It’s been some time since we’ve done any reviews of galleries or exhibitions, so we decided to go for Singapore Art Week! In case you didn’t know, Singapore Art Week happens over a week, all over galleries and spaces in Singapore. Personally, I (Joel) enjoy going to Gillman Barracks, because it’s a little out of the way, and the range of galleries means a range of curation.
Out of all the artists, there were two artist works I really enjoyed – Ibrahim Mahama, and Anila Quayyum Agha.
Ibrahim Mahama was actually there in the gallery when we visited, and it was interesting to hear some of his process. His work involves a lot of physical pieces, specifically jute as a material. In the exhibition, Digging Stars, he weaves jute together with other adornments. The stitching and the expression of some parts of the mixed media give a narrative of hard manual labour. He also considers the state of Africa, Ghana specifically, and how commercialisation has overtaken the country.
Two pieces of work I enjoyed was Soya Yooya and Exchange Exchanger.
Soya Yooya, translated as Dry Soya Beans, is a reference to the agricultural conundrum Ghana faces. Quoting from Art Outreach, “In Ghana, local farmers are being encouraged to cultivate soybeans due to their high yield and market value. However, the government’s preference to export these crops for the international market poses a significant challenge to enhancing the nation’s food security. This issue is compounded by factors such as climate change, inadequate funding for farming infrastructure, and disparate soil fertility.”
I enjoyed the work because despite being jute, it looked heavy and oppressive. There was a visible burden from the dark black covering the jute, and coming around the metal pieces in the middle. It felt like hope was being engulfed. There were other woven pieces around the gallery were not half as heavy looking at this piece.
Exchange Exchanger (1957-2057) on the other hand is a video installation. It shows the process, and the finished work of jute bags covering entire buildings and spaces. Jute representing the global trade and commercialisation, and in the video, the bags are handled by different workers. Some of the woven bags also have names of the people written on.
A quick chat about the work with Mahama explained that the work itself was set up extremely quickly, but needed a long time of planning. The set ups were timed to minimize disruption of traffic, because they were covering public buildings and spaces.
It made me consider the extent of effort I place into work, and also made me realize how different the art cultures are in each country. I can’t imagine his work being placed here in Singapore, but I could imagine the paperwork required to even get started.
In the Sundaram Tagore gallery across the road, Anila Quayyum Agha’s The Unravelling are much smaller, but yet still impressive. Using a lot of intricate weaving and sewing, she incorporates mandala like geometric patterns into poster sized pieces. There is also metal work, but everything is intricately made with floral motifs.
My favourite piece is “I am an Island (Mushroom/flower)”. There’s something quite fun about her stitching over the artwork, and it reminded me about pixel based artwork. The precise needlework and lines give me a sense of peace, and I can imagine the process being very calming.
There are really a lot more other artwork all around the place, here are a few more photos of the few I enjoyed, and little things I bought along the way.
What Binds Me To This Land by Srijon Chowdhury, Cian Dayrit, Tada Hengspkul, Natalie Sasi Organ, and Nadia Waheed.
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