Arts In Your Neighbourhood: A Melange Of Cultural Must-Sees Is Taking Over Pasir Ris

Pasir Ris is about to look a little bit different this month (Credit: Courtesy of National Arts Council)

The appreciation of the arts shouldn’t just be confined within museums and galleries, but made accessible to the layman on the street. Channelling it to the masses is Arts in Your Neighbourhood, a biannual, multi-disciplinary initiative that transforms local districts into canvases of visual arts, literary arts, music and more. Following its previous edition in November 2020 when it invigorated the habitat of Kallang and Geylang, this next season now takes place in the Eastern coastal area of Pasir Ris.

(Credit: Courtesy of National Arts Council)

An endeavour by the National Arts Council that’s free to attend, this urban takeover happens from 11 to 28 March around different parts of the neighbourhood. This edition is inspired by the anecdotes of the district’s inhabitants and its storied history as a recreational town, surfacing as 10 various programmes that will be conducted both on-site and online. Some of these will even be interactive, letting you influence the way you perceive these installations and exhibitions while diving deeper into the heritage of Pasir Ris.

Archipelago by Jaxton Su (Credit: Courtesy of National Arts Council)

Highlights include Archipelago by Jaxton Su at E! Avenue at Downtown East, an installation comprising video art and sculptures made by Pasir Ris residents, to build a miniature paradise island based on their memories of the neighbourhood.

Kotak Foto by 3Pumpkins (Credit: Courtesy of National Arts Council)

Observe Pasir Ris through a new lens with Kotak Foto by 3Pumpkins with artist, Isabelle Desjeux, and composer, Phang Kok Jun, by hopping into the back of a roving track that’s been converted into a pinhole camera box.

PODSCAPE – Sounds & Stories of the City: HELLO PASIR RIS! by Shophouse & Co (Credit: Courtesy of National Arts Council)

Or record your own story with PODSCAPE – Sounds & Stories of the City: HELLO PASIR RIS! by Shophouse & Co, a yellow mobile recording booth in Pasir Ris Park that also houses its own immersive tales for you to listen.

Api Api’s Dreams by Syndicate (Credit: Courtesy of National Arts Council)

And over at White Sands, audio-visual collective, Syndicate, will showcase Api Api’s Dreams. With featured works by Marc Gabriel Loh, OnlyHuan, Anise and Claude Glass, this projection display lining the mall’s facade combines trippy depictions of Pasir Ris’ natural surroundings with original music compositions.

Watch a film on puppetry featuring The Finger Players (Credit: Courtesy of National Arts Council)

Other programmes include a puppetry exhibition at Pasir Ris Public Library, a visual arts walking trail that transmutes void decks and coffeeshops into installations, and pick-your-own-adventure games online that educate about native otter populations.

Projects like Arts in Your Neighbourhood help to normalise culture in a city that often ignores it. By exhibiting it on the streets, it disrupts one’s way of thinking and edifies the community as a whole. With the pandemic shoving the arts to the back seat, we need more initiatives like these to bring back the colour in our lives.

Arts in Your Neighbourhood happens in Pasir Ris from 11 to 28 March 2021. For full locations, schedule and how to reserve slots, visit this website.