Public art, pop-ups and parties

GILLMAN BARRACKS

TONIGHT, Gillman Barracks turns into party central with Art After Dark. There will be gallery shows, live music and food pop-ups till late.

The entire length of the arts cluster from Lock Road to Malan Road is newly lined with public sculptures and installations by terrific artists the likes of Cleon Peterson, Kirsten Berg, Zheng Lu and Entang Wiharso. A playground-like installation by Australian artist Mel O'Callaghan, situated behind Block 9 Lock Road, will even feature performers in tights playing games with each other.

At 6.30pm, cult Indonesian duo indieguerillas in collaboration with fashion designer Lulu Lutfi Labibi are organsing a procession-cum-performance which mimics sekaten, a traditional Javanese ceremony from Yogyakarta. The procession begins at NTU CCA in Malan Road and ends at approximately 8pm at Mizuma Gallery in Lock Road. The participants will wear clothes designed by Lulu using upcycled garments made of second-hand clothes from Singapore.

But even if you can't make the big party, NTU CCA will continue to have plenty of free events from now till Jan 22 as part of its ambitious Ideas Fest, an inaugural platform for the exchange of ideas and culture. Among the highlights is a massive public dinner for a maximum of 250 people organised by artists Lucy + Jorge Orta on Jan 20, a spectacular stilt-walking performance on Jan 21, and a Farmers' Market on Jan 22.

Meanwhile, at Block 7 in Lock Road, Supermama's Edwin Low and independent producer Clara Yee have teamed up to curate a mini-design festival that's on till Sunday. The participating brands include Scent By Six perfumery, KIN wallets and Everyday Canoe hand-crafted products.

RAFFLES HOTEL ARCADE

The galleries in Raffles Hotel Arcade have joined forces once again this January to present a series of good exhibitions.

Chan Hampe Galleries, led by its indefatigable curatorial director Khairuddin Hori, has not one, not two, but three shows running simultaneously - all of which are worth seeing.

There are the extremely droll works of Australia's Kenny Pittock, the political art of Vietnam's Le Brothers, and the savage beauty of homeboy Ruben Pang's installation. (Khairuddin, by the way, is also the curator behind Gillman Barracks' Lock Route.)

Next-door to Pang's installation room is a showcase of Gutai artworks by Japan-Singapore gallery Kato Art Duo. And one floor up from these four shows is Element Art Space's showcase of Indonesian artists.

THE ARTS HOUSE

Ten fine talents in South-east Asian art, such as Genevieve Chua, Aditya Novali and Tromarama, are now showing their works at the Art House. The exhibition is a joint project by Silverlens Gallery (Manila), ROH Projects (Jakarta) and Edouard Malingue Gallery (Hong Kong).

Stand-out works include Chua's new series of canvases in which she explores geometric abstractions tightly contained within the edges of the canvas, as well as Tromarama's mordant videos. The exhibition titled Shared Coordinates is on till tomorrow.

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