Arts Picks: Venice Biennale exhibition comes home, SAtheCollective's web performance series, and more

Music For Everyone: Variations on a Theme explores notions of amateurism and agency. PHOTO: MARVIN TANG

MUSIC FOR EVERYONE: VARIATIONS ON A THEME

The humble recorder takes pride of place in artist Song-Ming Ang's whimsical Venice Biennale exhibition. The show was first presented at the prestigious international art festival last year and can now be viewed at the National Museum of Singapore.

Curated by Michelle Ho, it explores notions of amateurism and agency and alludes to a series of concerts by Singapore's then-Ministry of Culture which ran in the 1970s and 1980s.

The anchor piece, Recorder Rewrite, is a three-channel film featuring primary school children playing music of their own device on recorders in different parts of the Singapore Conference Hall.

The show in Singapore, which also features fabric banners, music manuscripts and recorder sculptures, has three additional physical works which are being shown together for the first time.

One of them is You and I (2012-2018), featuring a playlist and handwritten letters Ang had received from friends, colleagues and strangers between 2009 and 2018. During this period, he invited people to send him a letter and in return, he mailed them a personalised mixtape CD.

Other events include exhibition tours as well as a performative lecture by Ang.

He says: "This is an exhibition that is truly collaborative in spirit and extensive in scope, and we have expanded the presentation to include even more elements of national history as well as my own artistic output throughout the years."

WHERE: National Museum of Singapore, Exhibition Gallery, basement level

WHEN: Till Nov 8, 10am to 7pm daily (last admission at 6.30pm)

ADMISSION: Free

INFO: National Arts Council website

NEW BEGINNINGS & SEHNSUCHT

PHOTO: COURTESY OF CUTURI GALLERY

Cuturi Gallery has kicked off its new space in Kampong Glam with an exhibition featuring 12 Singapore-based artists.

The contemporary art gallery, formerly at Pacific Plaza, is spotlighting works by Seelan Palay, Marla Bendini, Didier Jaba Mathieu, Aisha Rosli and Shen Jiaqi, among others.

When you are done, head down the road to artist Seelan Palay's Coda Culture gallery to view Shayne Phua's debut solo show, Sehnsucht, which explores the flexibility of ceramic as a medium.

WHERE: Cuturi Gallery, 61 Aliwal Street; Coda Culture, 67 Aliwal Street

WHEN: New Beginnings: Till Nov 5, noon to 8pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays) or 6pm (Sundays and public holidays). Closed on Mondays (appointments only)

Sehnsucht: Till Oct 31, 5 to 8pm (weekdays); noon to 8pm (Saturdays) or 5pm (Sundays)

ADMISSION: Free

INFO: Cuturi Gallery's website and Coda Culture's Facebook page

FRAME DRAGGING

PHOTO: COURTESY OF SATHECOLLECTIVE

In this experimental online series by SAtheCollective, a dozen performers - from singer-songwriter Inch Chua to multi-disciplinary artist Rizman Putra - worked in groups of three remotely, filming themselves in isolation before having thefootage woven together.

Frame Dragging consists of four episodes - each with a trio of performers - that will be launched on YouTube over four days. The title is a nod to Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity and refers to how they are "bending space and time to come together", says producer Andy Chia, who is also the group's artistic director.

WHERE: SAtheCollective's YouTube channel

WHEN: Oct 28 to 31, 8pm (one episode a day). Each episode runs for 20 to 30 minutes.

ADMISSION: Free, but donations are welcome here.

INFO: Frame Dragging Facebook page

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