Community arts: Crafting a spirit of neighbourliness

SINGAPORE - It is a festival celebrating art and neighbourliness - a combination that produced about 100 "masterpieces" for visitors.

Over the past five weeks, more than 90,000 visitors viewed these Works of Wonders - large format visual arts installation - that were installed in "arts villages" across Singapore.

These include an 88m-long dragon made out of old CDs in Tiong Bahru, an art installation made out of 1,000 painted umbrellas in Marine Parade, and cubic houses in Kovan that featured uniquely Singaporean items - such as bottles containing secrets of residents in Serangoon.

Organised by the People's Association Community, Arts and Culture division, the roughly month-long affair hoped to encourage "participatory arts" at the community level by getting residents to volunteer at the event or co-create artwork with artists, said Mr Nah Juay Hng, group director of the Engagement Cluster for Arts and Culture.

"Through arts, we also hope to bring residents together for friendships and bonding, and for them to forge collective memories," he added. Called the PAssionArts Festival 2014, it will continue next weekend with four more arts villages at Joo Chiat, Sembawang, Clementi and Jalan Besar. Those interested can visit www.passionarts.sg to find out more.

Visitor Chris Tan, 40, said he enjoyed the fair as it was a "great opportunity" to learn about the different types of arts activities.

"The kids really enjoyed themselves very much," said the talent management manager. "They got a chance to do mask painting, spray painting and learn from different artists about their works."

audreyt@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 23, 2014.
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