Here were the highlights of AliWALL Festival 2022.
2022 set out to be exciting times for Singapore’s art scene as we began the year with the inaugural AliWALL Festival, a weekend of participatory art experiences at the Aliwal Arts Centre (AAC).
Driven by this year’s theme, “The Dreamer”, the Festival sought to redefine walls – both physical and metaphorical, bringing artists and audiences together to imagine what urban living is, now and for the future.
The Festival was curated by independent programmers MAMA MAGNET, uniting the contrasting worlds of fantasy and reality – both indoors and outdoors. It unfolded in three parts, with activities that sought to uplift and engage its visitors. An inspiring line-up of local artists showcased their artworks and skills through the different Festival programmes, located and displayed around AAC.
Organised by Arts House Limited (AHL) and supported by One Kampong Gelam, AliWALL Festival 2022: The Dreamer was part of the tenth edition of Singapore Art Week (SAW).
Here are some of the highlights of the event:
1) Reality in Construction
A participatory outdoor narrative-driven mural inspired by urban living.
Activating the large iconic wall on the right side of the AAC building, five artists came together to visualise multiple realities in unique illustrative and hyperreal styles to offer visitors with a tighter grasp on our current times.
Artists involved: Spaz and TraseOne from urban collective RSCLS, visual artists Has.J, Howie Kim, Kristal Melson, Slacsatu
2) Permission to Dream
An immersive, multi-sensory experience.
Featuring fantasy-filled digital art, performance, set design and sound, visitors journeyed through a collective listening experience, encountering whimsical visual and performative realms that inspire and invigorate imagination. This dreamy production transformed AAC’s Music Studio into an uplifting and surreal escape, giving visitors the permission to dream unbound.
3) The Courtyard
A larger-than-life inflatable sculpture.
Accompanied by an augmented reality filter that can be activated through any smartphone device, the sculpture spilled from the indoor spaces to the courtyard. Here, lines between reality and fantasy were blurred – colourful and unexpected.
Exclusively on Saturday, 22 January from 11am-9pm, the Courtyard also housed Saturday’s Plan, an art market presented in collaboration with North East Social Club, a counterculture network of creatives. Visitors could pick up prints, zines, stickers, and even get a flash tattoo!
4) D’Tour by RSCLS
An alternative walking tour of the street art iconic to Kampong Gelam.
Through interesting stories and anecdotes, RSCLS and other artists documented the changing landscape of graffiti art and murals in this trendy and yet deeply cultural neighbourhood. The tour was also conducted in English with interpretation in Singapore Sign Language (SgSL).
5) Mixtape v2.0
A cacophonic mixtape of Kampong Gelam.
Members of the public came together to contribute music and song titles to a sonic collage of this distinct neighbourhood.
AliWALL Festival 2022 at Aliwal Arts Centre was an absolute blast. Head to Aliwal Arts Centre’s website for future events.
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