Things To Do In Singapore: Singapore Mental Health Film Festival, Graduate Fashion Show & Textile Art Exhibition
Our weekly edit of things to do in Singapore.
By Keng Yang Shuen,
This week, the Singapore Mental Health Film Festival starts both virtual and in-person screenings for its nuanced slate of films and related panel discussions – certainly an important topic that needs more frank conversation than ever before.
Over at Millenia Walk, Singapore artist Natalia Tan and non-profit organisation Art Outreach have organised and curated a pop-up exhibition focusing on textile art in all its colourful and disparate forms.
And look out for the next generation of fashion designers at Lasalle College of the Arts graduate show, premiering on YouTube this week.
The Singapore Mental Health Film Festival (SMHFF) is a fairly new addition to the film scene, but it's a vitally important one, especially with renewed social distancing measures as a key source of additional stress.
"2020 has highlighted the importance of having constructive and safe spaces to talk about mental health," says Daryl Goh, the festival's communications director. "After a year of disruption and isolation, SMHFF is returning with a stronger focus on resilience and recovery. We have always aimed to provide a safe platform for audiences, particularly those in the position to support the mental health of youths, to learn more about the different aspects of mental health."
The third edition of the festival sees it going hybrid: audiences can catch the films online at SMHFF's website, or in person at National Gallery Singapore. Additionally, all nine feature films on the slate (pictured here: the award-winning French drama Little Tickles) have been paired with a panel discussion that addresses diverse topics such as mental health at the workplace, Covid-19 and its dizzying demands of change, and childhood trauma – all relevant and timely subjects for most people.
If that speaks to you, get your virtual passes here.
May 22 to May 30
Last year saw Lasalle College of The Arts showcasing the works of over 800 graduating students from various disciplines digitally for the first time. Likewise, the collections from 26 students from this year's BA(Hons) Fashion Design and Textiles programme will be premiered in a show titled A New Light on the institution's YouTube channel.
The students were tasked with investigating the notion of change within the fashion industry, expanding on a theme ‘Where does the body end and where does dress begin?", a question posed by academics Alexandra Warwick and Dani Cavallaro. With more and more channels of digital expressions for fashion opening up in recent years, this is one show well worth catching.
Catch the premiere at noon on May 21 on YouTube
If you're into knitting, crocheting and woven forms of textile art, don't miss out on pop-up art exhibition Into Softer Worlds. Curated by Singapore artist Natalia Tan and organised by non-profit organisation Art Outreach, it features lovely, deeply tactile works by artists who all have highly idiosyncratic approaches to textiles and craft. Tan herself primarily practices freestyle Saori weaving – an accessible, hand-weaving style that emphasises free expression and can be executed without formal technical techniques.
Others include crochet artist Kelly Limerick, who has yarn-bombed the exterior of the container (the exhibition is housed in three repurposed shipping containers) using upcycled nylon yarn, while Singapore University of Technology and Design's Harmony Planning Committee has contributed fabrics knitted on a computer using algorithms they developed.
There are also works by artists Adeline Thng, Agatha Lee, Alysha Rahmat Shah, Autumn Brown, Jennifer Anne Champion, Nandita Mukand and Nature Shankar. It's also an interactive exhibition as audiences are invited to try their hand at weaving on a Japanese floor loom, as well as contribute to a collective tapestry.
More details here.
On now till June 27, 11am-8pm at Millenia Walk