Limited Time Only: A roving theatrical performance inspired by Hilmi Johandi’s Stagecraft: Landscaped Grounds
Sat–Sun, 27–28 Apr, 4–5 May | 11am–12pm
Meet at SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road #01-02 S089065
$27 per ticket | Limited slots

The Second Breakfast Company presents an unforgettable roving theatrical experience titled Limited Time Only, which is inspired by Hilmi Johandi’s Stagecraft: Landscaped Grounds, a public art commission by The Everyday Museum, a public art initiative by Singapore Art Museum.

Unfolding amidst the rich tapestry of Wessex Estate, Commonwealth Avenue, Tanglin Halt, Queenstown and the Rail Corridor, this extraordinary adventure with a mysterious travel agency is a one-of-a-kind experience that defies time and space. Embark on this journey to (de)construct the narratives of and our evolving relationship with these dynamic locations.

Choose between voyaging to the past and witnessing the Rail Corridor as a historic railway line amidst burgeoning estates, or leaping into the future to behold its transformative developments and untold possibilities. Your decision on this journey determines the outcome of the performance! Which path would you tread?

Limited Time Only is commissioned by The Everyday Museum, a public art initiative by Singapore Art Museum, and conceptualised by The Second Breakfast Company. The use of oral history interviews in this performance is made possible with the support of the Oral History Centre, National Archives of Singapore. Stagecraft: Landscaped Grounds is supported by Sun Venture, in venue partnership with JTC.

Stagecraft: Landscaped Grounds is currently on view at Wessex Estate (10 Woking Road) adjacent to the Rail Corridor, accessible via the entrance at 55A Commonwealth Drive.

Credits and Acknowledgement

Director: Cherilyn Woo
Playwright and Dramaturg: Farhanah Diyanah
Sound Designer: Mark Benedict Cheong
Production and Stage Manager: Charlotte Elizabeth
Actors: Masturah Oli, Fahim Murshed

Featuring extracts from the oral history interviews of:
Lim Wee Kiang @ Dennis Lim (Accession number 003502 Reel/Disc 2 of 5)
Woo Yen Yen (Dr) (Special Project, Accession number E000045 Reel/Disc 1 of 1)
Chee Haw Poh Paul (Accession number 003048 Reel/Disc 1 of 11)
Chan, Benedict Wai Meng (History of the Labour Movement, Accession number 004615)
Richmond Bryan @ Brian Richmond (Queenstown Community Book and Trail, Accession number 003155 Reel/Disc 2 of 3)

Disclaimer

• Registration begins 15 minutes before the start of the performance. Please arrive early as latecomers may miss the programme.
• This roving performance will involve a bus charter to a second location at 55A Commonwealth Drive, where audience will leave at the end of the programme. Please arrange for your return transport accordingly.
• Please feel free to bring portable stools or camping chairs, portable fans, as well as an umbrella or poncho for this performance.
• This is a rain-or-shine event. The performance will be adapted according to weather conditions and will continue even in the event of heavy rain.
• Singapore Art Museum will not be able to issue any refunds due to any unforeseen circumstances that may prevent you from attending the performance once tickets have been sold.
• Singapore Art Museum and The Second Breakfast Company are not liable for any injury, loss or damage that you may sustain from participating in this programme.

retirement plan/pelan persaraan: A performance along the Rail Corridor by Tini Aliman and Cristiana Cott

Sat, 27 Apr | 4–5pm
Meet at Spooner Road entrance to the Rail Corridor, opposite Kampong Bahru Bus Terminal
Free (registration required)

retirement plan/pelan persaraan is an homage to the human and non-human beings that resided in, traversed across, perished within or were displaced from the Rail Corridor. This performance, conceived by sound artist Tini Aliman and performance artist Cristiana Cott, asks: As we connect to the ground on which we walk and pay attention to the soundscape of local sites, can we discover who was here originally, how they arrived and for what reasons? Can we also shift away from the binaries that structure colonial thought, such as self/other, human/animal and culture/nature?

Before the introduction of the national archival system, songs and melodies were modes of ancestral storytelling and served as historical documentation of lives and events. The postwar years ushered in the radio as a form of mass media and popular entertainment in Singapore. This performance references the format of Radio Malaya, exploring how sound can conjure memories that resist the state’s built environment, art historiography and cultural history, providing alternative narratives that shape both community and nation.

retirement plan/pelan persaraan is inspired by The Everyday Museum’s self-guided audio trail episode Speaking of which: A Living Blueprint, which features sound compositions and field recordings, also by Tini Aliman.

Disclaimer

• Registration begins 15 minutes before the start of the performance. Please arrive early as latecomers may miss the programme.
• This performance is a rain-or-shine event. Please bring along an umbrella or poncho.
• Please be mindful of your surroundings while participating in this roving performance. Singapore Art Museum is not liable for any injury, loss or damage that you may sustain from participating in this programme.

About Tini Aliman

Tini Aliman is a sound artist and designer, composer and audio engineer who works at the intersection of theatre and film sound design, live sound art performance, installation and collaborative projects. With research interests including but not limited to forest networks, spatial acoustics, bio-music, botanical histories and the variables of data translations, she does not specifically aim to anthropomorphise, or to translate these data to a language that human minds comprehend. Her base practice seeks to use technology to measure the galvanic conductance in living beings, a form of bio-electricity and transform that data into sound for deep listening, contemplation, and deep soundlessness. She has been involved in projects, performances and exhibitions presented at National Gallery Singapore, NTU Center for Contemporary Art, Biennale Urbana in Venice, UNSSC Turin, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst Aachen, Sammlung Philara Düsseldorf, Singapore Art Museum and SFMOMA.

About Cristiana Cott Negoescu

Cristiana Cott  Negoescu focuses on socio-political issues such as the exploitation of nature, migration, digitalisation, women’s and workers’ rights. In 2023, she created Domestic Sector, a performance/installation that recreated the living conditions of female labour migrants trying to escape from circumstances reminiscent of slavery. In 2022, she created Disgusted, But Still Very Hungry, a performative installation on the subject of overfishing and its consequences. In 2021, she reflected on absurd beauty norms at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. While optimising her body in an excessive performative gesture, she recited poems that dealt with self-criticism. In the work 195ccm, she portrayed substandard living conditions in order to draw attention to how differently these are distributed in society. In 2023, she received the NRW Förderpreis (Visual Arts) for her work on socially controversial topics.

Nuts for Nutmeg: Grace Tan in conversation with Ivan Brehm and Timothy Pwee
Moderated by Tan Pey Chuan
Fri, 3 May | 7–8pm
SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Level 3, Corporate Office, Main Deck
Free (registration required)

Join artist Grace Tan, Timothy Pwee, senior librarian at the National Library Board, and Ivan Brehm, chef and owner of Nouri restaurant, as they uncover how the nutmeg has served as a source material for their respective practices and influenced our culture at large, and consider its history and culinary significance in relation to the legacy of Singapore’s colonial economy. Examine how everyday materials can be interpreted through various disciplines, and how personal and collective memories shape our experiences.

Nutmeg is a spice from the “Far East” that has influenced European taste and culture since the 6th or 7th century. Drawing upon myriad references and the history of nutmeg plantations in Tanjong Pagar, Grace Tan created The fruit of deceit, a site-specific artwork featuring stencilled motifs of delicare floral garlands, pollination trails and nutmeg fruits that embellish an exterior staircase and passageway. Here, the notion of nature as a commodity is foregrounded against the physical site of the old Keppel Harbour (present-day Tanjong Pagar Distripark)––a logistical node that facilitated the circulation of materials, goods, ideas, people and capital.

Conceptual Collage: An art and photography parent-child workshop inspired by Grace Tan’s Sea of flags
Sat, 4 May | 3–5.30pm
SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Level 3, Corporate Office, Main Deck
Free (registration required) | Ages 5 and up

In this family-friendly workshop, participate in an afternoon of creative exploration and make your very own work of art inspired by Grace Tan’s Sea of flags. Learn about the fundamentals of colour theory and photography as you embark on a walking trail with Gosh! Kids to discover and document the community spaces in Tanjong Pagar. The session will culminate in a hands-on workshop, where you may adopt the creative processes and modes of production that artist Grace Tan employed for Sea of flags. Participants will be given a customised art kit and guided through the process of selecting colours and details to create unique compositions.

Sea of flags is a large-scale public artwork on the facade of 39 Tanjong Pagar Distripark, where SAM currently resides. It engages with the history and identity of Tanjong Pagar and is a tribute to the memory of the district’s massive development over two centuries. The flags that make up the installation are an assemblage of material swatches colour-matched with physical objects and digital images of the area. Consolidated from over 400 colours, these swatches are derived from the landscape and architecture, natural and man-made materials that have defined the district’s past industries.

Gosh! Kids is a creative arts school and community that aims to empower children to find their own voices in the digital age, primarily through photography, art and design courses.

Disclaimer

• This adult-child workshop is suitable for children aged 5 years old and above. Every child participant should be accompanied by an adult aged 18 years and above. Please note that Singapore Art Museum reserves the right to turn away unattended children from attending the workshop.
• While exploring the neighbourhood, please be mindful of your surroundings. The workshop will involve crossing roads, passing construction sites and walking uphill and downhill. By embarking on this activity, you consent that Singapore Art Museum and Gosh! Kids will not be liable for any injury, loss or damage that you may sustain from participating in this programme.