OH! Open House Is Your Passport To The World Of Art

OH! Open House is returning for 2019 with another exciting art experience called Passport. This year the event comes in a series of six pop-up art experiences across Singapore taking place from the 16th – 31st March. Six artists will be working with their hosts to create new art experiences and artworks on themes such as identity, belonging, home, privilege and even love.

A departure from OH! Open House’s signature art walk, Passport does not focus on a particular neighbourhood and there is no tour. Instead artists and hosts are active collaborators who are empowered to tell their own stories. Hosts go beyond opening up their homes to house the artworks and art experiences. Instead, they build stories together with the artists by sharing their personal narratives and co-creating the art experiences with them.

We sat down with three of the artists involved to find out more about their individual installations and the inspiration behind them.

Related article: Meet The Local Artist Offering Us Rare Glimpses Of Singapore

Anthony Chin x Christophe & Sharon

Artist Anthony Chin and hosts Christophe and Sharon’s works are an investigation into the boundaries of nationhood. This experience consists of multiple works that respond to the themes of globalisation and borders.

1. What can attendees expect from your installation / pop-up art experience?

Through two installations, audiences can take a look into the subject of nation, nationality and nationalism. In contrast, hosts Christophe and Sharon will be creating a work that veers away from the nation and celebrates globalisation. This art experience will consist of differing views.

2. Where did you inspiration for the project come from?

The inspiration for this experience came primarily from the nationalities and work experiences of the hosts. Christophe Mayol is a French who is now a Singaporean PR, and his wife Sharon Lee is a Singaporean who has spent much of her time working in Europe. I was also attracted to the architecture of the hosts’ home, which is a 3-storey walk-up residential apartment and the residents are in close proximity to one another. I saw an opportunity for the works to make use of the architecture’s inherent features.

3. What do you hope audiences take away from the experience?

I hope the audiences will leave thinking about the concept and relationship between nations and globalisation, just like how the works they have seen respond to one another.

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Mike HJ Chang x Liming & Chloe

Artist Mike HJ Chang and hosts Liming and Chloe present a performative experience inspired by their time lived in different cities. It is based on the television as a medium through which we imagine places that we have not yet stepped foot in.

1. What can attendees expect from your installation / pop-up art experience?

There will be a fun element of surprise. I think they can expect something different, as well as an interactive element that would require audiences to be active.

2. Where did you inspiration for the project come from?

As part of PASSPORT’s residency program, I followed and stayed with hosts Liming and Chloe for a weekend. This helped me to familiarise myself with their routine and way of living, which I made sure not to interfere with. On one of the days, I followed Liming to his weekly volleyball game at East Coast Park. The crowd who plays the sport at this location are mostly internationals. Most of them were starting their new lives in Singapore and were looking for social activities on the weekend. Some others were married to locals, or just dropping by for a short weekend trip. This gathering of internationals inspired me to base this art experience on our extensive travels and time lived in different countries.

3. What do you hope audiences take away from the experience?

I just hope they have a good and fun time interacting with the work. It can come across as a bit quirky, but there’s that casual, laid-back atmosphere of watching television with one’s friends and family. More than that, I hope my work can also highlight the relationship between “guest” and “host”, as a link back to the overarching theme of a passport. A home can be compared to the notion of a country - with access required, a duration of stay and a purpose for visit. Similarly, audiences entering the home of these hosts is akin to visitors travelling to a new country.

Related article: Meet The First Singaporean Artist Shortlisted For The Loewe Craft Prize

Ezzam Rahman × Hernie & André

Artist Ezzam Rahman and hosts Hernie and André discuss how belonging can be tied to a person, even if that individual is located across borders. This experience is based on hosts Hernie and André’s long-distance love story.

1. What can attendees expect from your installation / pop-up art experience?

I hope the audience that had followed my practice all these years will be pleasantly surprised by my new presentation that I had created for OH! Passport. What I want to achieve in this work is for the attendees to experience love, to slow down, to enjoy the presentation and reflect on their own relationships with their loved ones.

2. Where did you inspiration for the project come from?

The hosts that I am working with, Hernie and André, inspired me with their personal narratives, how they met, how they fall in love and how they have been together for many years. Love is a universal subject to tackle. It can either go very well or the other way round. Over the past few months, I got to know the hosts and I can proudly say I made two new friends. These works are definitely a dedication to their love.

3. What do you hope audiences take away from the experience?

I hope the audience gets to experience love, that love takes many forms, that love prevails against odds, that love is pure. And that they will re-learn to fall in love again, like I did.

Passport is a series of six pop-up art experiences in six homes across the island during March 2019. One ticket entitles audiences to choose one out of six experiences. Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased online here.