This week, don’t miss out on legendary artist Lim Tze Peng’s – who turns 100 this year – new book launch and exhibition over at The Arts House. On the other end of the spectrum, discover emerging talents at art schools Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Lasalle College of the Arts‘ showcases for their respective graduands.
And if you’re into vintage clothes, a new exhibition at Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall delves into how fashion plays a role in women (in Singapore)’s statuses and lifestyles over the years.
While fashion has not traditionally been embraced as a historical medium on the same level as art (or at least not in Singapore) , the fact is that it’s often the most visible – and personal – form of expression for almost any society. Modern Women of the Republic: Fashion and Change in China and Singapore, a new exhibition located at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall (SYSNMH), aims to use fashion as a barometer for the changes in women’s status, roles and lifestyles, covering the period from the late 19th century up till the ’70s.
The exhibition is segmented into three sections: charting political changes in society from the 1890s to the ’30s; covering the evolving notion of a “modern woman” from the ’30s to the ’60s; and exploring how fashion empowered working women in Singapore from the ’50s to the ’70s. There will be nearly 100 artefacts and photographs on display, focusing on Chinese women’s clothing and accessories from China and Singapore.
“Fashion, besides being a form of self-expression, is often a reflection of the times,” says Tan Yan Ni, assistant curator at SYSNMH. “This is why we chose fashion as a medium to tap into broader conversations, to discuss women’s multi-faceted and ever-changing roles across history, and how their contributions are integral to the political, social and economic development of a society.”
On now till Dec 12 at 12 Tai Gin Rd
It’s graduate season at art institutions Lasalle College of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), and students need all the support they can get, especially graduating during such a difficult period.
At NAFA, check out over 700 works created by around 650 students from their Fine Art, 3D Design, Design & Media and Fashion Studies programmes virtually (you can catch the digital showcase The Grad Expecatations 2021 here).
Over at Lasalle, works by over 800 graduands across the disciplines of design, fine arts, film, media, arts, dance, music, theatre, art therapy, creative writing, arts pedagogy, Asian art histories and arts management are available online at The Lasalle Show 2021. That said, if you wish to view the works in person, they’re on display on the school’s McNally Road campus as well.
Both graduate shows are on display till June 20
Singapore’s oldest living artist and Cultural Medallion laureate Lim Tze Peng has just launched a new book and exhibition. For the uninitiated, Lim is a former educator (and principal) who retired and subsequently took up Chinese ink painting.
Titled Soul of Ink: Lim Tze Peng at 100, the book traces the lean beginnings of the centenarian artist’s early years, relives the times of controversy over the artist’s innovations in Chinese calligraphy (he’s known for an abstract style of ink painting), and celebrates his breakthroughs.
Alongside the book launch, the exhibition will be presenting 20 new works at The Arts House. What’s also noteworthy is that the exhibition is held at The Arts’ House upcoming Cultural Medallion Gallery, which will open in a few months and is dedicated to visual, music and performing arts practitioners who were previously Cultural Medallion recipients.
On now till June 30 at 1 Old Parliament Lane