Group Exhibition Parklane Shopping Mall, Singapore
At the heart of the festival, Re-Connect/Centre/Converge lies a profound exploration of the dynamic relationship between art, space, and human connections. Festival Director John Tung expresses his vision for the festival in his curatorial statement:
Amidst the bewildering multitude of formats that art festivals (and biennales, triennales, and what nots) have embraced in contemporary times, nothing perplexes me further than the compulsion towards “de-centralisation”. The maddening dispersal of artworks across far-flung places perhaps spurred on by the fancy of seeing art in a different environ? Can a painting win a mountain? A soundscape challenge the tumult of the sea? It is with certainty though, that bus fares and boat fares contribute to GDPs.
In this respect, a format that is dated and passé seemingly becomes bold and audacious again. A re-convergence of disparates in a central location is an opportunity to reconnect wandering souls. It checks the box for perhaps the most fundamental criterion in terms of accessibility – just one day, and one bus ticket there and back; you may probably even walk if you choose to.
The introduction of art to the everyday is a fallacy brewed from the comfort of ivory towers. This everyday of blood, sweat, and grime, and now even more of that in those few escapes that could be sacred and sanctified. If the venue still bears the dirt of the mundane, it is only because we are forsaking the forest for the trees. If I were to hazard a proposition, it would be that placemaking has hardly got anything to do with places or making. You give me some people; I will give you a new world.
Presented by The Substation, Singapore
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