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Singapore’s highest honour for designers and designs across all disciplines
One of Asia’s premier design festivals that champions design thought leadership
National Design Centre

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Designer Profile

Singaporean design in Beijing, Mexico City

4 min read

Clara Yee, a DesignSingapore scholar (2010), completed two brilliant projects in Beijing and Mexico recently. The talented illustrator and designer is also co-founder of PUSH (London), a Singaporean art-design pop-up.

Clara is art director for Singapore: Inside Out, a multi-sensorial showcase featuring Singaporean talents in the fields of design, food, music, literature, performing and visual arts. The event, organised by Singapore Tourism Board, completed its first of four-city tour in Beijing in April. The event will now travel to London, New York and returns to Singapore in November 2015.

“Designing a project that travels to four cities and in two languages, one has to be sensitive to the subtleties, nuances, context and character of each city. Each demands dedicated attention and a specific approach to the project, so as to connect with the city’s creative audience,” said Clara.

Singapore: Inside Out installation in Beijing’s 751 D-Park, the city’s main district for design and art. Designed by Zarch Collaboratives, with an art installation by Nathan Yong perched on the edge of the scaffolding lattice. PHOTOS: Singapore Tourism Board.

Bank of Kinetic, part of the installation, displays the works of 50 Singaporean creative studios, in celebration of Singapore’s Golden Jubilee. The diversity of styles and approaches, involving traditional and experimental media, represent the rich tapestry of Singaporean design. PHOTO: Singapore Tourism Board.

In March, Clara was artistic director for Pasar Singapura, an adjunct art and culture event of Spotlight Singapore Mexico City 2015. She helped to organise a one-day exhibition in a public library in the heart of downtown Mexico City. The exhibition featured works by Singaporean artists and their Mexican counterparts. Their collaboration was a mark of friendship and creativity across borders.

In designing for the space, a historic neoclassical building formerly a tobacco factory, Clara provided an evocative counterpoint between the existing masculine structures and forms, with the exhibition’s organic theme, materials and design – and facilitated a “conversation” between the site and the event’s overall design.

Pasar Singapura creative team: (from left) Samantha Tio (visual artist); Gilberto Hernández Aguilar (DJ Jacinto); Kartik Keyan (DJ K); Angelina Lourdes (creative producer); Clara Yee (artistic director); Clogtwo (visual artist); and Aletss Murdoc (visual artist) – posing in a gallery of Samantha’s hamaca installation, under a 30-m long batik canopy. PHOTO: Matin Latif.

Visual artists Clogtwo (Singapore) and Aletss Murdoc (Mexico) standing before their collaborative mural (5mx11m), inspired by the cultural icons of their respective cities. PHOTO: Maureen M Evans.

More about DesignSingapore Scholarship

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VISIT
President*s Design Award
Singapore’s highest honour for designers and designs across all disciplines
Singapore Design Week
One of Asia’s premier design festivals that champions design thought leadership
National Design Centre