SINGAPORE PAVILION PRESENTATION AT 58TH VENICE BIENNALE COMES HOME

The presentation extends Ang’s practice of using music as a platform to explore ideas of public involvement, and the myriad ways people relate to music, both individually and collectively. Working across a wide variety of formats, Ang often develops participatory processes whose outcome generate knowledge in unexpected ways. Titled Music for Everyone: Variations on a Theme, Ang’s presentation takes inspiration from Music For Everyone, a series of concerts organised by Singapore’s then-Ministry of Culture in the 1970s and 80s to encourage public appreciation of the arts.

A major component of the presentation is Recorder Rewrite, a work based on the recorder, a music instrument that has been part of Singapore’s music education in schools since the 1970s. Central to Ang’s vision that art can be created by anyone, the three-channel film installation features children from different cultural and musical backgrounds performing a composition of their own, following a two-day workshop on improvisation exercises and unconventional uses of the recorder.

The presentation also includes Recorder Sculptures, in which Ang disassembled various recorders into their three sections of head joint, barrel and foot joint, and then rearranged them into distinct forms that demonstrate the potential of art to be whimsical and free flowing.

The homecoming show, which drew crowds in tens of thousands since its opening in Venice, will see three new physical works being presented together for the first time in the expanded site at the National Museum of Singapore. These works are an extension of Ang’s egalitarian vision of Music for Everyone, engaging thoughtfully with the structures and contexts of music-making and how greater dialogue can emerge from the universal language of music. Approached as a “remix” of the original presentation, the three works combined reveal the collaborative process of music and art-making, communication through music, and ways of co-creation with the public that bring forth a more empathetic connection in the experience of art. 

Apart from viewing the show at the National Museum of Singapore, NAC has also commissioned a host of digital public programmes that can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. This includes a special performative lecture by Ang himself, as he delves into the expanded range of artistic and musical influences for Recorder Rewrite, from musique concrète to postmodern dance. A panel discussion featuring visionaries and past participants of the Venice Biennale such as the likes of Young Artist Award recipient Ho Tzu Nyen and Singapore-based Ute Meta Bauer will also be held during this time, looking back at a decade of the Venice Biennale. This is an opportunity for audiences in Singapore and beyond to learn more about Singapore’s lesser-known music appreciation history through a contemporary lens, while understanding the evolution of our local visual arts scene from the comfort of their own homes.Interested public can also sign up for guided curator and exhibition tours.

Exhibition Programmes