“The art world can be very intimidating because it’s just so vast.”
Many a layman can attest to Daniel Radcliffe‘s quote about art, where he speaks about the pressures of “keeping up” with the dynamism of the industry. Why does the collocation between art and intimidation exist? A guest’s first visit to a museum, witnessing his first panel discussion between artists, her virgin experience at an indie theatre; every art lover started their experiential journey somewhere. What’s stopping us from creating a smooth and inviting kickoff experience?
Cultural awareness is gradually on the rise here in Singapore, and general pooh-poohing of art has thankfully become less common. With art being made more accessible, even to the extent of being presented to the masses, art appreciation has been made readily available to Singaporeans.
Enter ARTas 2016. The art event’s inaugural year will see more than 24 artists across various disciplines coming together to showcase their works! Targeted at youth aged 13 to 25, budding photographers, poets, filmmakers, visual artists, and musical guests will present their works based loosely on the theme of “Accessible Art”.
Headlined by local alternative rock band Shophouse and singer-songwriter Stephycube, ARTas 2016 will also see performances from Pan Zai’En (SUPERSECT), Louis Wong, Kyle Ian Teng, and many others.
Besides the exhibits and performances by the above artists, guests are also invited to take part in 8 art installations throughout the venue. Attendees will love the bold and messy “Art Attack” at the entrance, where they are invited to toss mini paint bombs at 2 giant canvas panels. Indoors, wannabe Michelangelos can go wild with acrylic paints and mini canvas panels while sitting under the comfort of air-conditioning at “Art Jam”.
Two collaborations are worth mentioning: one with watercolour calligrapher Jaime and the other with local migrant worker project Familiar Strangers. Riding on the typography wave that’s hitting Singapore shores hard, ARTas 2016 guests can learn the basics of calligraphy from Jaime herself and bring their creations home!
Familiar Strangers is a campaign to both collect and share the stories of low-wage migrant workers in Singapore – a project conceived by final-year students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI) at the Nanyang Technological University. Selected stories from their archive at familiarstrangers.sg will be showcased at ARTas 2016, and guests are welcome to leave a written message to be handed to migrant workers from mainland China.
Light, “retro-inspired” snacks will also be served: think gem biscuits and more treats from our childhood years. ARTas 2016 is completely free and it happens in less than a week. Will we see you there?
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