Something important seems to be happening in photography, with the opening of the first Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF) at Gallery 2902 Old School last night.
Curated by NAFA’s Terence Yeung, who’s done a lot of fantastic exhibitions in Singapore, the spaces at Old School are being used to show a cross-section of projects that says some interesting things about the different ways that photography can be used as a media/artform. That whole rainbow between documentary and abstract, harsh and serene, figurative and interperative.
The stars of the show, just for sheer scale and confrontational impact, are probably Vee Speers’ The Birthday Party – Part 1 (image in post) and G.M.B. Akash’s Born to Work, but there are lots of other projects with things to say. I especially liked the way that Kushal Ray’s Family Matters and Stella Kalaw’s Family Space tackled a theme in two totally different ways. Nicolas Pascarel’s 106o 39′7″E 10o 49′8″N, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam seems familiar in its technique, but there’s no denying how successful his attention to colour and form is in producing a series of great beauty. And I loved NTU guest-lecturer Paul Kohl’s Two Fish, Out of Water, which humbled me by exploring themes I’m trying to look at in my own photography, and showed me where I might be able to take it if I really, really, really work hard.
It’s one of the most intelligently put together collections I’ve seen, and it feels like some kind of milestone for Singapore, so if you’re nearby (there’s a massive flight of stairs near to Plaza Singapura that’ll take you right up there) before the end of October then I thoroughly recommend it.
There’s also SIPF exhibitions happening at Arts House, SMU, LaSalle, Post-Museum, SAM, Kay Ngee Tan Architects, ACM, National Museum, the Italian Cultural Institute (a short walk from OldSchool), Taksu Gallery, Epson at Wheelock and The Heeren.
It’s probably worth also saying that the pictures were selected from an open call submission process, it’s a volunteer-based festival and there’s a bunch of great workshops and lectures too. Yay!
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October 20, 2008 at 1:13 pm
[...] Singapore International Photography FestivalSomething important seems to be happening in photography, with the opening of the first Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF) at Gallery 2902 Old School last night. Curated by NAFA’s Terence Yeung, who’s done a lot of … [...]
October 22, 2008 at 1:22 pm
[...] Singapore International Photography FestivalSomething important seems to be happening in photography, with the opening of the first Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF) at Gallery 2902 Old School last night. Curated by NAFA’s Terence Yeung, who’s done a lot of … [...]