Feb-Apr 2023
The Artists Village
The Artists Village (TAV) is a contemporary art group in Singapore started in 1988. Over the past three decades, members of TAV have been playing active roles in their contributions to the arts in Singapore through initiating and presenting exhibitions, residencies and exchange programmes, collaborative projects, workshops and performances on both local and international level.
Their landmark exhibition EPILOGUE for SAW2022 explored 30 years of collective art-making, signalling the possible end of the collective. Subsequently, the majority of members resigned, new members joined and the collective got a second wind, starting with the exhibition S23 as part of SAW2023.
Participating members of TAV with participating guests including guest speaker and alumnus resident Anne Mølleskov (in front, with green glasses) during the introduction session on Saturday 11 February 2022 at l'Observatoire.
The collective's objectives remain the same: to foster and develop an increased consciousness of the importance of the arts and their contribution to Singapore society. This to be achieved by engaging in active dialogue with the public through the production and exposition of works of art.
The Residency: LANDSCAPES
TAV is invited to l'Observatoire for a special residency, taking place over 3 months, with special programming one week-end a month to get together, discuss ideas, projects and collaborations over the theme of LANDSCAPES.
What is a landscape? What do we understand the word to mean in 2023? Artists of all times have attempted to depict the landscape, using the tools at their disposal. We can attempt to describe a landscape, or we can be inspired by it. It might bring up memories, and make us nostalgic, or it can create awe, through the vastness of what opens up to us. Contemporary Singapore is not famous for its natural landscapes (we have limited open spaces) as much as for the recently-created man-made cityscape present in Marina Barrage. But is there more to Singapore Landscape that can be shared? What do the artists from The Artists Village think of when thinking of Landscapes - Paysages?
Can a common language emerge among the members as they together explore the landscape around Turf Club Road but also the idea of landscape they might have in their mind and in their work?
A variety of media talking about landscapes: Liu Kang's oil painting of Bandong (1956) ; Cezanne's oil painting of Sainte Victoire (1906) ; Charles Lim's installation Sea State 9: Reclamation (2018) ; Anne Mølleskov's photography of Singapore (2018); Isabelle Desjeux's photography of Grandvaux (2019).
