptly. In a world where the word has acquired many layers of meaning, the biennale brings together strong conceptual beliefs of each of the 98 artists from 38 countries and regions, expressed in 199 art works in terms clearer than words could ever hope to convey. Set in 19 different places, including museums and historical buildings -- reflecting Singapore's multicultural and multireligious heritage, many works are open to be interpreted beyond Singapore, expanding to universal issues and realities. Charwei Tsai's painstakingly written mantras on fresh tofu, for instance, which is transformed as the tofu undergoes decay and decomposition, reflects the Buddhist belief in the ephemeral nature of human existence in the world, while Jennifer Wen Ma's soundtrack accompanying footage of an outstretched hand that continues to open and close as in a gesture of alms bidding and receiving, across three religious sites, combining recordings across the three religious context, evoked a sense of harmony, though it was strange to hear the sounds of the Muslim Azan in the Jewish synagogue.
And as Yayoi Kusama covered trees along Orchard road with her famous dots, in the Sri Krishnan Temple she seems to say that heaven or hell, it's all in your mind. Her Ladder to Heaven breaks into a hole in the ceiling, giving the illusion of breaking into the ground as well, through mirrors attached above and below.
Doubt in fundamental beliefs is expressed in Transubstantiation, an enclosed video booth in octagonal shape covered with outlines of rotating figures pressed on white paper, Shin Il Kim expresses his doubts in leaders and leadership by playing backward a collection of talks by the Dalai Lama, making the spoken word completely incomprehensible.
A protest in defense of human rights is integrated in a photographic installation in one of the courtrooms in the City Hall, where Shaidul Alam of Drik Picture Library Ltd, presents Belief, and practices: Justice for Noorjahan. Pictures on the wall, and a TV set show pictures and discussions of a landmark trial in Bangladesh, in which the woman Noorjahan who was abandoned by her husband, remarried after consultation with the mullah. But the mullah later changed his mind, and decreed that she be stoned. Accused of having brought shame to her family, she swallowed poison and died, infusing the historic campaign by the largest women's group in the country.
Liu Jianhua expresses shattered dreams in purposely broken celadon wares meant to build a shuttle space, Jeon Joonho creates dollar notes representing the White House without windows, Cristin Lucas feeling out of place in the Christian community to which she belongs, has long discussions with the priest in the confession booth, presented in a powerful video, Kazem Moham creates a capsule that he hopes will one day could be realized to weather the oceans. Yee I-Lann's lyrical photography ponders the relevance of national borders. Agus Suwage-Titarubi's impressive Cross road installation talks about layers of repression, victims, stress and frustration, and finding solutions through the bridge of dialog, and the love bomb.
Until 12 November More info at www.Singaporebiennale.org
