The People’s Park Complex, with its cornucopia of activity and visual clutter, has played a pivotal role in the transformation of Chinatown and Singapore’s architectural, spatial and social landscape since its birth in the 1970s. Known for many firsts, including being the tallest residential space and mix-used building encompassing residential, office and carparking
facilities, the Complex continues to capture our imagination, as it shapes and is shaped by the activities, movement and humanity in and around the building.
Photo credits: Nicola Anthony
The ‘PPC | 珍珠坊’ exhibition, aptly held at the sixth floor carpark space of the Complex, aims to respond to notions of the ‘public living room’, where distinctions between the public and private are blurred, and human intervention is juxtaposed against the sterility of infrastructure and hardware in our urban environment.
Through this new reading of the carpark and Complex, Hyphen invites audiences to reflect on and suggest alternative ways of appraising the treatment of public space, and at the same time, explore the hidden potential of parking architecture taking on a different existence. ‘PPC | 珍珠坊: A Public Living Room’ will be held from 15 – 30 January 2016, spanning three weekends with a myriad of visual and performance artists showcasing their works and creations. Visitors can expect an experimental visual feast from an impressive line-up of over 20 visual and performance artists and collectives whose practices span across diverse mediums, ranging from sculpture to drawing and photography to site-specific 3D installations.
Highlights include public workshops conducted by Andreas Siagian and Budi Prakosa of Lifepatch (Yogyakarta), and the PPC Performance Dialogues initiated by performance artists Daniela Beltrani, Ezzam Rahman and Natasha Wei.
Besides the exhibition, performances and workshops, some of the city’s hottest musical acts such as singer-songwriter Nicholas Chim, collective Getai Group and HBRD THRY will also take to the stage and ‘jam’ in the public living room. A re-creation of a Singapore 60s Tea Dance, featuring The Pinholes and Southeast Asian vinyl from that era, is slated for 23 January.
Together with technology innovators Voicemap, Hyphen is also working on an immersive audio tour and story-telling experience linking other heritage buildings and sites in Chinatown with the Complex.
According to May Leong, co-founder of Hyphen: “Hyphen continuously looks for interesting localities to instigate arts and cultural interventions. I personally was drawn to the People’s Park Complex from an architectural point of view – besides the fact that it was one of the first mixed-use complexes in Singapore, it has also played a pivotal role in re-defining Chinatown’s landscape. It’s also intriguing that the building carries significance in Singapore’s art history, wherein Tang Da Wu’s seminal work the ‘Tiger’s Whip’ was first performed in the courtyard of the PPC.”
‘PPC | 珍珠坊: A Public Living Room’ is part of Singapore Art Week (16 – 24 January 2016). An initiative by the National Arts Council, in partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Economic Development Board, Singapore Art Week reinforces Singapore’s position as Asia’s leading arts destination. It is a nine-day celebration of the visual arts, offering a myriad of quality art experiences, from art fairs, gallery openings, exhibitions, lifestyle events and public art walks, to enriching discussions on art and culture.
Event Details:
Dates: 15 – 30 January 2016
Exhibition Opening: 15 January, 7pm till late
General Opening Hours:
Tues – Thurs: 6 – 9 pm
Fri – Sat: Timings vary due to special events (please refer to Facebook event page schedule)
Sun: 3 – 9 pm
Closed on Mondays
Free Admission (except special events)
Venue address:
People’s Park Complex, Sixth Floor
1 Park Road, Singapore 059108
More information and updated schedule:
www.facebook.com/hyphenarts
Participating visual and performance artists and musical acts:
Alecia Neo
Andreas Siagian & Budi Prakosa (Lifepatch)
Bruce Quek
Ernest Goh
Geraldine Kang
Jason Lim
Nakayama Yuta
Nicola Anthony
Philipp Aldrup
Ruyi Wong
Soph O
SSYSTM
Stephanie Burt
Tang Ling Nah & Activated C Studio
TraseOne
Daniela Beltrani (PPC Performance Dialogues)
Ezzam Rahman (PPC Performance Dialogues)
Sophia Natasha Wei (PPC Performance Dialogues)
