Singapore - case study2 新加坡-個案研究2
“Legacy Blankets (To cherish and to hold)” and “Wind Blankets”
Initiated by Shirley Soh
2018
Exhibited at Both Sides, Now 2018: CLOSER, Singapore
“Legacy Blankets (To cherish and to hold)” and “Wind Blankets”
Initiated by Shirley Soh
2018
Exhibited at Both Sides, Now 2018: CLOSER, Singapore
As part of the Both Sides, Now arts festival 2018 edition Closer, in the Chong Pang community, senior residents were invited to participate in a sewing workshop inspired by the funeral blanket gifted to the family of the deceased and hung at Chinese wakes. Over 12 weeks, 8 female elderly participants came together and spent hours sharing what they thought of end of life issues and what they held dear of their life experience to share when they leave the world. Two types of blankets were made. The Legacy Blankets (to cherish and to hold) were quilted with photographic images generally of their favourite pastime or from their family albums, as a keepsake to be bequeathed to a loved one. The Wind Blankets, closer to the end of life theme, captured images of the makers imagining their last position before they pass on.
Shirley Soh is an artist, educator, an erstwhile journalist and a perpetual student. Trained first in ceramics, she has branched into other mediums such as living vegetation, fabric work, sculptures and video making, exploring recurrent themes of biodiversity and sustainability. Interested in how individuals, community, the economy and environment interdependently connect in constantly shifting—and not often benign—ways, she has grown plants, worked with migrant workers and women prisoners, created a retail shop, sewn and cooked with local communities, and meditated for her artwork. Shirley was commissioned for the public art at the Botanic Gardens Downtown MRT station, the Konfrontasi memorial installed at Dhoby Ghat and the post-surgery rehab wards at Ng Teng Fong Hospital. She pursued her BA honours degree and MA at the National University of Singapore and obtained her BA Fine Art degree from LASALLE College of the Arts. She tutors part-time at Lasalle’s McNally School of Fine Arts.
“Legacy Blankets: To cherish and to hold” by artist-participant Ng Ah Yam, 147x191cm. Courtesy of the artist.
“Legacy Blankets: To cherish and to hold” by artist-participant Tan Choon Hoey, 144x200cm. Courtesy of the artist.
“My Wind Blanket” by Artist-participant Tsang Sow Kuen, 186x138cm. Courtesy of the artist.
“My Wind Blanket” by Artist-participant Tan Lu See 179x217cm. Courtesy of the artist.