Details
Traditional crafts form part of Singapore’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH), and local traditional craft practitioners have been using time-honoured techniques and materials to create objects of functional, aesthetic, and socio-cultural significance.
At the same time, traditional crafts are also evolving in response to changes in our social, cultural, and technological landscape. The emerging intersections between craft and design, culture and creativity, tradition and modernity open up possibilities for how craft can be a resource for designers seeking to bridge the traditional and the contemporary.
Bringing together local designers and traditional craft practitioners, including participants of the National Heritage Board’s inaugural Craft X Design programme, this talk explores how craft, culture, and heritage can inspire innovative, contemporary designs that draw on our local traditions and craft practices.
There will also be a taster workshop on rangoli led by Ms Vijaya Mohan for participants to experience the local traditional craft first-hand. (Only open to limited participants!)
About the moderator:
Jessica Wong, Scene Shang
Jessica Wong is a designer and founder of local contemporary Asian furniture and homeware brand SCENE SHANG. Through SCENE SHANG, Jessica has created furniture designs that are heritage-inspired and forward-looking and has gone on to win awards including a special commendation at the President’s Design Award (2014), ASEAN Furniture Design Award (2018) and Singapore Creator Awards (2019).
About the panelists:
Jimm Wong, Traditional Chinese Lantern Maker
Jimm Wong is one of the last traditional Chinese lantern makers in Singapore and specialises in making Foochow lanterns. He has also been continuously innovating, by incorporating modern technologies such as 3D printing into his lantern-making process.
Melvin Ong, Senior Designer, NextOfKin Creatives
Melvin Ong is currently Senior Designer at NextOfKin Creatives, a cross-disciplinary branding and industrial design firm. Prior to that, he was part of the team behind the Singapore Icons porcelain produced by Supermama and Kihara, which won the President’s Design Award in 2013, and he was named ‘Rising Asian Talent’ by Maison et Objet Asia in 2014.
Vijaya Mohan, Rangoli Artist
Vijaya Mohan has been practicing rangoli since the age of 5 and now has over 55 years of experience in the craft. She has actively experimented with using new materials and contemporary designs for her rangoli works, such as the 2016 Rangoli Radiance exhibition at Gardens by the Bay, where she incorporated glitter and over 15,000 glass marbles.
Jarrod Lim, Designer, Jarrod Lim Designs
After spending years as a designer in Milan and London, Jarrod Lim established his own studio, Jarrod Jim Design, in 2011, and garnered a variety of projects from major international brands such as Habitat, Herman Miller, Zanotta and Royal Selangor. His furniture designs feature in many five-star hotels from Singapore to Shanghai and Mauritius to the Maldives.
Presented by National Heritage Board. Supported by the DesignSingapore Council and the National Design Centre.
This talk & workshop is part of the Craft x Design showcase at the National Design Centre, Pop-up Gallery, Level 1, running till 2 April 2023. Find out more about the showcase here.
Organiser
National Heritage Board
As the custodian of Singapore’s heritage, the National Heritage Board (NHB)’s mission is to preserve and celebrate the shared heritage of our diverse communities, for the purpose of education, nation-building and cultural understanding. It also manages the national museums and heritage institutions, and sets policies relating to heritage sites, monuments and the National Collection.
Please visit www.nhb.gov.sg for more information.
Contact
Name: Arthur Tan / Lim XingYi
Email: arthur_tan@nhb.gov.sg / lim_xingyi@nhb.gov.sg
