‘MULTIRACIAL’ —— MULTI-RACIAL: COUNTRY, RACE AND THE INDIVIDUAL
20 Years in Artefacts: Findings from Singapore 1995—2015
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This is an exhibition displaying found artefacts. This curated collection lets us look into the social environment of the island of Singapore a hundred years ago. They are carefully organised into three groupings where each wall—and each section in the guidebook—caters to one specific racial group. Amongst them are anthropomorphic vessels. jewellery and woven tapestries. These are everyday objects that speak not only about the habits and lifestyles of the people, but also about how their lives were constructed. Through careful curation, the exhibition brings to light findings on certain divides amongst these three groups and confronts the divisions astray face each other in the space.
The project consists of a fictitious art exhibition and accompanying guidebook. The exhibition is a fictional interpretation of the designer’s perspective on the social environment in Singapore, particularly on race. It takes the designer’s observations of the racial contract and visual representations of race to an absurd level, heightening the delineations of racial groups in ‘multiracial’ Singapore. Showing the heightened awareness of one’s social environment is done through an absurd play on objects and meaning-making—everything is fictional. The objects are designed and produced by the designer and the stories behind these objects are fabricated. Fabricating objects and the meaning behind them takes them out of their context. The stories free the objects of a pre-existing background.
Brief:
The project is an open brief that allows the designer to explore aspects of graphic design and its various practices such as
illustration, editorial design, exhibition design, product design and visual research.
Deliverables:
Set of 3 Guidebooks 148×210 mm
Various objects Various dimensions and materials
On-site exhibition set up 900×900×900 mm
