1st Singapore Biennale, Singapore
(curators Fumio Nanjo, Sharmini Pereira, Eugene Tan, Roger McDonald) (C)
Through the conceptual framework of BELIEF, the curatorial team led by Artistic Director Fumio Nanjo, have invited a rich and varied selection of artists to examine the complex questions that surround and inform the questions of belief, which manifest in contemporary society. Under the theme of BELIEF, this groundbreaking cultural event will be experienced across the unique cityscape of Singapore - one of Asia’s most extraordinary examples of cosmopolitan faiths, values and cultural heritages.
The world today is complex and diverse, fraught with war and terrorism. As Samuel Huntington suggests in his book, The Clash of Civilisations, is it really impossible for people with different values and faiths to live together peacefully? In this age of ever-diversifying and mixed value systems, what should people believe in and live by? To live moment-by-moment is also to make choices from multiple possibilities. What do we base on to live by these decisions? Some people believe in the absolute truth of religion; others believe in the rules of capitalism and economics; others in progress and development; and yet others believe in the values of nature and the environment. Love and Art can also become ways or pointers by which to live.
Although Singapore is a small island nation, different faiths, languages, and ethnic groups coexist without violent conflict. It is perhaps fitting then to reflect on the meaning of belief today in such a society. Through art, can we once again think about what binds us together as human beings? This seemingly straightforward yet potentially complex question underpins the first edition of the Singapore Biennale.
“The basis of the artist selection was generated by the way in which their practices engage with the complex and multiple dimensions of belief” Artistic Director Fumio Nanjo remarks. “In fact, many of the artists are participating in a biennale for the first time, though this was by no means a criterion for selection. A further consideration was the unique characteristics and challenges of the exhibition venues. This was also key to identifying artists and how their works would engage with the Singaporean public. I hope that this exhibition will be a stimulating, enjoyable and perhaps even stirring experience for all.”Belief, 1st Singapore Biennale, September – November 2006
Description:
To create the guided tours for the biennale as the project “Guiding Agents of Belief” the artist will train the local guides through a series of workshops and dialogue sessions, as well as provide content. The local guides will be free to explore and make personal contributions. The artist will co-operate with the biennale secretariat to obtain and provide content for the tours.
Write-up by the ARTIST:
The idea of the project is to interpret the artworks in the biennale specifically for the audience in Singapore, to turn the global selection of artists and artworks into a locally relevant reservoir of meanings, experiences, forms and messages. This will further the work of the curatorial team and the biennale staff and root it into the specific context of the host city. The interaction between the ARTIST and the collaborating volunteers/guides will serve as a model for the interaction between the guides and the audience. The ARTIST will contribute specific “global”/professional/personal angles and experiences, knowledge and content, while the collaborating guides will provide their own local and personal reading into the works and the biennale as a whole. The content worked out between the ARTIST and the collaborating guides/volunteers will be shared with the Singapore and international audiences in the form of live guided tours throughout the venues and the timeframe of the biennale. The guides will be trained to lead tours throughout the biennale, but can also develop specific threads across the venues. The guides are expected to follow special orientations and guidelines, devised by the artist for the tours, which aim to respect the works, the concept of the biennale and the project itself while making everything possible to respect and serve the audience. Although starting always as a specific live interface of the biennale, the Guiding Agents of Belief project is meant to be the “soft spot” of encounter and conjugation between the biennale (as a whole and in its parts) and the host city with its specific audiences. Thus, the guides are defined as “agents of Belief” as they are the intermediaries who will have the task of convincing the Singapore audience that this biennale is relevant for them, is meant for them and has the very important mission to enrich their lives and city.
