1 day at LumiNation 2019 – a review
What is LumiNation 2019?
This is the 2nd edition of LumiNation, which is held in conjunction with National Day to explore the Singaporean identity through lesser known stories via (mostly free) performances, film screenings, talks, photography, etc. Unfortunately, LumiNation ran from 15-18 Aug, 2019 at The Arts House so it has ended. But don’t despair – read on to see why.
LSQ’s day at LumiNation 2019
I attended LumiNation only on Sunday, 18 Aug 2019 since of the entire programme, I was most interested in the Booktique pop-up, Haw Par Villa photography exhibition, and the cheem-sounding talk: “Representations of Ethnicity and the Curation of the Vernacular City as Heritage in Singapore”.
So….. based on my day spent there, here’s a review of LumiNation 2019.
Booktique pop-up
Booktique is a Singaporean-run independent bookstore that operates at fairs, pop-ups, events, etc ever since their physical store in City Link Mall closed in 2017. I love the collection/curation of books Booktique stocks, with a heavy emphasis on niche titles, both local and international. I love interacting with Booktique’s owner Anthony because he’s always so kind and patient. I even tend to get a little shy around him because he is so well-read and his love for books is palpable such that I feel like a pretender because I’m really not that well-read.
Whenever I can, I’d try to catch a Booktique pop-up so I can stock up on some mental nourishment, and so I was super pleased that I landed 2 local titles at this pop-up: Alfian Sa’at’s Corridor: 12 short stories, and Amanda Lee Koe’s new book Delayed Rays of a Star (I became a big fan of her writing style after devouring her collection of shorts Ministry of Moral Panic). There was also a bonus (and surprise!) $10 voucher that I won by pointing out 1 local author from a list of 10.
Bonus: read this Harper’s Bazaar SG interview with Amanda talking about her new novel and hopefully you will be intrigued too.
p.s. I hope to do some book reviews of the local books I read in the near future :]
p.p.s. If like me, you wish to decelerate brain degeneration by reading some quality and carefully curated books, Booktique will be having its next pop-up on 12th Oct 2019 at the Mental Health Book Fair at 城市書房 City Book Room.
Collective Memory – Haw Par Villa
I really really enjoyed this photography exhibition made up of crowd-sourced personal photographs of Singaporeans at Haw Par Villa from 1965-1985 (the year I was born!) with restaged photographs of the same subjects at the same spot in present day by local photographer Deanna Ng. Each pair of photos are accompanied by personal notes by the contributor such as this:
Deanna Ng embarked on this project to examine how the human mind remembers places and events in our lives versus the use of photos as a form of memory which are permanent and ‘real’.
The question she asks at the end of the project is something we should all muse about too:
“If what had been captured in photographs form part of our history records, what about the parts that had not been captured? Do they cease to exist because no one recorded them mentally or in print?”
Deanna Ng
How can we make sure our archival records are complete and accurate??
Although the main LumiNation 2019 has ended, this exhibition runs till 25 Aug, 2019 – so do check it out at The Arts House if you have some time to spare this weekend!!
Representations of Ethnicity and the Curation of the Vernacular City as Heritage in Singapore
Like I mentioned earlier, I didn’t sign up for this talk just because it sounded cheem and intellectual. Nor did I sign up because the speaker looks like this:
I signed up because I am truly curious about how cultural identities in Singapore can be affected by the urban landscape.
The speaker is Assistant Professor Dr. Imran Tajudeen from the Department of Architecture at the School of Design and Environment in NUS so the talk was quite academic (like my parents / aunts would be quite lost). I must admit though it’s been a while since I attended a lecture-style talk, I was thrilled by the many technical terms and ‘cheem’ words used like ‘lingua franca’ and ‘expunged’ – lol.
To maintain brevity for the hour long talk, Dr. Tajudeen focused mainly on the Chinatown area in Singapore. Mention ‘Chinatown Singapore’ to locals, tourists, or Google, and the image that pops up would probably be the mammoth Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which I have been kindly informed by Dr. Tajudeen, is styled after North-China temples (majority of SG Chinese population come from the South!). Yikes?
There are in fact, many non-Chinese places of worship, schools, houses, and businesses in ‘Chinatown’, and these were presented to the audience in the forms of many never-before seen (by commoners) historical urban planning maps, floor plans of shophouses in the ‘Chinatown’ area, and old photos of lesser known but very important cultural landmarks from old Singapore, some of which have long disappeared or been expunged by the government.
Overall, I was enthralled throughout the duration of the 1 hour talk. My take-away is that to truly appreciate the cultural diversity and richness of any place, we must consider the everyday experiences of people who live(d) and use(d) the spaces, instead of simply allowing our assumptions about a particular place be led by urban planning design.
If like me, you are also interested in a topic like this, good news! Dr. Tajudeen has another talk coming up at the newly opened National Archives of Singapore on 5 Sep, 2019. Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/imran-bin-tajudeen-fine-grain-histories-of-social-diversity-tickets-69160515965
Before I wipe clean……
Hope you enjoyed my Lao Sai review of LumiNation 2019! Look out for my next post on the upcoming Singapore Night Festival 2019 – superrrr excited!