Learning Journey
Ever Present: First People of Australia
When one is thinking about Singapore, of course it will always be connected to how rich of this country is with culture, art, and variety of people. This Wednesday, I got the chance to visit National Gallery Singapore as part of my Learning Journey in NAFA. It is my first time visiting a gallery in Singapore! It has been quite some time since the last time I visited one even in my home country, due to the sudden pandemic. I was very excited to have the experience which I was once enjoyed as a child. So, here are my journey…
There were several galleries which I entered to. However, the most unforgettable one is the gallery of Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia. There, many different expressions of arts are being displayed. From painting, sculpture, audio, and even short documentaries. I learnt so many things regarding the evaluation of Aborigins through them that are drawn by Australians and many other people coming from different countries. I find it really amusing how all these people were trying their best to tell us the history of Australia even though that it is not their ancestors. How they can manage to tell what they want to communicate and express their knowledge through the movement of their brush, color that contains on it, or even just a sculpture.
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There were so many interesting artworks that makes me wonder, “why does the artist draw it this way?” or even just as simple as “why would they choose this color palette? what inspires them?”. Fortunately, there was also some staff to explain further about each artwork, so that so many questions of ours are answered.
For example, this one huge painting (you can see the comparison of the painting with me in front of it to see how big the artwork was). The first question that popped up in my head was “Why would the artist want to make the artwork as pointillism? why is there so many colors on it? Why is it so big?”
The painting above is titled as “Seven Sisters”, painted by Tjungkara Ken, Sandra Ken, Yaritji Young, Freda Brady, and Maringka Tunkin. The Seven Sisters is an epic Ancestral story told in many Aboriginal Communities across Australia. In the story, seven sisters traveling on a journey are pursued by an old man, Wati Nyiru. He wanted one of the sisters to be his wife but, due to their different skin classifications and familial ties, they were culturally incompatible. To evade Wati Nyiru, the sisters eventually launched themselves into the sky, transforming into the star cluster known as the Pleiades. it appears to launch from the earth’s surface and make its journey in close proximity to the land. They are seen to be running away, fleeing from the man who wants to take one of the sisters for his wife, who become the constellation known as Orion. Every night, the women leap into the sky with the old man following.
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I find this artwork special because how the artists conclude all the story together, is impeccable and beyond words. How this is the only pointillism artwork among other realistic paint, because the artists want to tell a story of how the seven sisters sparks on the sky, with all the qualities of each color that are also contrasting, as a reflection of how different each of them are, also with the Wati Nyiru. Also, after i got home, I was also curious about the story of the seven sisters and find some insights that the story of the Seven Sisters is varied from one place to another. The one that I just explained is how the Australian interpret the legend. While in Hongkong, the interpretation of the Seven Sisters Legend is a bit different, here are one of the versions of it:
The difference between these two versions, is that the one from Australia says that the seven sisters and the Wati Nyiru are still running away from one another, alive, and becoming stars each night. While the one from Hongkong says that the Seven Sister somehow just died, walked hand-in-hand into the water, and drowned themselves. With these two comparisons of stories, I realized that every story, even artworks may be interpreted differently based on ones’ cultures. Even though that the groove or the allure are similar, the plot, the prologue, and the meaning may be different. And that what makes every story is interesting and worth to be listened.
Most of the artwork that being made and displayed in this Gallery are also inspired by the story of seven sisters, for instance, this one wood carved painting below that I forgot the name:(
All of the figures that I pointed out are actually representations of the seven sisters, the sisters flying together between the sun in the sky. The reason why the artists carved and drew them this way was because they want to tell how the seven sisters are trying to hide together, travelling across the land, form a steep hill, escaping from Wati Nyiru.
Overall, I really enjoyed my museum visiting experience to National Gallery of Singapore. I really appreciate how all the artists together form their artworks to tell the world about the story that they want to tell, a culture that reflects on who they are. I feel like most people are starting to forget about their culture because of the modernization and globalization of the world. And with attending this museum, I am reminded and inspired to still give much appreciation of what my culture, Indonesia has and probably use them as inspiration for my future fashion collection.
Other documentations about today<3:
Asian Civilization Museum
There is a temporary Batik Gallery located in Asian Civilization Museum, called “Batik Kita”. Even though that this Exhibition has already been held since around August, I have never gotten the time nor opportunity to visit it. However, this Wednesday I finally got the chance to visit it, and here is my journey…
To be honest, visiting a batik gallery is not a new thing for me. Back in my hometown, I was often gone to visit a batik gallery, or just as simply as wearing batik every Friday during my high school. So, going to Batik Kita was not special for me. However, I actually regret that I did not come visit to this gallery sooner. The reason why is that on week 5 and 6, we, as those who take the fashion domain for BADP, made two of batik motifs as one of the assignments with all the “real” traditional batik equipment (tjanting tools, bee wax, and calico) and experiencing the whole process of sketching, prototyping, and coloring of batik motifs since week 1. Therefore, I think that if only that I came to visit this gallery sooner, I would have much more deeper understanding about the variety of the techniques, the colors, and the function for each type of motifs.
I realized that most of the batik motifs that are displayed on the gallery were being made from many backgrounds, tale, and inspirations. For example, the picture above on the left, was inspired by the object found in nature in Kudus, where the land was filled by many insects on the ground. The picture on the center, however, shows how the batik motifs can also be varied from typography. There, a sentence that says, “Let’s stop those crazy irresponsible people who make and sell nuclear power and nuclear weapons!”, was contained in the batik as a way for the artists to communicate their thoughts about the colonialization in Indonesia in the 1900s. The picture on the right, was one of the techniques for the designers and batikers to expand their batik motif with batik tambal, or patchwork. It was constructed by the idea of gathering the meaning and aspirations of each batik pattern on one single piece, making it a totality of power and energy.
Tan Sheau Yun reinterprets Shanghai Cheongsam in Visco Batik​
Although that there were also many kebaya/garments displayed on the gallery, here is one of them that I found interesting. The name of the garment was not that memorable, it just titled as “Tan Sheau Yun reinterprets Shanghai Cheongsam in Visco Batik”. Even so, I find that this Batik garment just really catch my eyes and attention with its combination of repeated motifs, colors, and silhouette from different culture/even continents. The batik motif itself is a representation of African Vilsco with a compilation of bold and contrasting colors of orange and light blue, just like what the color of lanterns usually found in China. And the richness of culture does not just stop there. The silky silhouette of this dress is inspired by 1930s Shanghainese cheongsam that can be worn for regularly wear.
The thing that I learn and notice from how the batik motifs, garments, jewelries, and other artworks were presented is that all of them, are displayed inside of a dark room with yellow lamp irradiating the garments, so that the focus of the visitors’ eyes is just to the garments itself. By doing this, I think that all of the effort and details of the designers put in order to communicate the design and for the visitor to enjoy the artwork, is a success. The reason why, is that sometimes even the greatest artwork may not be enjoyed as much as how it should be, because they were being displayed, poorly. So, after visiting this gallery, I then realized that every detail of designing, from sketching until the day of the exhibition, is very crucial and needed to be meticulously considered. The lighting set up, the artwork’s arrangement and movement, the audio/music background, or even the temperature of the gallery should all be compiled perfectly so that the visitor will enjoy the artwork.
After visiting the Batik Kita Gallery, I was curious about the other Gallery in ACM. Also, I was a bit stuck to expand my project this semester, so I also went to several gallery, other than fashion related to get broader insights and also inspiration from different culture.
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I realized that most of the motifs of the house equipment mainly made in China during the late 17th Century, are inspired by flower and butterfly. However, behind all the pot/dishes/holder for candles, there were deeper meaning buried inside, and there is always a story to tell. Some of them contained of a love story, some of them are just a representation of the sophistication of China, and some of them are just meant to be made as a tribute to the Chinese emperors, although that most were also destined for overseas market.
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As most of the equipment are utilized by women, I think that it then affects how the color was chosen for the motifs. For example, the branched holder for candles contained the combination of light pink, yellow, green, and blue, which then gives the impression of softness and also femineity.
Other documentation taken on the Museum:
