Arts Picks: Tan Choh Tee, Bhumi dance, Maaya Wakasugi

The Language Of The Wind

Nearly 30 still-life and landscape paintings by Cultural Medallion recipient Tan Choh Tee are coming back to Singapore after three decades.

Belonging to a seasoned collector in Canada, the paintings of Singapore’s old streets, such as Amoy Street and Ann Siang Road, are being shown at Hai Hui Art Gallery at The Adelphi. The small solo show of the second-generation artist is titled The Language Of The Wind.

Tan created the featured works between 1985 and 2022, and mostly painted them with his favoured implement – the palette knife.

Viewers can venture up close to admire how his abstract blocks of paint come together to form legible images, or how his vital strokes bring erstwhile street scenes to shimmering life.

Tan, who studied at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts under pioneer artists like Liu Kang and Georgette Chen, is also known for his interest in still-life scenes.

Hai Hui Art Gallery manager Zi Juan says his subjects are clearly rooted in the region.

“The tropical fruits he depicts are also cultural symbols. The garlic that he paints is taken right from the mundane local market. They are a projection of Tan’s emotions and a microcosm of the collision of Singapore’s diverse cultures.”

Where: Hai Hui Art Gallery, 04-46 The Adelphi, 1 Coleman Street
MRT: City Hall
When: June 13 to 23, noon to 6.30pm daily
Admission: Free
Info:

str.sg/wkdtM

Bhumi

Meaning “Earth” in Sanskrit, Bhumi is an international dance collaboration spearheaded by Singapore company Maya Dance Theatre. It will premiere at the Drama Centre Black Box at the National Library Building before travelling to Jakarta, Indonesia.

Through a fusion of traditional Asian dance forms and contemporary movement, the show questions what it means to belong to a world that often excludes. It also draws on humanity’s connection with nature to imagine a way of existence that is more compassionate.

Maya Dance Theatre is working with dancers with disabilities from Indonesia’s Gigi Art of Dance and Australia’s The Stellar Dance Company.

Singapore dance company Under The Bridge is also part of the project, along with independent artist Verena Tay and composer Kailin Yong.

Rehearsals took place over Zoom. Director Kavitha Krishnan said: “This presented real challenges – different time zones, languages and access needs – but that’s the beauty of inclusive practice: It adapts, it experiments, it empowers.”

Where: Drama Centre Black Box, National Library Building, 100 Victoria Street
MRT: Bugis
When: June 13, 8pm; June 14, 3 and 8pm
Admission: From $25
Info:

str.sg/mE4L

Stars In The Night Sky

What if the moon and stars on Singapore’s national flag were subjected to the unpredictability of ink, and reinterpreted by a foreigner with a penchant for performance?

I.F. Gallery in Tras Street is staging a solo exhibition by contemporary Japanese calligrapher-artist Maaya Wakasugi, who has drawn inspiration from the Singapore flag for his expressive kanji symbols, titled Stars In The Night Sky.

It joins several other activations the artist has in the Republic in June, as part of a collaboration with Japanese retailer Lumine.

In addition to creating brand symbol “I Am Who I Am”, he has also designed Uchiwa fans for Lumine customers marked with the kanji character for light.

Those who want to see more of his work can visit the Japan Creative Centre in Nassim Road before June 13. He has written words like “moon” in seven calligraphy styles, as well as in his own invented one, also applying the medium to English phrases.

Where: I.F. Gallery, 45A Tras Street
MRT: Tanjong Pagar
When: Till Aug 1, 11.30am to 8pm daily
Admission: Free
Info:

lumine.sg/mark-your-moment