SPORE Art Salon Tuesday 25 June!

Advertising my schtick! Do take note of the Stephen Black book giveaway.

6 months into the year brings us the 31st Edition of SPORE Art Salon!

What's happening this 25 June at the 3rd floor of BluJaz Cafe - poetry by Tania De Rozario,

Sivaraj Pragasm's short film screening, wonder tunes using a seldom seen guitar technique from Yan Neil Chan, and a very special giveaway treat for our salonistas
inspired by writer/poet Stephen Black!

Don't forget to bring your materials for the drawing sessions we have
in between stage performances! See you then!

WHERE : BluJaz Cafe (3rd Storey)
WHEN : Tuesday 25 June 2013 7:45PM onwards
RSVP : https://www.facebook.com/events/669025896447422/
$10 / guest --- includes 1 drink
proceeds benefit BluJaz and SPORE Art Salon featured artists

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FOR OUR SALONISTAS -

the "I Ate Tiong Bahru" giveaway!

by Stephen Black

http://glossi.com/bookmerah/4447-book-merah

Photo credit: Books Actually

We are putting up 2 of these perfect bound paperbacks to give away! Here's what you need to do...
1 Share your thoughts and memories about Tiong Bahru with us! Anything from a one liner to a thesis essay long is acceptable!
2 Find us on our Facebook event page here - https://www.facebook.com/events/669025896447422/
3 Post your writing, the last entry should appear on the Facebook event page
before 11:59PM of Saturday 22 June
4 ...That's all!

SPORE Art Salon and Stephen Black will pick the 2 most kickass pieces, winners will be informed via Facebook and we will present the books (...perhaps a reading too?) during the 31st Edition happening on Tuesday 25 June! Good luck and have fun!!

-

Unlike most of the island country of Singapore, the Tiong Bahru estate looks like it did when it was built over seventy-five years ago. Its distinctive Art Deco architecture and famous food have delighted Singaporeans for generations.

From swamps and kampungs to colonial public housing experiment to wi-fi'd cosmopolitan community, Tiong Bahru represents many of the changes which have occurred in Singapore and throughout Southeast Asia.

I Ate Tiong Bahru is a fact-based, lyrical documentary. For more info, visit
http://www.scribd.com/doc/143782854/i-Ate-Tiong-Bahru-SAMPLER
To buy, visit
http://booksactually.bigcartel.com/product/i-ate-tiong-bahru-by-stephen-black



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FEATURED ARTISTS

YAN NEIL CHAN (guitarist)
www.youtube.com/yanneilchan
Neil, specialising in 'fingerstyle guitar', was awarded a full scholarship at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music to pursue a Bachelor of Music (Honors) Degree in Recording Arts and Science in 2011.

Neil has also performed at many major events such as the Mosaic Music Festival, NUS Arts Festival, ‘Esplanade Presents: National Day Celebrations,’ ‘Tones 2012,’ ‘Noise Singapore
2011,’ and the ‘Singapore Youth Festival 2009.’

He recently emerged champion at the ‘Singapore Street Festival Band Competition’ in 2012. Neil has been featured live on radio stations 98.7FM and Radiopulze. He has also been showcased on ‘Clicknetwork.tv’ under the music show ‘Playlist,’ featuring local musicians performing their original music.




SIVARAJ PRAGASM (filmmaker)

http://sivarajpragasm.wix.com/film
"I started off as a musician, then became a writer, then became an editor and then eventually realized that I have always loved story-telling. I never realized that having visions or dreaming up entire scenes of make-believe films was actually something that only a few people would do during their free time.

So that's how I started my journey as a filmmaker. But I wanted to be different. I didn't want to be remembered as just another filmmaker but as someone who tried something different."

About the film -

Purgotory 2011, 16 mins
A re-interpretation of the poem, Elephant In the Room by Terry Kettering; Purgatory is a place - a dark place where your past is read out to you. Dr. Terry Ward found herself there after an unfortunate accident. However, the sequence of events leading up to that is what really matters. Is she willing to confront the elephant in the room or continue living in denial about what she really did?

Director's Statement -

"Purgatory is my 5th short-film and my 1st after graduating from a film school. This would also be my first film that is based on an adaptation of an existing poem.

The Elephant in The Room by Terry Kettering is essentially a poem that deals with bereavement and denial and since my body of work has consisted mainly of themes that revolve around the human psyche and fragility of the mind, I felt that denial would be an ideal theme to work on in this project.

The main character, Terry Ward was created by combining the characteristics of some of my friends and incorporating her into a World where she plays a person with immense responsibilities, something she isn’t really ready to cope with. By structuring the film in a non-linear form, my intention is to play it in 2 different dimensions, one in Purgatory where she plays a victim and one in real life, where she plays the aggressor of sorts and how her actions in real life, eventually led her to Purgatory.

The other character, named Peter is modelled after a teacher I once had who often used condescending and sarcastic terms to punish and humiliate his students. Somehow, when I crafted the idea, this character came to mind and I thought it would be interesting if I could put these 2 together and observe the dynamics and the conflict that could potentially arise.

By putting these characters into play and reinforcing the theme of denial into their dialogue, actions and their existence, I hope to bring about a resolution that will allow viewers to react to not only the elephant in the room that is revealed in the film but also, the vicious cycle of the system in today’s society that blurs the line between the puppet master, and the puppet.

What happens in Purgatory, stays in Purgatory. "

TANIA DE ROZARIO
www.taniaderozario.com
Tania De Rozario is an artist, writer and curator interested in personal stories and their connections to larger issues of gender and sexuality. Author of Tender Delirium (Math Paper Press, 2013) and Reasons for the Rain (forthcoming, Nov 2013), she is currently penning her third book, And The Walls Come Crumbling Down. Recipient of the 2011 SPH-NAC Golden Point Award for English Poetry, she has undertaken writing residencies at Hedgebrook (USA) and Sangam House (India).

As a visual artist, Tania has been exhibiting for over a decade. Her first solo exhibition, A Language of Longing, opened at The Substation Gallery in 2011. Her curatorial portfolio includes Landing Places (Objectifs Centre for Photography & Filmmaking, Singapore, 2012) and Only Breath (Café Kunst Sappho, Amsterdam, 2009.)

She is also a co-founder/curator of EtiquetteSG, a multidisciplinary collective focused on platforming women’s voices. Including its upcoming anthology, it has showcased work by over 70 artists, writers, curators, filmmakers and academics.

Tania currently serves as an Associate Artist at The Substation, where she is working on Making Trouble, a two-year project investigating relationships between art and activism in Singapore. On the side, she teaches Contemporary Contextual Studies at Lasalle College of the Arts.

SPORE Art Salon tonight!

Why not advertise? Alvin Pang's supposed to be on, unless he's still lost his voice (it was lost over the weekend), in which case I'll have to replace him! Just warning ya.

It's our 21st salon! To celebrate our coming of age, we're calling a mix of fresh and familiar faces to the stage.You'll encounter a live graffiti artist, a brand new model and a nationally awarded poet. Plus, you'll get to say hi again to Weish from the Cold Shoulder (18th edition), Su from 'Call Me Bea' (19th and 20th) and Fauzo from the Russian Dolls (5th, 9th and 14th). Come hang out with the family!

WHERE: BluJaz Cafe, 3rd Storey (12 Bali Lane)

WHEN: Tuesday 31 July 2012, 7:30PM onwards

FB Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/events/485692351460948/

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FEATURED VISUAL ARTIST

ASRI SCOLA (visual / graffiti artist)

http://www.scola.carbonmade.com/
Asri Scola describes himself as a teleporter who feeds on visual aesthetics. It has been a decade since he started writing his way into the street/graffiti culture. His progressive works explores the intervention of spatial relations and colours, interspersed with distinct streaming line movement. Scola versatility has seen his artworks exhibited in " 100 Friends:100 Artists ", " Art The Hall - Art Garage " and " Off The Wall - Graffiti Kings from France and Singapore " exhibitions to name a few.
His works has been featured in different platforms such as Culturepush, Actually MAG, Arts Republic, Singapore Writers Festival and Street Visibility Catalogue.
He was one of the 4 winning designs for ActuallyMAG 8th Signature bag competition recently. Currently his hands are tied with street art NDP project, Calligraphy Graffiti works for local museum (revealed soon) and pending exhibits.
Besides doing mural and illustration, Scola likes to dwell on different array of disciplines from printmaking to paper-cut to photography. Significantly, he enjoys the process more as it gives the ability to eliminate and reconstruction that allows for accidental self-discovery. Though Scola likes to document and express his thoughts through his artwork, his normal alter ego has a conflicting separate identity of procrastinating and unusual fascination of teleporting.

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FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS


HOST

TEH SU CHING as "Felicity"
Teh Su Ching is a bilingual writer, performer, and producer. A short film she wrote and produced, Ash, premiered at the Moscow International Film Festival in June. A condensed, silent version of Ash, renamed Evening Shift, has been shortlisted for the Louis Vuitton Journeys Awards. In 2011, Shanghai theatre group 3rd Culture Theatre staged her English and Mandarin play Seven Days in Jing An in Shanghai’s Jing An district theatre festival. In 2008, another play, Russia! was featured in the Yale Playwrights Festival. Russia! was also read at The Substation, where Lim Yu Beng played the lead. Su Ching's full-length play Ubin will be given a reading in New York's Workshop Theatre in October. Catch her as forensic expert Jean Wu in the hour-long drama Code of Law, which debuts on Mediacorp's Channel 5 September 13th.

MODEL
JURANE SOLANO
Born in 1990, Jurane Solano has been singing the instant she could, with more than a few winning titles under her belt. She grew up listening to “almost every genre conceivable”, but says that “Broadway almost always comes out tops.”
Her love for musical theatre is evident – she’s played the lead actress in several local productions to full-houses, commanding a nationwide following.
She hopes to one day create a platform that can leverage on people’s artistic talents to make a real improvement to the world.

weish (musician)
http://youtube.com/weishbub
Weish started out as a wedding singer many years ago, but only began writing songs proper in 2010 and has never looked back since. Extremely excited about expanding her sound, she has grown from a lone-ukulele getup to vocal and instrumental looping, as well as forming bands - among which is Cold Shoulder, for whom she sings and plays the synth. She currently hosts the open mic sessions at The Pigeonhole, and is passionate about providing platforms for new musicians to grow and be found.

ALVIN PANG (poet)
Alvin Pang (b.1972) is a poet, writer and editor. His poems have been translated into fifteen languages, and has appeared in major festivals and publications worldwide. A Fellow of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program (2002), his books include Testing the Silence (1997), City of Rain (2003), What Gives Us Our Names (2011) and Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore (2009). He was Singapore’s Young Artist of the Year for Literature in 2005, and received the Singapore Youth Award for Arts and Culture in 2007. He represented Singapore at London’s Poetry Parnassus event, part of the 2012 Olympic celebrations. His most recent volumes of poetry – both just released in 2012 – are: Other Things and Other Poems, published in Croatia, and Waiting for the Barbarians published by Arc in the UK.




FAUZO (musician)

A 'veteran' of the SPORE Art Salon editions, Fauzo loves challenges and exploring various intricate pieces of Classical music. His deep love for music started when he first learnt the power chords of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". From then on, a musical journey began with the exploration of various genres - from Latin Rock to Progressive Rock and finally, finding love in classical music after nailing Mozart's Piano Sonata on the electric guitar, an assignment proposed by his guitar instructor.

Party Action People & SPORE Art Salon

Two things I should mention:

1) Party Action People is performing again at the TAPAC courtyard today at 6pm! Reprise of our original program, in case you missed it on Sunday.

2) SPORE Art Salon's happening again next Tuesday.

Happy National Day! Red and white flags are going up all over the island, but we Salonistas are staying decidedly international. This month’s awesome visual and performing arts lineup includes a Swiss experimental trombonist, a Filipino playwright and an American actor, as well as a host, a poet, a model and a short film, all from dear old Singapore. Come join the mish and mash of things and create conversations within. See you soon!

WHERE: BluJaz Cafe, 3rd Storey (12 Bali Lane)
WHEN: Tuesday 31 July 2012, 7:30PM onwards
FB Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/events/248696541900162/

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FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS

HOST

DEBORAH EMMANUEL

www.deborahemmanuel.com

Deborah Emmanuel has been telling stories since she could talk. Her first story was that there was a microscopic pterodactyl living inside her ear, which when she was reading would not allow her to hear the dinner bell. Since then, she has used drama and creative writing to tell other stories which have reached out to many people. Her first time on stage was at age 4 in the kindergarten circus musical, in which she desperately wanted to be a ballerina, but was made to wear a hairy bear suit instead. Since then she has played several human acting roles, and appeared as an educational speaker and performance poet on many occasions. She believes in art as a tool for change and reform. She also knows that anyone can heal when they express themselves through art. Deborah will continue to write, perform and teach as long as she exists.

MODEL

TEH SU CHING

POOJA (poet)

Pooja Nansi is a teacher and poet who believes in the power that speech and performance can lend to the written word. Her first collection of poetry "Stiletto Scars" was published in 2007 at the Singapore Writer's Festival. She has performed and conducted workshops in several educational institutes both locally and abroad such as Kuala Lumpur and London, with individuals of different ages to try and make poetry relevant to their lives. She has also participated in poetry projects such as "Speechless" with the British Council, where she worked in conjunction with poets from London, Ireland, Taiwan, The Phillipines, Malaysia and Vietnam and engaged in a month long tour of the UK to explore issues surrounding freedom of speech. She is most passionate about using poetry as a platform to raise awareness about issues close to her heart.

 INTOXICATED (stage play)
http://www.facebook.com/roofdeckprod
INTOXICATED is (mostly) a comedy about love and alcohol. Trish (EARL MALLARI) is a fun-loving girl who loves to party, but has a tendency to drink a little bit too much and get into all sorts of crazy shenanigans. On one such night, her good friend Jim (GARETH PROSSER) confronts her about her apparent alcoholism. Neither Trish nor Jim is prepared for the emotional rollercoaster that is to follow.
About INTOXICATED -
INTOXICATED is the second play to be staged by Roofdeck Productions at the SPORE Art Salon, following the successful staging of ALL I WANT during the 9th edition in August 2011. INTOXICATED is written and directed by Ren Robles, and stars Earl Mallari and Gareth Prosser. Jason Miller is Assistant Director for this production, with Ace Bigcas as Stage Manager.

FREDI SONDEREGGER (musician)
Bass trombonist Fredi Sonderegger was born and brought up in the small town of Herisau in the northeast of Switzerland. He has been a member of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra for over 10 years, while holding the post of coordinator of brass studies at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and lecturer at the School of the Arts. As a soloist and clinician, he has traveled extensively throughout the South East Asia region, performing in China, Thailand, Jakarta, Taiwan, and Malaysia. He has also performed in Italy, France and Germany as well as USA. Groups he has played with include La Fenice, The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Concerto Vocale, Les Cornet Noir, GregLyon’s Omniform, the Jeremy Monteiro Big Band as well as the Brass Explosion Big Band. He has also had the opportunity to display sound installations and perform in ad hoc theater groups incorporating his music.
Fredi’s sound art has been exhibited in Singapore, Macau and Taiwan. He has also performed in ad hoc theater and in a staged solo venture. He will perform at the Jeju International Band festival in August 2012. Future projects include the making of a solo CD and tours to Australia and New Zealand.

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FEATURED VISUAL ART

BLOTCH STUDIOS
https://www.facebook.com/blotchstudios
"Mother", 7min
This film is a tribute to all mothers of the world. There are times when we may not appreciate your presence, but we will always feel your absence. Although we may not agree on everything, we thank you for your unconditional, everlasting love and dedication, for bringing us into this world and for showing us what it means to be a selfless pillar of our families.



Two little notes: Party Action

About BLOTCH Studios -

 Blotch is new, nebulous, and constantly rediscovering itself; it is emerging, growing and always seeking new grounds to conquer. It cannot be defined, cannot be contained. It is a vision, a belief, an ideology. It is a reason to fight, for all of our dreams combined. It is a group of individuals but also one.
 
In 2012, founding members of randomINK decided to take a new direction and bring together a group of creatives passionate in their individual fields to form a creative collective. This cumulated into Blotch Studios. Many of us previously graduated from Hwa Chong Institution's Art Elective Programme (AEP). We envision Blotch Studios as a multi-disciplinary studio that has a focus on filmmaking. Our members also dabble in creative pursuits as diverse as graphic design, photography, animation and illustration, and we see this cross-pollination of ideas and influences across art mediums as a distinctive feature of our group.


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SPORE Art Salon tomorrow!!!

Hope you'll come! I'm co-hosting!

AGAINST all heat this May, a beautiful line up of musicians, a poet, a singer, a filmmaker, and a never-seen-before first-time Super-enthusiastic model to pose for drawing has come together and fallen in place pretty nicely and in a timely manner to boot! We had an absolute blast in the month of April and there's no expecting what might be different this time around... so come join us on 29 May to find out!! See you then!

WHERE: BluJaz Cafe, 3rd Storey (12 Bali Lane)
WHEN: Tuesday 29 May 2012, 7:30PM onwards
FB Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/events/446812438679744/

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SPORE Art Salon is a non-profit initiative created for visual artists to meet, mingle, inspire, and share with performing artists. During the event, we alternate between drawing sessions with live models, and performances from musicians, contortionists, poets, dancers, actors and more. We also feature works of, and demonstrations by visual artists, individually or collaboratively.

For those who are new to the art salon, our event is modeled after world famous Giles Larrain's Art Salon in NYC, with a distinctly Singaporean twist and flavour!

There is a minimum donation of $7/person at the door, and proceeds will benefit our featured artists. The bar and kitchen will be open, so come have some drinks and dinner, meet, mingle and inspire with fellow creatives of various disciplines. Guests are encouraged to participate in the life drawing sessions in between performances, so, bring your sketch materials along!

For information on our archived editions, please visit
www.sporeartsalon.blogspot.com

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FEATURED MODEL

LAURA
It's always very exciting (and nerve wrecking) to take a budding idea and trying it out for the very first time. Laura is inspired by music and the fashion movements it can inspire, and believes in using the body as visual tool for self expression. Her set aims to challenge the image of innocence by taking the whimsical and giving it a twist of grunge. She is also keen to explore the relationship between artist and the mode - whose inspiration or work of art will it be this edition?

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FEATURED VISUAL ARTIST

LI LIN WEE (filmmaker)
http://www.bobbingbuoyfilms.com/
Li Lin is known to be the most prolific female short filmmaker in Singapore with almost 10 short films under her belt. Most of them award winners, in 2005, Li Lin’s short film “Autograph Book”
was the first ever Singapore film selected for the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in New York. A graduate of Brown University in Rhode Island, USA with a BA in Art Semiotics, Li Lin also spent a semester in Tisch-NYU doing “Sight and Sound”, an intensive filmmaking production course. She recently completed her MFA in Dramatic Writing at Tisch Asia on a Media Education Scheme Scholarship.

Earlier this year, Li Lin received the honorary award from the Singapore Short Film Awards for her outstanding contribution to the Singapore short film scene. Li Lin has made two feature films, the critically acclaimed “GONE SHOPPING” in 2007 which was partially funded by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board and well received “FOREVER” in 2011 which was funded by the MDA’s New Feature Film Fund and supported by Iceberg Design.

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FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS

COLD SHOULDER (soundmakers)
Hi, we are Cold Shoulder. We love making sounds. Sometimes it resembles music. Ask us anything but what we play, because most days we aren't sure. Whatever it is, we sincerely hope we're going somewhere with this. Thank you for having us, SPORE Art Salon!








AMBER LIN (poet)

http://www.anbarsky.wordpress.com/
Amber enjoys being a contradiction. You could probably spot her screaming at zombies, or strangling adorable stuffed toys. She considers herself pretty well adjusted to the strict eduction system in Singapore, but outside the lines of social expectations and traditions, she's found various shades of her personality that just can't be ignored.

Amber strongly believes that dancing, singing and writing have helped her keep sane and loves telling, and being told, stories of any medium. She hopes that one day, she'll see the Northern Lights, Love will hold her hand and people will stop asking her why she dislikes chocolate. Currently studying performance in Lasalle College of the Arts, she tries her best to be a good student, daughter, friend and human being.


WENDELL JOHN FRANDO (singer)

SPORE Art Salon on Tuesday!
 

As usual, 7:30pm to mingle; 8pm for the actual show; Blu Jaz Cafe 11 Bali Lane.

This month we're featuring the gorgeous performance poet Deborah Emmanuel, the storyteller Ansel Ashby, gay activist Roy Tan as our drawing model, and my personal friend Don Shiau in his comeback to songwriting and musical performance.

More info here!

SPORE Art Salon, Tuesday 28 February

Yup, another SPORE Art Salon is ahead!

SPORE Art Salon
Venue: Blu Jaz Cafe, 9 Bali Lane
Date: Tuesday 31 January 2012
Time: 8-11pm

I'll let Olivia Kwok do the describing:

This month will see us putting poetry and spoken word performances on stage, a visiting visual artist who'll show you a portrait made in film (!), plus, get ready to topple head over heels for an extremely talented young musician who will bring you heart-felt music and song. Not forgetting... sharpen those pencils and fill up your palettes for life drawing with a model so enthusiastic to pose for all!

Also, we have a very special guest feature... our long-time salon regular, collaborator, host, musician,... the absolute sparkle of every night and great friend who needs no introduction... JOHNNY KIM! He will take the stage for the very last time during his stay here in good ol' Singapore so be sure not to miss this one! It's going to be a wonderful evening out, and we cannot wait to getting around to this... see you all then!



WHERE: BluJaz Cafe (12 Bali Lane)
WHEN: Tuesday 28 February 2012, 7:30PM
FB Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/events/333067136736287/

----------------------------



SPORE Art Salon is a non-profit initiative created for visual artists to meet, mingle, inspire, and share with performing artists. During the event, we alternate between drawing sessions with live models, and performances from musicians, contortionists, poets, dancers, actors and more. We also feature works of, and demonstrations by visual artists, individually or collaboratively.

For those who are new to the art salon, our event is modeled after world famous Giles Larrain's Art Salon in NYC, with a distinctly Singaporean twist and flavour!

There is a minimum donation of $7/person at the door, and proceeds will benefit our featured artists. The bar and kitchen will be open, so come have some drinks and dinner, meet, mingle and inspire with fellow creatives of various disciplines. Guests are encouraged to participate in the life drawing sessions in between performances, so, bring your sketch materials along!

For information on our archived editions, please visit
www.sporeartsalon.blogspot.com

----------------------------

Pink Walls Oil on Gesso, by Gavin Maughfling

FEATURED VISUAL ARTIST:

GAVIN MAUGHFLING
http://www.gavinmaughfling.co.uk

Gavin will be showing images of some of the paintings he has been making since January in Singapore, and talking about some of the ideas he is exploring while working here. He will also be introducing a short 5-minute film entitled ‘Sam’, which was first shown at the Frisk Salon event ‘Manual’ in London in May 2011.

A British artist based in London, Gavin is currently visiting Singapore on a three-month sabbatical, during which he is working in a studio in Paya Lebar, producing a series of paintings based on abstractions of Singapore HDB estates, as well as a running a drawing course at the Goodman Arts Centre.

Gavin was trained at the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford, and on the Fine Art Masters Programme at the University of East London. He has exhibited widely throughout the UK and internationally, including solo and group shows at The Lounge Gallery (London), CAP Projects (London, jointly curated with Nicky Hodge), Prenelle Gallery (London), Jill George Gallery, London, ICA (London), the Mostyn Gallery (Lllandudno), Kelvingrove Gallery (Glasgow), Galerie Van Den Planken (Antwerp), Elzenveld Foundation (Antwerp, with the British Council), Art Paris (Paris) and the Holland Art Fair (The Hague).

He has held residencies at the British Embassy, Luxembourg and at the University of Hertfordshire. His work is held in numerous collections and is represented in the Government Art Collection in the United Kingdom.

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FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS:


DON SHIAU (host)

Nina Chabra

NINA CHABRA (model)
http://vimeo.com/31288624
Do various things for my life.
I try to live restful throughout.
With the occasional conversation with a tree.










RIO CHAVARRO (performer)

Rio Chavarro

Rio Chavarro aka "El RIO de MIAMI" was brought to Singapore on the wings of fate (actually in 3 different air planes) a little over a year ago to play "Charlie Chaplin" (the one greatest loving inspiration of his art) for Universal Studios in Sentosa and has lovingly supported the SPORE Art Salon since its early days at the ECHOLoft.
He is a latino-Miamian bilingually unapologetic poet, actor, comedian, story-teller, writer/director. Rio has been performing his poetry and one person shows in bars, festivals & on the streets for the past 12 years in cities all over the US including Miami, NYC, L.A. In South America, he's toured his shows through Chile, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, & Brazil. In Central America through Mexico, Costa Rica, & Panama. In Europe: Scotland's famed Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Spain, France, & Italy.
Kicked out of both Julliard Conservatory for being outspoken and then the New World School of the Arts for his outstanding directorial abilities, he has continued to act, direct, write poetry, plays, pilots, and is currently working on finishing a novel, a TV series, and his first attempt ever at writing a children's book.
He will be reading selected pieces of his work including a few written here in SG... he will tickle and tantalize the audience with his mixture of thoughtful story-telling, child-like witty comedy, & ADDHD poetry to then polish it all off with a song at the end.

Jay Bernard

JAY BERNARD (poet)
http://brrnrrd.wordpress.com/
Jay Bernard is currently the writer-in-residence at NUS University Scholars Program and The Arts House. She is from London and has performed her work all over the UK, including Shakespeare's Globe, The Royal Opera House and The Southbank Centre. Her first pamphlet, Your Sign Is Cuckoo, Girl was selected as PBS pamphlet choice in 2008, and she is currently working on another. She blogs at brrnrrd.wordpress.com, and you can follow her @Brrnrrd on twitter.

Andrea Vazquez

ANDREA VAZQUEZ (singer/song writer)
http://www.youtube.com/user/vazqu7054
Andrea Vazquez is a sixteen-year-old singer/songwriter.
She is currently in high school and taking music as a subject. She has been interested in music ever since she was a little girl, and has always loved being on stage performing. She began composing her own songs when she was just 12 years and has more than 50 songs to date. She gets her inspiration from her own experiences, and each song talks about a specific event in her life, She looks up to singers like Sara Bareilles and bands like Maroon5. She is self taught in guitarist and piano player and loves to play both instruments. She regularly takes part in school music shows and loves performing in open mikes around Singapore. When she graduates high school she hopes to go to London to study music further in University and pursue it as a professional career in the future.



:)

SPORE Art Salon on Tuesday 31 January: January with a Bang!

SPORE Art Salon's coming again! (And yes, I'm updating this blog again, after a long hiatus.)

This time round I'm responsible for the curation of poet Lee Jing Yan and performance artists Ezzam Rahman and Daniela Beltrani.

More info at our Facebook event page and our blog.

SPORE Art Salon

Venue: Blu Jaz Cafe, 9 Bali Lane

Date: Tuesday 31 January 2012

Time: 7pm to mingle, 8pm for performances

SPORE Art Salon 10 - the Halloween Edition!

Just a reminder to everyone that this month's SPORE Art Salon is coming - on Halloween itself! Guests include filmmaker Shaun Koh, artist Ila and sound artist Bani Haykal, and storyteller Kamini Ramachandran. Do also note that the price is now $20, and that it's now a free drink instead of free food.


In the spirit of 31st October falling on the very last monday of the month, we present to you, our first ever, themed salon - the SCARY EDITION! Don on your craziest costume creation, and come on out to The Loft to be spooked by a very special SCARY LINE UP of performing and visual artists who will be sharing the stage!!! It will be a night of halloween-inspired art making, nothing like another, so make sure you don't miss this spine chilling, mind blowing experience!

LOCATION: The Loft - 289A South Bridge Road (Corner of Smith Street & South Bridge Road)
Doors open at 7:30PM
$20/ticket donation/person
FB Event Page : https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166529500101752

More info here.