Tag: fié neo

Park(ing) day wellington 2024

art

(PARK)ing day wrapped up successfully last Saturday – amidst much wind, time to time drizzles and lots of conversations with the public. My intervention – Pop up of Dreams and Imagination invited the public to imagine the future.

I had a group of seniors tell me “Oh, that’s not my problem now anymore is it? It’s your generation’s problem to solve. We don’t have much time left in ours. We were the generation that had it all – free education, economic boom… Now, you’ve got lots of thinking to do!”

And in another conversation with a group of young university exchange students, we talked about eco-anxiety, how to have hope about the future and how we are coping with it all.

Some told me that it was healing to read what others had written in my little books full of many different people’s dreams and hopes. They said it was nice to know that they are not alone. Quite a few came up to me and sincerely thanked me – they said they needed this.

This character is called Tippy, named after the tipping point. This project brewed in my mind for many years. It may be a pop up now but the end goal is to have a Museum of Dreams and Imagination.
I’ve made art about climate problems, I’ve made art about climate solutions. But at the end of the day, I realised we need hope and imagination to drive action.
I’ve lived in a space of doom and gloom, depressed and anxious. I’ve also had periods of YOLO and resignation, deciding to focus on ticking off my bucket list. It’s a world with a lot of pain and agony – wars, violence, exploitation, traumas… Choosing to live in hope and joy despite the systems and oppressions of the world we live in is an act of resistance and activism. Because only then can we manifest positivity, can we dare to dream the impossible, can we actually figure out the steps to get there. Just because our generation is handed this painful and existential challenge doesn’t mean that our happiness should be taken away with it too.

We can dream and build better because our imagination is ours and free. It might not seem like it now but we can and we will. Breathe, and one day at a time.

parkingdaywgtn #nzfringe #art #community
sociallyengagedart #socialpractice #wellington @wellingtonsculpturetrust @wgtncc @wellingtonnz

Ladies’ Night: Our time to talk

Theatre

Ladies! Have you been feeling angry, frustrated, sad, disappointed by these recent high profile cases we see on the news – stalking, illegal peeping cameras, sexual harassment on public transport, domestic violence… If yes, we hear you!

Ladies’ night: Our time to talk is a participatory theatre project that runs for 3 months. Every week, we will come together and hold a safe space for participants to voice their concerns. This is an intergenerational project meant to offer a platform for exchange – what did women have to go through in the 70s? Is there a glass ceiling for women? How do you tackle workplace harassment? How do you navigate unwanted sexual advances or online sexual harassment? We know it’s difficult to have all the answers so this project is meant to tap upon the collective intelligence of women in the group to support one another and create a safe space to address these entangled feelings and emotions.

Oppy – Aunty Theresa’s story

art
Aunty Theresa’s story

I remember talking to Aunty Lalitha on the streets about my project and Aunty Theresa who was walking her dog back then overheard bits of our conversation on Opera Estate’s history. She started joining our conversation and animatedly shared her stories growing up in this estate back in the 60s.

I thought what was interesting about my public intervention at Siglap Linear Park were the organic and unexpected connections I made. I grew up here but never felt that rooted or connected to the local community. Doing this project was like going down Alice’s rabbit hole – there were so many interesting stories when I dug deeper.

I hope this project would be a starting point for more local connections to be made in this neighbourhood, beyond me and my project.

Oppy – Uncle Chin’s chicken rice story

art
Uncle Chin’s story

Do you know the story of Jalan Tua Kong’s famous chicken rice store? Bet you didn’t know that Uncle Chin grew up in this neighbourhood or that he does guitar jam sessions at his store every Friday and weekend. Hear his story and remember to say hi to him next time you get your chicken rice!

Oppy – 金山寺

art
Jin Shan Si – Golden Mountain Temple

This temple holds many of my childhood memories. My late grandmother used to volunteer at the temple every year. This was a place of community gathering for me – lots of free food and aunties, uncles who all seemed to know my grandmother. I loved their vegetable buns and the annual event where there’d be a huge paper marché dragon boat engulfed in flames in the sea at East Coast Park.

Oppy

art

What are your opera estate memories?

This is the estate I grew up in. Returning after six years abroad left me feeling detached from my local neighbourhood. Houses changed, people changed. I started to question what’s left of memories and nostalgia – where do I go when I want to reminisce my childhood? The places don’t look the same anymore. Thus this project, Oppy to try and understand this neighbourhood and its inhabitants.

A resident shared that back in the days, people borrowed things from one another in kampungs. When you run out of salt, you borrow from your neighbour and you need to build those relationships with the people around you. 🧂Nowadays, we have the supermarket everywhere nearby. 🏪

It made me think if we are becoming more isolated the more self sufficient we are? People helped and depended on one another in older days. They might have had less materially but the interdependence builds the social bonds and relationships needed for healthy communities. Nowadays it’s so ingrained in us to have to figure out our own problems, that people are busy, that we should be independent – we inevitably find it difficult approaching others for help.

That’s why I started my public interventions – to create social situations in which these connections and relationships could be formed.

What connects you to your local community?

#publicintervention #art #community #local #siglap #participatoryart #sociallyengagedart #oppy