Residencies OPEN x SAW 2024
Festival
 

This session of Residencies OPEN offers a unique opportunity for the public to meet our Artists-in-Residence Anthony Chin, Irfan Kasban, and Shahmen Suku!

Residencies OPEN x SAW 2024

Saturday, 20 January 2024 · 2:00 - 7:00 PM

Residencies OPEN reveals the rich diversity of contemporary art practices by offering a rare insight into the creative processes that unfold inside the artist’s studios. Discover how the space of the studio constitutes a springboard for artistic experimentation, innovation, and research.

This session of Residencies OPEN offers a unique opportunity for the public to meet our Artists-in-Residence Anthony Chin, Irfan Kasban, and Shahmen Suku (all Singapore)! Come visit the NTU CCA Singapore Residencies Studios to encounter their works-in-progress and explore the processes and research interests developed during their residencies.

The 10th Cycle of the Residencies Programme by NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore is supported by National Arts Council. This cycle hosts six Singapore Artists-in-Residence: Yanyun Chen, Anthony Chin, Irfan Kasban, Ben Loong, Shahmen Suku, and Zulkhairi Zulkiflee.

Anthony Chin

Saturdays, 20 January & 27 January, 2:00 – 9:00pm
Sundays, 21 January & 28 January, 2:00 – 7:00pm
Block 37 Malan Road, #01-03

Anthony Chin dedicated the past five months researching Singapore’s colonial past through sites such as Gillman Barracks and its surrounding locations. The artist is interested in the historic relationship between Singapore and Japan, and during his residency he looked into OKA 9420, a biological laboratory established by the Imperial Japanese Army soon after the Fall of Singapore in 1942. Anthony seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the history of bio-chemical warfare while unpacking current ethical concerns surrounding the rapid advancements in science and technology. Presented during Residencies Open is OKA-9420, a new work developed during the artists stay at Gillman Barracks. This work is accompanied by three existing works: Air Doa Selamat (2020), TROPHY (2020), and Rinann Steel Mill – INGOT (2021).

The artist will be conducting tours throughout the two weekends. Each tour lasts approximately 35 minutes.
Saturdays, 20 & 27 January: 3pm, 5pm, 7pm
Sundays, 21 & 28 January: 3pm, 5pm

Irfan Kasban

Saturdays, 20 January & 27 January, 2:00 – 9:00pm
Sundays, 21 January & 28 January, 2:00 – 7:00pm
Block 37 Malan Road, #01-01

Irfan Kasban has spent his residency expanding his long-term research project Port of Reciprocity, also the namesake for his studio these past five months which has been opened up as a site for visitors from all walks of life. Hosting a series of activities including cooking, screenings, and sharing sessions, this convivial get together is born out of the artists own experience of burn out. For Residencies Open, visitors will encounter objects created by the artist which can all be activated to make sound. Facilitated activations will be conducted by invited collaborators over the two weekends with hopes of creating a song that comforts the collective consciousness.

Shahmen Suku

Saturdays, 20 January & 27 January, 2:00 – 9:00pm
Sundays, 21 January & 28 January, 2:00 – 7:00pm
Block 37 Malan Road, #01-02

Shahmen Suku explores his own Tamil culture through his family history, cultural ceremony, and food. Having previously addressed different aspects of the rich Tamil cultural traditions of his maternal lineage via the alter ego Radha, the artist has spent his residency letting go of this persona and directly confronting the conflicting and multipolar narratives of his family history which include economic struggles, heated arguments, health issues, and prolonged disagreements. Presented in his studio is documentation of a recent trip to India, alongside research conducted in Singapore that evidence the artist’s attempt to further uncover the story of his maternal grandfather. Documentation on display includes photographs, films, government documents, recipes, and the artist’s family tree that traces back three generations to his grandfather who first migrated to Singapore.

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Contributors
Anthony Chin
Anthony Chin
Artist-in-Residence
Singapore

The research-driven conceptual practice of Anthony Chin (b. 1969, Singapore) grows out of site-specific engagements with the historical, social, and architectural stratifications of a place. Through the articulation of ordinary materials into poetic installations, his work unravel the latent power structures and complex geopolitical narratives that undergird the colonial past and the post-colonial present. He has regularly presented his work in Singapore and abroad. His recent solo exhibitions include S$1,996/- S$831.06/-, Comma Space, Singapore (2021); TROPHY, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Philippines (2020); and Western Pacific, Mo Shang Experiment, Beijing, China (2016). Among the group exhibitions are SAM Contemporaries: Residues & Remixes, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2023); For the House; Against the House, Gillman Barracks, Singapore (2022); Concept 88, Comma Space, Singapore (2022); three editions of OH! Open House, amongst others. Anthony has previously taken part in other residency programmes such as National NAC-MET international Artist Residency, Manila, Philippines (2020) and Taipei International Artists Residency season 4, Taiwan (2018).

Irfan Kasban
Irfan Kasban
Artist-in-Residence
Singapore

The transdisciplinary practice of Irfan Kasban (b. 1987, Singapore) weaves together multiple roles such as playwright, theatre director, lighting and sound designer, and multimedia artist. Often engaging in collaborations with fellow artists as a method of experimenting across mediums, Irfan creates intricate worlds guided by a principle of visceral ephemerality in an attempt to redefine boundaries between performance, artwork, artist, and audience. Since 2010, he is the Associate Artist at the Singapore-based theatre company Teater Ekamatra. His recent theatre directions include King (2020-2023) and performance lecture The Death of Singapore Theatre as Scripted By The Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (2022), and the immersive theatrical installation The Silence of a Fallen Tree (2020) amongst many others. Irfan received National Arts Council Singapore’s Young Artist Award in 2020. 

Shahmen Suku
Shahmen Suku
Artist-in-Residence
Australia, Singapore

Shahmen Suku (b.1987, Singapore) is a performance artist who works between Sydney and Canberra, Australia. Drawing from his personal experience of growing up in a matriarchal Tamil household in Singapore, Shahmen’s body of work explore multifaceted perspectives on migration, displacement, race, culture, colonisation, and gender identity. The personal, poignant, and irreverent narratives generated around these themes are conveyed through performances, installations, and video works and they are often voiced by his alter ego, Radha. His recent projects include 5,6.7.8, Penrith Regional Gallery, Australia (2022); Oil Room, Club 4A, 4A Centre for Contemporary Arts, Sydney, Australia (2022); Queer Ecologies – Rivus, Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia (2022); Skin Deep, Queer Contemporary, National Art School, Sydney, Australia (2021). From 2019 to 2022, he was part of Australian ABC TV’s live music television programme The Set. In 2022, Shahmen received the Incubator – NSW Theatre (Emerging) Fellowship with Griffin Theatre Company.