Shangri-La Art Podcast

Theatre Director Lewin Bernard and Curator Deborah Lim has a conversation with Jay Ho on the occasion of ‘Oumuamua’s Tale, his second solo exhibition, presented by Chan + Hori Contemporary as part of the Singapore Art Week January 2022 at Gillman Barracks in Singapore.

Music by Kinemesis_Music at Pixabay

Curator Clara Peh has a conversation with Ivan David Ng on the occasion of Roads Around A Mountain, his first solo exhibition, presented by Chan + Hori Contemporary as part of the Singapore Art Week January 2022 at Gillman Barracks in Singapore.

Music by Kinemesis_Music at Pixabay

SUBLINGUA, SUBMACHINES is the experimental arm of Ivan and Pauline Despi’s studio The Acid House, with an artistic philosophy to change how animations, film and visuals can be experienced by audiences. Fuelled by collaborations across different genres, their artwork titled Dream Weavers for NEW WEAVE comprises a community weaving collective dreams into a grand tapestry - drawn from the idea of the t’nalak weave of the T’boli tribe that receives divine designs through their dreams.

Rezaliando and Fizah Rahim helm a team at MACHINEAST that has swayed brands such as NIKE and IBM to their distinctive style. With personal links to Padang, Sarawak and the regions that host weaving centres for the Maybank Women Eco-Weavers programme, memories of childhood, histories and home traditions were part of MACHINEAST’s considerations for their creative practice. Spanning the commercial and artistic, these powerhouses work across cultural contexts to represent Southeast Asia on a global scale.

Working towards a more convincing illusion, three-dimensional artworks by LOUDSQUEAK have a filmic quality to them that captures colour, light, shadows and motion. Made up of particles in a digital weave, they bring to mind pixels and serve as greater statements of who we are as people, how we interact with those around us and how we divide ourselves into different groups based on social, economic or other defining qualities. Trained as a software developer who adds layers to his artworks, learn about his analytical yet free-flowing approach to making art.

A fascinating deep dive into the mind of SHAHRIL AZUAR JIMIN, the first CEO of the Maybank Foundation moved from law to running factories to insurance to eating leaves in Sawahlunto, which all served as defining moments. Identifying weaving as an aspect that ties the countries of ASEAN together, he speaks about the importance of dignity and the empowerment that has been created for both weavers and artists.

STEVE LAWLER is an artist, curator and organiser all rolled into one but - more than anything else - he is a connector of people. Having brought together a creative community of international illustrators, graphic designers, artists and animators through projects and events across his career, his personal challenge is to engage with viewers who are not familiar with art. Intimately associated with visual culture in Singapore, he has moved from disseminating free zines via kult magazine to addressing social issues through creativity via EYEYAH and organising GIF fest.

Shangri-La Art Podcast: NEW WEAVE is a special mini-series that accompanies the NEW WEAVE exhibition held at the National Museum of Singapore from 22 January to 22 February 2021. Spearheaded by the Maybank Foundation and Chan + Hori Contemporary, NEW WEAVE was an invitation extended to nine animators and artists from Singapore to Los Angeles to put a digital spin on the ancient art of weaving across Southeast Asia. Broadcast on a giant screen, the artworks dominated the venue with hypnotising looped visuals, colours and forms in virtual space. Khai Hori and Deborah Lim unpack the stories of individuals linked to the exhibition through five unexpected conversations of how we connect as people through cultures, practices and ideas.

Episode 23 from the 16-hour Shangri-La Art Podcast live-stream.

AJAY GOVINDA MENON, host of the Poetry Slam in Singapore, speaks with CHRIS MOONEY-SINGH, poet extraordinaire and co-founder of the Poetry Slam in Singapore, on reviving the rabab - once a leading instrument in Sikh sacred music - and his whirlwind path to Singapore. They introduce a selection of local poems, complete with sound effects, resonant voices and high production value.

Episode 25 from the 16-hour Shangri-La Art Podcast live-stream.

The fate of the lone migrant, travelling to the edge, recognising the frontier, mitigating it. BRADLEY FOISSET pulls the curtain to the first season of our Shangri-La Art Podcast with deep questions of purpose and personal compass. As artists, art lovers, curators, art workers and patrons, he reminds us of how little we know of ourselves, and how afraid we often are in seeking, let alone breaking frontiers unexplored before us all.   

song credit: Aggronaught by Khai Hori