Inventions and Innovation. Singapore Night Festival 2016

One of the installations of Singapore Night Festival 2016.

#showerthoughts. National Design Centre.

Image Credit: Photo used with permission from Belinda Tan.

©Belinda Tan

How will science fiction and fantasy intertwine to engage visitors over the upcoming two weekends of a lively and spectacular Singapore Night Festival 2016?

This year's Singapore Night Festival sets to inspire with its theme of 'Inventions and Innovation'. Guests to the Singapore Night Festival could find themselves catching glimpses into the minds and souls of inventors and innovators. This year's night festival employs a number of elements of science and technology weaved with fantasy.

What could we look forward to for this year's night festival especially on the first weekend?

The light art installations of the Singapore Night Festival have been popular with most festival-goers. My humble suggestion for people who likes to stay away from the crowd to consider enjoying the following light art installations on weekdays nights, outside the night festival's official hours.

KEYFRAMES.

KEYFRAMES
Group Laps
19 Aug to 27 Aug 2016
7.30 p.m. - 11.00 p.m. (Sun - Thu), 7.30 p.m. - 2.00 a.m. (Fri and Sat)
National Museum of Singapore, Facade.
Free admission

KEYFRAMES by Groupe Laps (from France) will narrate a series of urban micro-stories through the use of part animation and part moving sculpture. Catch the LED-lights figures and their routine of movements imbue energy and excitement to the building of the National Museum of Singapore.

Could this installation bring glimmers of the past to life? This installation will be a source of nostalgia for anyone who grew up playing games such as Stick Man.

Journey. Singapore Art Museum.

JOURNEY
Soundtrack by Ed Carter
NOVAK 
19, 20, 26, 27 Aug 2016, 7.30 p.m. - 2.00 a.m. 
21 - 25 Aug 2016, 7.30 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Front Lawn

This dynamic projection-mapping performance is inspired by the world of Victorian novelist Jules Verne, known for his creation of a world reflecting the future of Victorian invention and fantasy. A magical adventure shall begin.

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There will be a number of noteworthy performances to check out too:

The Wheel House.

Image Credit: Photo used with permission from Belinda Tan.

©Belinda Tan

The Wheel House.

THE WHEEL HOUSE
Acrojou 
19 and 20 Aug 2016
8.00 p.m. - 8.25 p.m., 9.25 p.m. - 9.50 p.m., 10.50 p.m. - 11.15 p.m.
National Museum of Singapore, Mainground
Free admission

Acrojou (from United Kingdoms) will present The Wheel House. Described as a 'tender, post-apocalyptic story", The Wheel House is a unique, rolling acrobatic theatre show. Watch this show unfold inside and around the stunning circular home. This show is essentially about friendship.

This show will work wonders when presented in an intimate space with restricted number of members of the audience. I wonder what magic it will reveal when it is presented at the Singapore Night Festival to a large mass of festival goers? Perhaps there will be live screen projections of the show?

Les Aquamens
Photo Credits: Singapore Night Festival 2016.

LES AQUAMENS 
Machtiern Company (from France)
19 Aug and 20 Aug 2016
8.00 p.m. - 8.30 p.m.: National Museum of Singapore to School of the Arts to Singapore Art Museum
9.30 p.m. - 10.00 p.m.: Festival Village at Singapore Management University
11.00 p.m. - 11.30 p.m.
Various locations
Free admission

For the poetic audience who are open to some level of absurdity, Les Aquamens by Machtiern Company may appeal. Their performances seek to ask the fundamental question: How do we connect with each other when barriers are up?

The Story Box
Photo Credits: Singapore Night Festival 2016.

THE STORY BOX
Dandypunk
19 and 20 Aug 2016
8.30 p.m. - 8.40 p.m., 10.00 p.m. - 10.10 p.m., 11.15 p.m. - 11.25 p.m.
National Museum of Singapore, Gallery 10
Free admission

A projection-mapped live performance, The Story Box takes its audience to an animated universe of unexpected adventures. Watch DandyPunk interact with a Pandora's box of creatures, characters and light in a novel synthesis of live performance and projected animations.


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Photo Credits: Singapore Night Festival 2016.

Han Sai Por Secret Landscapes
19 and 20 Aug 2016, 26 and 27 Aug 2016
11.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m.
The Private Museum, 51 Waterloo Street
Free Admission

This would be my personal pick that is located away from the key highlights of the Singapore Night Festival. I personal think that Han Sai Por is one of Singapore's leading sculptors to take notice of. The highlights of this exhibition include the artistic interpretations of various geographical visits.

:Samara
Image Credit: Photo used with permission from Belinda Tan.
©Belinda Tan

:Samara
Max Pagel and Jonathan Hwang
Armenian Church
19, 20, 26 and 27 Aug 2016
7.30 p.m. - 2 a.m.
21 - 25 Aug 2016, 7.30 p.m. - 11 p.m.

For more light art installations, consider making a trip to the Armenian Church. A reflective installation that reflects on the duality of progress and sacrifice. What regrets do we have in accepting the price of progress. A poetic installation for the reflective souls. This is one of my favourite installations this year!

#showerthoughts

#showerthoughts
LifeWerkz 
19, 20 26, 27 Aug 2016, 7.30 p.m. - 2 a.m.
21 - 25 Aug 2016, 7.30 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Level 1, Design Gallery 1, National Design Centre
Free Admission

Nearby The Private Museum is the National Design Centre. This installation is immersive and invites visitors to relax as if in a shower. Patience will be required. A queue to enter the spaces of this installation a few people at a time will be expected. For myself, the experience was worth waiting for. Date a friend or two and go on a weekday night. This could be a strategy to reduce the time spent to queue.

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During the festival, please remember to nourish our physical bodies with artisan culinary delights at the Festival Village. There are 30 flea market and food and beverage stalls this year. Chill and dine at the Singapore Night Festival 2016!

My Little Spanish Place will be presenting Spanish cuisine at the Festival Village.

Sh-nack Don. Savoury food and sweet delights from The Fish Shnack.

Spinacas will be serving meaty fries and deviled eggs at the Singapore Night Festival 2016.
Photo credits: Spinacas

Festival Village: Eat and Shop
Singapore Management University Campus Green and University Square
19. 20, 26, 27 August 2016
6 p.m. - 1 a.m.


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For a memento to take home or give as a gift, the Singapore Night Festival Collector's Edition ez-link card is a practical and special item to consider. Collectors of this card stand to win attractive prizes. The top prize is a two-night weekend staycation package at Grand Hyatt worth over $2000.

Look out too for the Tap to Donate wall installation at the Platform, Level 2 of the National Museum of Singapore. By tapping any ez-link card, you will be making a donation of $2 towards the funding for Singapore Night Festival 2017. You will also be given a LEGO brick to add on to the wall installation of LEGO Bricks by Singapore artist, Xylvie Huang.

This installation combines art and technology in a fund-raising initiative. Everyone who taps an ez-link card at this installation will be one of the benefactors for next year's Singapore Night Festival!

In conclusion, my personal experience of the first weekend of this year's Singapore Night Festival is that it seemed more reflective. To find out more, please visit the official website: http://nightfest.sg

Singapore Night Festival's Collector's Edition ez-link card.
Available from 15 to 27 Aug 2016 at the Visitor Services counter at the National Museum of Singapore.

Image Credit: Photo used with permission from Belinda Tan.

©Belinda Tan

Singapore Night Festival 2016
19 and 20 August 2016, Fri and Sat
26 and 27 Aug 2016, Fri and Sat
Bras Basah Bugis
Free Admission
7.30 p.m. to 2.00 a.m.
http://nightfest.sg

A visit to Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris

Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris.

It has been slightly more than two months since the opening of the private art museum Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris. This Singapore branch of the renowned private art museum opened its doors to the public on 30 May 2015.

I finally set aside time to make a visit to Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris on the weekend that had past. The word 'Pinacothèque' is derived from the word pinacotheke in Greek which means 'box of paintings'. I learnt that Pinacotheque take its name from the 'cabinets of curiosities' in which wealthy individuals or royal families would gather art and artefacts and display these treasured items in.

One of my favourite paintings in "The Collections" gallery.
Monet's "Suzanne with Sunflowers".

Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris showcases more than forty masterpieces from artists like Rembrandt, Picasso and Money in its Collections gallery. Stepping into "The Collections" gallery, I felt I had entered the modern place of dwelling of a person with a fine taste in fine arts. The gallery space is cosy and inviting. I love the idea of placing seats for visitors to take our time to appreciate the artworks while resting our feet. The artworks that were showcased were sourced entirely from private collections. These artworks were arranged not by when they were painted. Instead, they were arranged in a way that was said to facilitate visual dialogues between the artworks which elicit the common themes and connections between the artworks.

I learnt that this approach of curating art is the signature "transversality" approach of Marc Restellini, founder of Pinacothèque de Paris and Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris. It took me quite a while to appreciate that this curatorial approach is a style of curating art which transcends time and genres to draw interesting connections between different artworks. I quite like this refreshing approach as it got me to look beyond an artwork itself and got me to look at the relationships between the artworks on display.

A glimpse of the Heritage Gallery.

For people who are uncertain whether to venture into this private art museum, they could begin with visiting the Heritage Gallery which was specially created for Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris. Entry is free to the Heritage Gallery, and this arrangement goes a long way to show that art appreciation can be an affordable endeavour. The Heritage Gallery traces Singapore's legacy to diverse cultures and civilizations throughout centuries. I could appreciate this gallery better when I attended one of the museum's highlights tour. Please ask about the highlights tour at the ticketing counter before you start your visit.

Last but not the least, in this cozy and beautiful space of the Fort Canning Arts Centre, is "The Features" gallery on the second level. Currently, the blockbuster exhibition on display at "The Features" gallery is entitled "The Myth of Cleopatra". This exhibition explores the origins of the myth related to Cleopatra. While I had left the exhibition still feeling a rather clueless about Cleopatra, it stuck to my mind that she was not a Egyptian yet she had ruled Egypt.

A few of the exhibits from "The Myth of Cleopatra".

Overall, I think art-lovers who prefer to appreciate works of art in more intimate spaces would find Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris a worthy place to visit. I would think it would be cost-effective to get an all-access pass and spend about two hours in this museum.

There are food and beverage establishments at the basement of Fort Canning Arts Centre in which Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris is housed in. These are:
- Fort by Maison Ikkoku which serve famed handcrafted cocktails and other dishes,
- Myra's, a restaurant serving Mexican, Indian and Italian fare,
- Giovanni L Cafe Deluxe & Seattle Pike Chowder, which serves chowder and gelato
- Brasserie Balzac, a French bistro

Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris also organizes art classes and other art-related courses to engage audiences from all walks of life. To find out more, I suggest that we visit the museum's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/singaporepinacotheque and browse under "Art Academy".

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Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris

Fort Canning Arts Centre

5 Cox Terrace

Singapore 179620

Nearest MRT station: Dhoby Ghaut

For more information, please visit:

http://www.pinacotheque.com.sg
https://www.facebook.com/singaporepinacotheque

The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum Opens!

The Lee Kong Chian Naural History Museum.

On 18 April 2015, the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM), Singapore's first and only natural history museum was officially opened by Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of Singapore and Chancellor of NUS! It is the day that many of us have been waiting for: the opening of Singapore's natural history museum.

This wall greets all visitors at the main entrance of the LKCNHM.

What has eventually led to the establishment of this very natural history museum is in my humble opinion a series of meaningful coincidences, i.e. synchronicity. The core collection of this museum also has a very intriguing story to tell.

Dr Kevin Tan's Of Whales and Dinosaurs.

Dr Kevin Tan's book, Of Whales and Dinosaurs: The Story of Singapore's Natural History Museum, reveals the heartwarming story of the creation of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and how individuals have came together and overcame the odds to protect our natural history heritage. The book also traces the story of the Zoological Collection which forms the core of the collection at the new Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.

This is one of my favourite items on display at the LKCNHM.
A beautiful design to acknowledge the generosity and kindness of the founding benefactors of the museum.

Do you remember?
To jolt your memory, do you remember a time in 2009 when the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research took part in the International Museum Day 2009?

A more spacious Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum compared to its predecessor,
the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research.

I recall reading from news feeds that the response was overwhelming when the museum opened its doors on 24 May 2009 for the above-mentioned occasion. Subsequently, I vaguely recall that a member of the public wrote to The Straits Times' Forum page highlighting the lack of space and the inaccessibility of the museum's location. The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research's predicaments were made known publicly.

A link to the museum's past. LKCNHM.

A series of events followed and these culminated in the decision to build Singapore's permanent natural history museum. In view of the substantial support of the Lee Foundation, it was eventually decided that the new museum would be named the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, after the founder of the Lee Foundation.

A trio of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur fossils, Prince, Apollonia and Twinky,
on display at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.

The museum that is made possible because people care enough for our natural history
I did not quite follow all the related news yet I recalled there were an overwhelming number of members of the general public pledging our support to establish Singapore's own natural history museum. Subsequently, there was a call for donation to purchase of the fossils of a family of three diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs. In essence, the natural history museum that we now know as the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum is a museum that is endorsed and supported by the people.

A photo that was taken on 16 Jan 2013.
The plot of land where the Estate Office had vacated is now the site of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.

Anticipating the opening of LKCNHM
The work on building the museum began in January 2013. Since then, every time when I visit my alma mater, the National University of Singapore (NUS), I will look at the plot of land where the Estate Office had vacated, anticipating the eventual opening of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.

The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum is nearby the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and the NUS Museums.

The day that I have been waiting for has come. Thanks to N. Sivasothi, I was referred to write in to Prof Peter Ng, Head of LKCNHM, to request for permission to be granted a preview of the museum. My request was granted! Dr Joelle Lai was my host for the visit. I am thankful to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum for granting my request.

Apollonia. LKCNHM.

A preview of the LKCNHM
It brings me much pleasure to share a preview of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum from my visit on its opening day. The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum will be opened to the public from 28 Apr 2015, Tuesday, 10.00 a.m.

Section on Plants: Specimens of plants were preserved by mounting them on individual herbarium sheets.

The Biodiversity
As a guest walked into the first level of the museum, he will embark on a journey to experience biodiversity of life forms on Earth, with a focus on native and Southeast Asian flora and fauna. Some of the highlights, according to the museum's brochure, include the slice of the Changi Tree, the Sea Mouse, the Mosaic Reef Crab, the Orange-spotted Grouper, the Cream-coloured Giant Squirrel and the Golden Babirusa. I was simply fascinated with the extensive collection! There are such much to discover at Level 1 of the museum that I think a regular visitor will be willing to make repeated visits to the museum.

A slice of the Changi Tree.
Learn about the ill-fate of this tree during your visit to the museum.

Section on Mammals: Can you find the Golden Babirusa and the Cream-coloured Giant Squirrel?

The Heritage
For the visitors who prefer to delve into the museum's nostalgic past and discover the museum's history and Singapore's geology, they will set themselves on their preferred journey by walking up the stairways to the next level of the museum.

Take the stairways up. LKCNHM.

Historically, the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum inherited its natural history collection from its predecessor, the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (established in 1998) whereby one part of its two main collection of specimens was that of the Zoological Reference Collection (formally opened on 31 October 1988). The Zoological Reference Collection stems from the original Raffles Museum which was renamed the National Museum of Singapore in 1965.

Leatherback Sea Turtle. LKCNHM.

My host for the visit specifically pointed me to the specimens of the Leatherback Sea Turtle and the Wallace's Asian Brown Flycatcher. The Leatherback Sea Turtle is the largest extant turtle species in the world. The very specimen in the museum is the only recorded sighting of this species in Singapore. Visit the museum and find out where and when it was caught. The latter, the Wallace's Asian Brown Flycatcher was part of Alfred Russel Wallace's collection. Learn more about Wallace's visits to Singapore and how his visits to this region has contributed to his conception of the theory of evolution by natural selection.

Wallace's Asian Brown Flycatcher. LKCNHM.

The Lee Kong Chian Natural Museum History is the museum for the general public, the scientists and students to appreciate and learn about the biodiversity of the Southeast Asia region over time.

Visiting the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum yet again
I have already booked the ticket to my next visit to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. While the museum will only be opened to the public from 28 April 2015, 10.00 a.m., sales of the tickets to the museum are already available online! I have made my date with the dinosaurs once again. Have you? You can book your tickets here: http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/lkc2015

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Visitors' Information
Please take note that there will be no sale of ticket at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. Admission to the museum is strictly by session timing only. This is to facilitate a conducive viewing experience. It is recommended that visitors to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum could purchase and collect your ticket at your preferred SISTIC outlet before your visit to the museum. NUS students and staff can apply for complimentary tickets to the museum.

Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
National University of Singapore
2 Conservatory Drive
Singapore 117377

Website: http://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lkcnhm
News from LKCNHM: http://lkcnhm.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lkcnhm

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday, including public holidays
10 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. (six sessions of 1.5 hours)
Last admission at 5.30 p.m.
All visits must be pre-booked through SISTIC, http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/lkc2015

Note: The time limit of each ticket is an administrative guideline for the sale of tickets to control the crowd in the 2000 sqm exhibition space. Guests would not be turned away the minute their ticket's time limit runs out.

Organized groups that require guided tours can email nhmlearning@nus.edu.sg
Separate fees will apply for guided group tours.

Standard Admission Rate:
Adult: S$20 each
Child (3 - 12 years old): S$12 each

There is a discounted local rate for Singapore citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents:
Resident rate for adult: S$15 each
Resident rate for child, student, senior citizen, full-time national serviceman, person with disabilities: S$8 each.

Tickets can be purchased via SISTIC.

NUS students and staff can apply for complimentary tickets via https://myaces.nus.edu.sg/CoE/ subject to the availability of tickets.

Note: The price of the admission ticket excludes SISTIC booking fee.

Nearest MRT stations: Kent Ridge (Circle Line), Clementi (East-West Line)

Bus services: 96, 151
The NUS internal shuttle bus service D2 (loop service) will ply between the Kent Ridge MRT station and the LKCNHM. Please take note that frequency of this internal shuttle bus service can vary from 5 minutes to 30 minutes depending on the time of the day and whether the date of visit is during the academic semester.

The museum is relatively dry due to humidity and temperature control. Visitors could consider keeping themselves adequately hydrated before and after their visit to the museum.

Do visit The Museum Shop. Copies of Dr Kevin Tan's Of Whales and Dinosaurs: The Story of Singapore's Natural History Museum are available for sale there. Get yourself or a loved one a souvenir if this could help make your visit even more complete.

The Museum Shop. LKCNHM.

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In the meantime, please stay tuned to the blog-report of my next visit to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.

Please also watch this video by Channel NewsAsia Singapore, A Night At The Museum. Dawn Tan spends a night at the new Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, which opens to the public on 28 April 2015. I think it is well-produced.

Visited "Secrets of the Fallen Pagoda"

During the Chinese New Year festive period, I visited the Asian Civilisations Museum to check out Secrets of the Fallen Pagoda: Treasures from Famen Temple and the Tang Court.

The story behind this exhibition revolves around a large underground crypt that was discovered in 1887 as the Famen Temple pagoda was repaired. In this exhibition, some of the objects found in the underground crypt were exhibited together with objects from other leading museums in Shaanxi.

I was attracted to the jade coffin-shaped reliquary. It is thought to have held the genuine finger bone relic of the Buddha. Very exquisitely made, I read that this reliquary was carved from a single block of jade.

Nearby the coffin-shaped reliquary is the reliquary with forty-five Buddhist figures. It was very elaborated decorated.

Of particular interest to me were the tea utensils from the Tang dynasty. I read that tea held an esteemed status in the Tang society. This was demonstrated by the fact that tea utensils were offered for the veneration of a Buddhist relic. It was my very first time seeing a set of tea utensils from the Tang dynasty period. The utensils looked beautiful yet functional.

For the visitors who are patient to read Chinese, they would probably find themselves fascinated with a rubbing of a stone stele found at the entrance of the Famen Temple crypt. This stele is an inventory stele. It documents almost everything found in the crypt!

A odd-shaped glass with H-shaped designs caught my attention simply because it looked special. I could have caught a glimpse of similar glass wares from the Tang dynasty when I visited a different exhibition titled Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds a few years ago. Such vessels reminded me of the cross-cultural influences that many objects of art from the Tang dynasty appear to display.

Overall, it helps to consider this exhibition as a humble yet interesting one. Be prepared to view artefacts from other leading museums in Shaanxi. I left the exhibition with the impression that horses were the mounts of choice in the Tang dynasty. Maybe visiting this exhibition could be one of the ways to usher in the year of the Horse?

Secrets of the Fallen Pagoda: Treasures from Famen Temple and the Tang Court
17 January to 4 May 2014
Asian Civilisations Museum
http://www.acm.org.sg/exhibitions/901.html

Singapore Night Festival 2013, the weekend of 23 and 24 Aug 2013

The Magic Melody. By Tigrelab. Singapore Art Museum facade.
Photo courtesy of Jinha Kim Photography.

Do you love night projections, art performances, late night admission into the museum galleries and so forth? This weekend of 23 and 24 Aug 2013, invite your families and friends to join you to attend the Singapore Night Festival. This year, the festival grounds have expanded and now extend from Plaza Singapura to Raffles City.

A sneak preview of some of the highlights of this year's Singapore Night Festival can be found here: http://oceanskies79places.blogspot.sg/2013/08/a-sneak-preview-of-singapore-night.html.

In addition, here are more snapshots taken at this weekend's Singapore Night Festival to entice you to make a visit.

1. The green sitting area opposite Singapore Art Museum (SAM Façade).

The Magic Melody
by Tigrelab
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013, 7.30 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.
Fir 30 and Sat 31 Aug 2013, 7.30 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.
Sun 25 - Thu 29 Aug 2013, 7.00 p.m. - 11.00 p.m.
SAM Façade

If you love to watch night projections while remaining seated, one recommended place to enjoy Tigrelab's audiovisual and interactive video mapping project, The Magic Melody, will be the park spaces directly opposite the Singapore Art Museum's façade. The grounds may be slightly wet after a rain, so it may help to bring along a mat if the weather is wet.

Please set aside at least 10 minutes to enjoy this light projection.

Green spaces opposite the Singapore Art Museum which provide good views of The Magic Melody.

2. The children love the circus!

Circus Swingapore
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013
Fri 30 and Sat 31 Aug 2013
7.30 and 9.00 p.m.
National Museum of Singapore, Glass Atrium

Circus Swingapore at the Singapore Night Festival 2013.

Watch the performers from Circus Swingapore dance away and fly above the heads of the audience with their stunning acts. The children were observed to love this series of performances very much. At the end of each set of performances, members of the audience are welcomed to get a trial session of getting themselves up in the air, supervised by one of the performers from Circus Swingapore.

3. A touch of romance along the Armenian Street.

Onmoonbeings
by Singapierrot
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013
7.30 p.m., 8.45 p.m. and 10.00 p.m.

Onmoonbeings by Singapierrot.
Photo courtesy of Jinha Kim Photography.

My personal favourite is Singapierrot's performance of Onmoonbeings. Set in a fairly intimate outdoor space at a corner of Armenian Street, the two soulful Singaporean jesters invite the modern audience to explore the wistful and dark corners of our souls. I particularly like the fact that Onmoonbeings is performed with the support of live accompaniment by gypsy-swing jazz duo So Ma Fan.

Adjectives to describe this performance would be primitive, whimsical and playful. The organisers will be providing some ground mat for the audience to sit on. If you prefer to use your own ground mat, please bring one along.

4. Look up! The aerial dance performance.

Pyramid of Void
by Compagnie Retouramont
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013
8.30 p.m., 9.45 p.m. and 11 p.m.
National Museum of Singapore façade.

Pyramid of Void. By Compagnie Retouramont.
Photo courtesy of Jinha Kim Photography.

After watching Vertical Extraction by the same group, Compagnie Retouramont, please make sure you stay behind to appreciate the aerial dance performance, Pyramid of Void. The dancers are agile and strong, and they seem to form a dialogue with the pyramid structure that is outlined by ropes suspended in mid-air. While watching the performance by Compagnie Retouramont, I wondered how long it would take for Singapore to groom its own locally-born aerial dancers of international standing?

5. Playing with fire can be fun!

Starlight Alchemy: Redux
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013
8.45 p.m. and 10 p.m. National Museum of Singapore

Starlight Alchemy.
Photo courtesy of Jinha Kim Photography.

If you are watching the first two sets of Pyramid of Void (i.e. at 8.30 p.m. and/or 9.45 p.m.), please stay behind on the grounds outside the National Museum of Singapore to watch the performance by Starlight Alchemy. Be thrilled by the amazing feats that can be achieved with fire and LED tools.

6. Enjoy late night free admission to three NHB museums

Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013
Fri 30 and 31 Aug 2013
7.00 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.
National Museum of Singapore
Peranakan Museum
Singapore Art Museum

Too busy to visit the museums during your working hours and during the usual weekdays? Perhaps the late night free admission to three NHB museums will provide you with the needed opportunity to finally set foot into one of the museums.

I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in Baroque art and portrait painting must visit the exhibition, Princely Treasures: From the House of Liechtenstein, which is now held at the National Museum of Singapore, Basement. Usually, admission to this exhibition will be S$10 per adult. During the Singapore Night Festival (i.e. 23, 24, 30, 31 Aug 2013), admission to this exhibition will be free from 7.00 p.m. - 2.00 a.m. Be prepared to queue to visit this exhibition. Even though I have visited this exhibition more than five times, this is still one exhibition that I will keep going back for!

A snapshot taken at Princely Treasures, the exhibition.

7. The Quest for Knut Eckstein's works

Knut Eckstein's The Algebra of Need
Fri 23 Aug - Mon 23 Sep 2013
From 7.30 p.m. onwards
Various locations within the festival grounds

"With simple materials - bamboo and rope lights, Berlin artist Knut Eckstein, at the invitation of Goethe-Institut Singapore and National Heritage Board, creates installations to transform public spaces and poses his questions on the notion of identities in the city."

What is city life about? What does it mean to live in a city? I wonder too. In the meantime, I shall set myself on a quest to search for Knut Eckstein's works within the festival grounds. If you know where they are, send me a comment please.

The Algebra of Need, by Knut Eckstein. CHIJMES.
I wonder if we are too concerned with brands?

This looks like a work by Knut Eckstein.

8. Satisfy the taste-buds

So Sedap!
Fri 23 and Sat 24 Aug, 7.00 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.
Fri 30 and Sat 31 Aug 2013,  p.m. - 11.30 p.m.
SMRT Walkway

Along the SMRT Walkway, food stalls spruced up to celebrate the Singapore Night Festival. Mouth-watering treats are probably waiting for us to grab a bite when we are feeling hungry. I have yet to check the food out here, so let me know what are your recommendations please?

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There are many more activities to enjoy this Singapore Night Festival, where will you be heading?


SINGAPORE NIGHT FESTIVALFri 23 and Sat 24 Aug 2013,
Fri 30 and Sat 31 Aug 2013.
7.00 p.m. - 2.00 a.m.
Free Admission
www.brasbasahbugis.sg/nightfestival
Download Official Map (pdf)
Download Official Guide (pdf)


Acknowledgements: Special thanks to the National Heritage Board for the invitation to the Media Preview of this weekend's Singapore Night Festival. Special thanks to Belinda Tan and Jinha Kim Photography for the permission to use some of their photographs, so beautifully taken. Note: Jinha Kim is the exclusive official photographer of the Singapore Night Festival 2013.