updraft: A durational sonic presentation
by Kin Leonn
Daily from 16–24 Nov | 10am–7pm
Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Front Stairwell, Lobby B, next to SAM
Free, self-guided

updraft is a sonic presentation by Kin Leonn that spans three levels of Tanjong Pagar Distripark (39 Keppel Road, Lobby B), starting from its front stairwell, and ending with a focused listening space on the third-floor corridor facing the highway.

Inspired by the swirling of air currents from both manmade (perpetual highway traffic) and natural sources (weather and nearby sea breeze), an ambient composition flows through the stairwell on a multi-channel loop, traversing up and down the space through 12 speakers. On the third-floor balcony, a focused listening station with two sets of heaphones is situated facing the highway. Here, listeners can briefly shift the ongoing environmental noise into the background, immersing themselves in a separate composition which serves as an imaginary sensory soundscape to filter and modulate the present manmade scene.

The space embodies a somewhat liminal environment overtaken by the harsh sounds of a modern city. Yet, in the same way that wind can be a force of physical change, a carefully balanced soundscape can transform one’s relation to their surroundings. In this case, a softening of the rhythms of the city effectively re-contextualises the echoing highway noises into a more intentional cacophony, akin to the white noise of great billowing gusts of wind or ocean waves. Rather than suppressing manmade noise, this work seeks to understand its rhythms and frequency, and to offer a new sonic perspective on it.

p a c e: A dance and sonic activation across Kampong Bahru Bus Terminal
Sat, 16 and 23 Nov | 4.30pm–5.30pm
Kampong Bahru Bus Terminal
Free with registration

This work is set in Kampong Bahru Bus Terminal (KBBT) and was made as a response to Tan Pin Pin’s video documentary of walk walk (Singapore Deviation version).

The active bus terminal is a place of beginnings and endings, where daily commutes often follow the pulse of the city. Nearby, the Rail Corridor bustles with activity with joggers, cyclists and people, passing through the bus terminal as a waypoint. walk walk has screened every day at KBBT for 2 years. In the film, Tan Pin Pin, together with Amanda Heng and interviewees, respond to the theme of walking. The artist further expounds on one’s freedom of movement and how the body politic is folded into the freedoms we are perceived to deserve or not.

p a c e is a performance centred on rhythm. It follows people moving in and out of sync, exploring how we move, move together and move with one another. It is an invitation to reimagine the act of waiting, walking and the way we move through transient spaces.

Special thanks to Land Transport Authority and SBS Transit.

• Photography and Videography
  Please note that there may be photography and/or recording (audio and/or video) at the event. By attending, you consent to your photograph and/or recording (video/audio) being used for future online and offline communications by SAM for archival, museum-related publicity and publications only.
• Liability
  Singapore Art Museum and site owner SBS Transit are not liable for any injury, loss or damage that may be sustained from programme participation.

Bodily Meander: A site-specific movement connection
Sun, 17 and 24 Nov | 5pm and 8pm
Duxton Plain Park
Meet between Essen@The Pinnacle and the Indian Rubber Heritage Tree next to Poh Toh Si Temple (click on Google map link for exact location)
Free with registration

Bodily Meander draws its primary impetus from Aki Hassan’s public art commission, Grounding Points: Settled and Settling In, which mark the northern and southern points of Duxton Plain Park. Through [the genre of] contemporary dance that embraces diverse movement expressions, this roving performance introduces fluid levels of performativity in the communal space. Bodily Meander invites the audience to wonder about a space beyond its functional existence and connect to a place with its own memories in new light. The corporeal bodies become the main medium of connection. Both the performers and audience imprint ephemeral physical traces of engaging with the sculptural artwork and its environment – highlighting observations in reciprocity between the organic and synthetic, human and non-human, movement and stillness. Like a river depositing sediments as it flows, the performance transforms into a conduit for heightened sensibilities within Duxton Plain Park.

Bodily Meander calls for us to pause in our tracks, allowing detours or even retracing one’s course, and seeks to explore personal experiences of connection through physical engagement.

Notes to Audience

• What to Bring
  This is a roving performance. You are encourages to dress comfortable and travel light. You are also advised to bring a water bottle, and prepare wet weather gear and insect repellent.
• Inclement Weather
  This is a shine-only programme. In view of severe weather conditions, the performance may be delayed by a maximum of 15 minutes, paused or cancelled for the safety of all. Your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated.
• Photography and Videography
  You are welcome to take non-flash photos and videos. Please ensure that devices are on silent mode to minimise disruptions during the performance.
• Accessibility
  If you require assistance accessing the performance location, have mobility conditions or related needs, please let us know during registration.
• Liability
  Singapore Art Museum is not liable for any injury, loss or damage that may be sustained from programme participation.

updraft
About Kin Leonn

Image courtesy of Christopher Sim

Kin Leonn is a Singaporean artist, composer and producer who releases music under KITCHEN. LABEL. A first-class graduate of the London College of Music and a 2021 recipient of the Spike Stent award, he has composed numerous multi-channel sonic installations, notably for Singapore’s ArtScience Museum, London’s Architectural Association in collaboration with Sean Gwee, Singapore Art Week and Singapore Night Festival. His original soundtracks for films such as The Breaking Ice 燃冬 (2023) by Director Anthony Chen, and Crocodile Tears (2024) by Tumpal Tampubolon have premiered in Cannes, Toronto and Busan Film Festivals. As an electronic producer and mix engineer, he has featued in productions with yeule, Moderat, Lucinda Chua and Yunè Pinku. His co-production and songwriting on the album softscars with yeule was critically lauded, with Pitchfork naming it #10 on their “Best 50 Albums of 2023” list.

p a c e
About Chew Shaw En
Choreographer

Image courtesy of Mark Benedict Cheong

Chew Shaw En is a performer, dance artist and facilitator with a multidisciplinary practice that spans different contexts. She works with performance score, task-based devising, and fundamentally with improvisation. In spaces where she wears the director and choreographer hat, she draws upon fantasy, the vernacular, and her experience with socially engaged arts practices to evoke imagery, metaphor and concepts that guide her creations. Chew is interested in rehearsing in an environment that allows for a practice that explores new ways of coexistence with a group of people.

Her creations include Across a Small Distance, an interdisciplinary performance in collaboration with Jevon Chandra; In Being With, a dance film commissioned by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay; unsuspecting guardians cutting a path through dust, a series of wall murals at Boon Lay. Chew is actively involved in community-driven projects with Superhero Me and 3Pumpkins, where she is presently working on projects such as GROW 2024 and Let’s Go Play Outside! Respectively.

About Adele Goh
Dance Artist

Adele Goh is a contemporary dancer, teacher and choreographer working in various contexts and with diverse bodies, including dancers with disabilities. Goh’s movement practice is constantly evolving, but has strong influences from somatic-based techniques, Gaga and Flying Low. She enjoys improvisation, spontaneity and play. In recent years, she has created, collaborated and performed for different platforms including M1 Contact Contemporary Dance Festival, Arts in Your Neighbourhood, ArtScience Late at Home, da:ns festival and Odoru-Akita Dance Festival. From 2013–2018, she was also a company artist with Frontier Danceland.

About Ahmad Kamil
Dance Artist

Ahmad Kamil is a versatile Singaporean choreographer, performer, director and mentor who has been shaping the local dance scene since 2008. As the Artistic Director of Six.5, Kamil is known for creating relatable and innovative performances, embracing the uniqueness of his collaborators. His project Hitung has earned a championship and been featured on stages such as Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay’s.

A passionate educator, Kamil also coaches with National University of Singapore, Temasek Polytechnic and NAFA, continuously pushing the possibilities of street dance with his soulful artistry.

About Wu Jun Han
Sound Artist

Wu Jun Han thinks and plays with sound (and other things). He makes strange noises and listens to them. Sometimes people listen to the strange noises he makes. He also performs and sometimes adjunct lectures at NAFA.

About Ben Poh
Musician

Ben Poh, a melodic and articulate bass player, began his musical journey as a self-taught bass guitarist before studying the double bass at LASALLE College of the Arts under his mentor, Christy Smith. He graduated with a BA Honours (First Class) in Jazz Performance.

Poh’s versatility shined through collaborations with renowned artists, having shared the stage with Grammy Award-Winning artist Ernie Watts and performed at events such as the EFG London Jazz Festival and the JEN Conference in Reno, Nevada. He left his mark across Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom, playing alongside artists Kit Chan, A-Do, Sulene Fleming, Show Lo and many more. In 2022, Poh joined A-Mei on her ASMeiR US Tour and Weibird’s After 30 World Tour in 2023, solidifying his status as a seasoned musician.

About Aida Sa’ad (Yellow Mushmellow)
Costume Designer

Aida (Yellow Mushmellow) is a visual artist whose works in colourful installations, murals and textile design. She believes in seeing magic in everyday things.

Bodily Meander
About Chiew Peishan
Choreographer

Photo Credit: Bernie Ng, courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay

Chiew Peishan is a dance artist. She graduated with a Master of Arts in Contemporary Dance (Distinction) from London Contemporary Dance School, with the support of the National Arts Council Arts Scholarship (Overseas).

Chiew’s practice is informed by life, where she draws from lived experiences to craft autobiographical fiction. Engaging the body as the central medium, her works explore the connections and tensions between reality and imagination, and are situated in the in-between of subjective truth and inventive representation.

Her live performance and filmic works have been presented in Singapore, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and in Europe.

About Kwek Yixuan
Dance Artist

Image courtesy of Crispian Chan

Yixuan, or Yi, is a multi-hyphenate who enjoys a broad creative practice. She holds a BA Honours (First Class) in Dance and Choreography from Falmouth University, United Kingdom, and has since found herself exploring the field of dance and performance through making, writing, and producing amidst other in-betweens. Most recently, Kwek helmed cont ·act Contemporary Dance Festival as Festival Manager. Presently a dance artist with T.H.E Second Company, she re-focuses on performance work with fresh eyes, and brings with her a physical practice that is curious, present and urgent, drawing from the keen perspectives that emerge through working with, and from the body.

About Shaun Lim
Dance Artist

Image courtesy of Crispian Chan

Since his graduation from LASALLE College of the Arts’ BA(Hons) Dance with First-Class Honours, Shaun Lim has been performing in works by local and overseas choreographers. In 2018, he joined T.H.E. Second Company and performed in their productions LiTHE and Dance at Dusk, working with choreographers Kuik Swee Boon, Marcus Foo and Goh Shou-Yi.

In 2019, he performed Silence Between Waves with Richard Chappell Dance (RCD) in the United Kingdom and toured the work with the company.

He currently teaches dance and performs on a project basis. The movement potential of the human body continues to intrigue him as he explores his practice further.

About Vick Low
Sound Artist

Image courtesy of Biddy Low

Vick Low is a Singaporean sound designer/electronic artist. Trained in the cello, he fuses both organic and electronic sonic elements to create soundscapes in his current practice. His works are influenced by the genres of minimalism, electronica and ambient, creating a space for organic and electronic elements to co-exist.

In 2019, he was nominated for “Best Sound Design” for The Straits Times’ Life Theatre Awards for The Watching by Toy Factory Productions.

Some of his sound design works include Titoudao by Toy Factory Productions, Everything for You by Nine Years Theatre, Hutan at the 2022 AWESOME Festival, Perth, and Windward Side of the Mountain as part of SCCC’s Cultural Extravaganza 2022.