The Biennale

One of the perks of living in Singapore, aside from the independence, is the opportunity to take advantage of what a first world city has to offer.

Going to a mall is the top thing to do every weekend back home. Here, as in any developed city, there are more distractions. There are plays and museums and special exhibits and festivals and parks and libraries and zoos... Maybe it's because Singapore is so small with hardly any "real" natural resources (versus the beaches and various forests in the Philippines) that they have found ways to make the city-state more interesting.

Every weekend I try to at least do or go to someplace new to make the most of being here. Okay honestly, I devote one day to lazing around at home and the other day to at least spending the afternoon out.

Today, I visited the Singapore Biennale (not sure about the pronounciation, short i or long i?)visual arts exhibition. I have wanted to visit since it first opened last September and of course, procrastinator me only went today which is the last day already.

The exhibit is a contemporary arts exhibit (the second in Singapore) with the theme Wonder from artists around the world. It is spread out in different places in the City area. I was a bit hesitant to go at first because I thought it would be too "modern" for me. I do not pretend to be an arts connoseiur but I want to see art that I understand at least.

I'm glad I went because even though I have been to mueseums in Europe, this was more quirky in a way. Not too modern, can be understood (thanks to the free guided tour plus the little English placards) and very visually interesting and arresting. It was also very varied so one would not get bored - scuplture, videos, photographs, installations, carvings, etc... Art opens the mind.

Personally, I'm happy to appreciate and to be surrounded by beautiful things (a trait of a true Libran) and to live in a city which makes this possible.

Some of my favorites:

scupltured out of yarn

looks like a renaissance painting but is a modern photo

10,000 filigrees with vibrant colors on one side...

and charred on the other

wooden carvings used in stop motion for a music video

made by a Filipino, "aliens" on the city hall rooftop with the new supreme court as their "spaceship"

love this... looks like fabric but is actually paint... impressive size, covering an entire high wall

love the old world mysterious feel of the exhibit in South Beach... with lone hanging lightblubs illuminating the art cards

made by a Filipino team... various personal items collected and shaped in balikbayan box mold to represent social dislocation and our need to send things home to give belongingness

dancer's twisting body

very cute... two exactly the same "barbershops" that one thinks she is looking into a mirror but the other side is actually a real live barbershop too... showing what we think is not real can actually be real

molded bars of soap representing washing and man's routinary life with one hundred years of solitude installation in the background
again by a Filipino... representation of headline disasters with the use of food!

neon light swing (I'm sure this has a deep meaning too.. solitude? fragility? time passing?)

this just looks pretty... adhesive stickers on a wall


i don't know if this was part of the exhibit but it was one of the rooms although had no art card... a deep meaning of man's obesssiveness in cleaning? or just a janitor who left the broom?! :)

Homecoming

I just got back from a week of being in Manila. It was my longest stay back since I moved here 6 months ago. I have been back a total of three times (I know, I'm spoiled!). I've been back thrice for a personal trip usually lasting 4 days 3 nights max. Every trip has been a barrage of emotions.

The first trip back was in June, only a month and a half of being away. It felt strange because I still thought of Manila as home and it didn't feel like I was on "vacation". I felt high seeing friends and family whom I haven't seen for a couple of weeks. I had lots of new experiences to talk about. I missed my loved ones terribly and I looked forward to that trip rather badly. It saved me because if not, I might have given up and gone home after the homesickness wave.

My second trip back was last August. Again it was different as I had more or less adjusted to Singapore life and estabished a routine. Manila still felt like home but it was a home that I felt was dirty and confusing. I was just starting to discover Singapore then with its efficiency and first world planning and facilities. By contrast, Manila with its traffic, pollution and inept government made me think twice about living there again. It felt small, as if there was nothing new to discover again.

My third trip back was early October for my birthday weekend and to celebrate my youngest sister's debut. It was a reunion of sorts, first night with family and relatives at my sister's party. Second night with friends at my party. It was a compact trip back whereby I was able to see people that are close to my heart. I was just coming from a high of the weekend before whereby I was able to do things in my Singapore bucket list like jog around our block and watch a play by myself. But then I thought, what good are those things if you don't have someone to share a drink with after the jog or someone to talk to about the play. It was bittersweet to see everyone but it didn't feel sad after because I knew I would be back soon for my work trip.

This last trip as mentioned was the longest one so far. It was strange to spend that long a time in old familiar places and re-establish routines. Singapore felt like it never happened at all. In no time, I was back to old habits again: things that I wanted so badly to change and climb out of before because I felt that I was stuck in a rut. Surprisingly, I looked forward to these things. Like attending a press meeting, catching up with office people, answering emails at the office, going to my grandma's, having lunch with my family, eating dinner with him at our favorite restaurant, drinks with friends Friday night at usual haunts.

I dreaded leaving. It's harder to say goodbye after a long trip. Somehow, my Singapore life felt so surreal. Now that I am back here, I have mixed feelings about this whole situation. I miss him and my family and my friends. I miss having a close network of people who genuinely care. Strangely enough, I also miss the old familiar routines. But at the same time, being here now reminds me of what I love about this life. Living alone with my own rules, being independent and selfish with what when and how I want things, having time to myself, exploring a new city and discovering what I am capable of.

Each life has its own pro's and con's. I don't regret my time here at all because I have lived and learned. I know that there's more to come. But at the same time, I know that my time here has an expiration date.

There's always that part of a movie wherein the hero realizes what is important in his life - love or career (or whatever at that point the hero is after - pride, money, etc). And always, there is only one answer in all those movies.