Gallery Children's Biennale Inspires Young Minds To Make A Better Place Together

SINGAPORE, 10 May 2023 – The highly anticipated Children’s Biennale by National Gallery Singapore is returning for its 4th edition. From 27 May 2023 to 31 March 2024, visitors can explore 11 new artworks by international artists that spotlight four core values: Care, Collaborate, Imagine and Respect for free. 

Set to spark conversations around the pressing issues of today, the Biennale uses questions such as "what kind of world do we live in today, and what kind of world would you like to live in?" to craft its theme of ‘Let’s Make a Better Place’. Each artwork is tied to one of the four core values and leverages artistic concepts to bring to the fore the relevant issues in an easy-to-understand manner for children.

The Biennale continues to offer families an immersive experience that invites open communication, creativity, and reflection about the future, and aims to inspire children to take an active role in shaping a better world for themselves and others.

The Gallery is proud to feature artists from Thailand and Malaysia for the first time at the Biennale, highlighting the Gallery's ongoing commitment to showcasing exceptional talents from Southeast Asia. The artists include Tawatchai Puntusawasdi (Thailand), Fadilah Karim (Malaysia), Kumi Yamashita (Japan/USA), artworks from the International Museum of Children’s Art (Norway), Arahmaiani (Indonesia), Singapore artists like Chiang Yu Xiang, Izziyana Suhaimi, Ly Yeow, Wang Ruobing, and a collaboration between LittleCr3atures®, Lynette Quek and Jevon Chandra (Singapore/Indonesia).

GALLERY CHILDREN'S BIENNALE 2023 EXPANDS WITH EXCITING ADDITIONS

Building on the success of its 2021 phygital format, the 2023’s edition of the microsite will showcase four games, each inspired by a core value, providing children from all over the world an opportunity to learn and discover through play. Online visitors can look forward to playing with light and shadow, creating their own island filled with animals and music, and solving a detective mystery at a fictional art museum—inspired by imagine, respect and care respectively.

For the core value of collaboration, the game titled "A Curious Connection" is integrated into the Biennale’s onsite offerings, providing a unique and interactive way for visitors to collaborate with anyone in the world. This innovative experience requires two players to participate, one online and one on-site. The online player is presented with an untitled artwork from the Gallery’s collection and is challenged to imagine a title for it using four words. The on-site player, who is physically present at the Gallery’s Padang Atrium, must then use the title provided by the first player as inspiration to draw their own artwork.

Visitors can also look forward to an exciting addition – My Biennale Buddy. This booklet provides further details about each artwork, the artists, programmes, and thought-provoking questions that children can use to deepen their understanding of each core value. For visitors who are keen to explore beyond the Biennale, the booklet also includes information on four artworks from the permanent collection that emphasises on one of the four core values.

My Biennale Buddy is equipped with interactive features, such as a comprehensive map that aids visitors in navigating the festival, inviting them to collect stamps after visiting each artwork and eventually redeem a complimentary souvenir at the Visitors Services Counter upon collecting all 10 stamps. Children can also design their own character, which will come to life and interact with the artworks through Augmented Reality Activation.

Ms Suenne Megan Tan, Senior Director of Museum Planning & Audience Engagement at National Gallery Singapore says, “The Gallery Children's Biennale for this year centres on the theme of 'Let's Make a Better Place’, with the goal of instilling in children a new sense of responsibility and confidence to explore their potential in creating a brighter future. Through its exhibits, workshops, and activities, the Gallery Children's Biennale aims to provide children with opportunities to discover and express their own ideas and perspectives. By engaging with art in this way, children are encouraged to explore their own identities and develop a sense of self-awareness, as well as an appreciation for the diversity of human experience. Ultimately, the Biennale hopes to foster a generation of young people who are not only passionate about art, but also committed to making a positive impact on the world around them."

A THOUGHT-PROVOKING EXPERIENCE THAT ENGAGES CHILDREN THROUGH FOUR CORE VALUES:

Care

New York based Japanese artist Kumi Yamashita presents Foundation Wave, an artwork comprising of a collection of intricate human profiles melded into a cloud-like sculpture at the Supreme Court Foyer and hand-drawn on a 13-meter wall at the corridor opposite Odette restaurant. The artist is inspired by the world she wanted to live in as a child and the profiles created are inspired by people she met during her travels. Children are invited to record their heartbeats and hear it play across the space as a meaningful act of creating connections as a community through the beating of our hearts.

Collaborate

Fadilah Karim’s artwork, SAMA-SAMA (TOGETHER) takes references to the autobiographical nature of her artistic practice. Inspired by key moments spent with her daughter Aira – both at home and in her studio, this artwork brings forth the joys of childhood through the perspective of a mother (or a parent). Visitors are invited to create artworks inspired by their favourite memories, build and spend time in a fort and to draw quirky portraits of themselves and their loved ones. Each activity invites parents and carers and children to experience her work by making memories through art making and interactive play together.

Imagine

We Move This City by Chiang Yu Xiang is a toddler-friendly artwork that incorporates the use of moving visuals, larger-than-life soft Tetris blocks and its very own MRT cabin! Children as young as two can safely interact with the artwork and use their creativity to bring their imagination to life. The artist’s inspiration was based on the concept of people being on the move via public and private transport, and children are encouraged to imagine the future of transport and reflect on the human need for speed and mobility.

Respect

Children are invited to walk through, feel, connect and identify with the artwork by Ly Yeow – When I Am With You. The exhibition is inspired by Singapore’s very own intertidal areas such as Changi Beach. The artist drew inspiration from her personal memories and experiences with marine life, as well as the reports in recent years of visitors to the intertidal areas bringing wildlife home. Focusing on the core value of Respect, When I Am With You seeks to educate and emphasise the mutual relationship between the environment and the community – encouraging children to be more conscious of their surroundings and be intentional in respecting the spaces they occupy.

ENRICHING ON-SITE PROGRAMMES AND PERFORMANCES FOR ALL AGES

To further enhance visitors’ on-site experience at the Gallery Children’s Biennale, there will be a myriad of complementary on-site children’s programmes by artists and partners for all to enjoy. Visitors can pop by the two artworks - The Magic Forest and Can you see the forest for the trees? to enjoy free art-making activities or attend fun and interactive experiences, such as sonic exploratory sessions by LittleCr3atures®, roving theatre performances by Five Stones Theatre, craft workshops facilitated by the artists who also conceptualised the artworks, and more.

Gallery Children’s Biennale is proudly supported by Development Partner Tote Board, Matched by Cultural Matching Fund, Programme Supporters Samsung, Vivian P J Chandran and The Grace, Shua, and Jacob Ballas II Charitable Trust.

“Tote Board has been a strong supporter of the Children’s Biennale since its inception. The Biennale creates a unique blend of experiences for children to foster their sense of curiosity, critical thinking and character-building through art and interactive spaces,” says Mr Fong Yong Kian, Chief Executive of Tote Board. “It is also our hope that the Children’s Biennale will continue to bring families and people together to share meaningful connections and experiences.”

“Promoting the arts and heritage is a key priority of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. With support from the Cultural Matching Fund, we once again look forward to a new edition of the Gallery’s Children’s Biennale. We hope that children and parents alike will enjoy themselves, learn new things, make new friends, and create fond memories of their time at the Biennale.” says Mr. Tan Xuan Rong, Trust Secretary of Cultural Matching Fund.

Gallery Children’s Biennale will open on 27 May 2023 to 31 March 2024 at National Gallery Singapore. The Biennale continues to be free for all visitors to explore, and the online games can be accessible at childrensbiennale.com. A new edition of the Biennale Art Pack, which includes self-guided activities, will be available for purchase at the vending machines located around the Gallery.

Please refer to the Annex A for the list of participating artists and their on-site artworks, Annex B for the list of available programmes and Annex C for the online games. The website will be live on 19 May 2023 and media assets can be found here with installation images made available on 22 May 2023.