What makes some of these local or global creatives tick? In this weekly column, curator Tan Yong Jun shares his favourite things.
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1. Transnational Histories: Perhaps a more accurate representation of past human experiences than national histories, transnationality defies imagined borders and allows us to understand the fully polyphonic nature of the past. This has been the aspect of history that I have been deep-diving into for the past few years. I am particularly interested in transnational cultural histories — how culture both homogenises societies across borders and make identities local at the same time.
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2. Ink on paper: Of all aspects of art and aesthetics, the component that captures my attention the most is the way ink spreads on paper, in all its aleatoric and uncontrollable glory. I curated an exhibition — “Tonalities: The Ink Works of Cheong Soo Pieng” — where I examined the ways in which pioneer artist Cheong imbued his ideas about cultural and national/regional identity within his ink art, producing art that is truly Singaporean.
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3. The appearance of words: I have always been fascinated by how words appear in our physical environment, especially in terms of typography and materiality. Interesting examples are particularly abound In a region as polyglot as Southeast Asia. To me, the way a society interacts with its words reveal something deep and innate about the locality, and allows me an inroad into that culture.
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4. Seals: Perhaps a logical extension of the above, I am also deeply fascinated by ancient and archaic scripts. For the Chinese-literate, the most fascinating of these has to be the seal script, whose development spanned the Warring States period to the present day. I interact with these script primarily by carving Chinese seals under the guidance of my elders in the Siaw-Tao Society, and it has been an endless source of joy.
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5. Soil and earth: Territoriality and its representations are among the topics that interest me the most. My most recent obsession related to this are bricks, a forgotten part of the Republic’s early industry. Comparing two bricks I’ve found, one from Alexandra Brickworks and one from Nanyang Brickworks, the difference in earth quality between the two localities is stark, and a reminder of Singapore’s diverse geological history.
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6. Circumambulating Mt Faber: I am no serious runner, but find a meditative peace within recurring routes. This includes the road encircling Mt Faber, where I take my night runs. Coming to just under 5km, the route takes me through the market area, a stretch of (relatively) untouched nature, the bustle of harbourfront and past relics of Singapore’s Malay royal history.
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7. Heritage foods: In case there was any doubt that I am Singaporean, I am obsessed with food — specifically foods with a distinct identity and heritage behind it. This was perhaps sparked when I realised that the meals I have been eating at home was identified elsewhere as uniquely Teochew. Since then, I have kept an eye on the communities and groups that gather around certain foods and the historical vicissitudes that cohered these dishes together.
Once you’re done with this story about the favourite things of curator Tan Yong Jun, click here to catch up with our June/July 2021 issue.
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