New creative collective Hyphen BB – comprising of events organiser May Leong, drag queen Becca D’Bus and nightlife creature Bobby Luo – is bringing new energy to the DesignOrchard building on Singapore’s most famous shopping street.

Titled The Non Season, it is a public art, fashion and lifestyle activation that sees many artists and creatives coming together for the project. These include Aki Hassan, Divaagar, Ee Shaun, Howie Kim, Kristal Melson, Marla Bendini (her mirror and butterfly-based work pictured above, asking the question, Where Else Can We Go?), Masuri Mazlan, Mike HJ Chang, Robert Zhao, Sheryo and Urich Lau. 

The idea behind The Non Season takes inspiration from the fact that fashion’s seasonal calendar is largely irrelevant to local labels. Aside from the newly commissioned artworks and cute tubemen (you know, those flailing inflatable figures), there are also workshops, panel discussions, live performances and heritage tours that pay homage to Orchard Road by celebrating its rich history as well as various communities and subcultures that have formed in spite of intense urban planning.

Other things to look forward to include a range of in-store activations and programmes taking place throughout the duration of the initiative. Visitors can expect live performances by homegrown cult band Tiramisu, DJ sessions by stalwarts of Singapore’s music scene KiDG and Ginette Chittick, pop-up voguing by the House of Kasicvnt, performance interventions by artist Xue and friends and tours by heritage blogger Jerome Lim. In other words, it’s the coming together of many interesting artists and names you’d not normally associate with Orchard Road and we’re looking forward to seeing how they transform the Design Orchard space. 

“The possibility of being provocative in the middle of the most glamorous shopping street in the country is delicious. We are excited to see artists responding to the histories, ecologies and publics of the area while subverting the context of a retail store”, noted Hyphen BB in a statement. Find out more about the activation here. 

On now till April 10, at 250 Orchard Road

This is the moment: fans of the immensely popular manga Attack on Titan (more than 100 million copies sold worldwide) can now check out the first exhibition dedicated to the series in Singapore.

For the uninitiated, the dystopian series kicks off with the premise that humanity suddenly seems to be on the verge of collapse when giant humanoid creatures start attacking their walls (the population live in enclosed communities to protect them). No one knows where the giants come from (at the start of the series) and it’s pretty hard to fight them off (the technology is medieval) as they seem to heal from any wounds except for a blow to the neck

Fans of the series can look forward to many hidden gems, including early concept drawings and storyboards with dialogue handwritten by Attack on Titan creator Hajime Isayama himself. There’s also an impressive 10-metre theatre screen, where one of the most iconic fight scenes in the series (between the Attack and Armoured Titans) will be playing, well, larger-than-life.

“Launching this exhibition as Attack on Titan‘s latest episodes (from the final season on Netflix) reach our screens couldn’t be more timely. At first glance, Hajime Isayama’s science fiction world may seem remote to the reality we live in now. However, if we dig deeper into Attack on Titan, themes like hope and perseverance emerge as common threads,” comments Honor Harger, vice president of attractions at Marina Bay Sands.

“We also witness the resilience and resourcefulness of the characters as they overcome the consequences of an epidemic in their own world. Stories such as Attack on Titan provide many of us with a sense of escapism, but they can also remind us of our humanity and courage when facing difficult circumstances.”

Get your tickets here.

Feb 19 to July 3, at ArtScience Museum, 6 Bayfront Avenue

Every year, film and photography space Objectifs holds the Shooting Home Youth Awards, a platform dedicated for young image-makers aged 15 to 23 to develop their photographic skills and ambitions as well as to receive guidance from photographers with more experience. To date, the 11-year-old programme has mentored more than 90 students.

The latest batch of participants, mentored by lens-based artists Ng Hui Hsien, Juria Toramae, Lenne Chai and Marvin Tang, were tasked with drawing inspiration from their surroundings and the issues most important to them. The 13 young photographers addressed various poignant and pertinent topics, such as the anxieties and challenges of coming-of-age in a global pandemic, marooned away from one’s home country, the sense of loss endured due to Covid-19, and the desire for freedom from the weight of societal and self-imposed expectations.

These young image-makers (Chu Meng Hong, Janel Teo Wee Teng, Muhammad Rusydan bin Md Norr, Ng Xin Lui, Seow Wei-Ming Luke,  Joseph Tasman, Lee Tze Yee Sarah, Michael Heng Lip Khiang, Tan Si Ying Kevia, Tan Shu Tsi Elisa, Xu MeiCheng and Tay Yiling) are currently presenting their new works at Objectifs. More details here.

On now till March 6, at Objectifs, 155 Middle Road

It’s surely a resonant experience, especially during the pandemic – of friends and families physically kept apart in different countries, wishing they could visit each other in person. Visual artists and long-time friends Amanda Tan and Pat Shiu were in a similar situation and pondered, how do gestures, conversations and moments, exchanged as optical signals across literal oceans, become the beacons that mark the space of this friendship?

The artists translated this longing for connection into a visual extravaganza through footage taken over a span of 14 days – the duo documented moments in which they wished each other were present in their respective countries, before filtering the moving images into a beautiful, glitchy tableau.

With Tan’s skillset in filmmaking and Shiu’s expertise in creative coding, the finalised work, presented via multiple screens, blends two different art forms to create an expression and tapestry of love, connection and friendship. Catch this work and other pieces from across Tan’s body of work at the exhibition Canvas/S: Moving Images, currently exhibiting at Jurong Regional Library.

On now till Feb 20, at Jurong Regional Library, 21 Jurong East Central 1