Are you bored of the usual, predictable retail experience? Well, Funan’s newest art-meets-retail programme Creative Unions is sure to bring a splash of colour to your life.
Curated by Neighbourhood and presented by Funan, Creative Unions is a month-long programme that engages visitors in the art of shopping across fashion, food, and lifestyle. As part of Singapore Art Week 2021, this programme invites visitors to a ‘shoppable’ experience to discover over ten unique artist and brand collaborations.
As Mr Augustine Ow, Centre Manager for Funan, said:
We hope that shoppers can experience their favourite international and local brands in an all-new manner; the community can also be inspired by the new perspectives of the local creative. Funan will continue to bring about unique retail experiences and is dedicated to being the intersection for passionate consumers to build strong social communities.”
Creative Unions is indeed a platform that allows artists’ ideas and imagination to come alive in everyday retail products that visitors can browse through. Truly, Creative Unions is a breakthrough in the usual presentations of art and the typical retail design.
So what exactly is this programme about? Well, beloved local brands like Love, Bonito, and LiHo TEA, along with famous international brands such as VANS have been paired with up-and-coming Singaporean visual artists. Together, it results in innovative art-meets-retail products you’d never expect. These unexpected collaborations are sure to provide for a dynamic shopping experience that can be enjoyed by all.
Here are some examples to look forward to:
THEY ARE by VANS
Taking place at Funan’s Centre Stage on Level 1, VANS’ pop-up THEY ARE invites members of the public to understand art better. With three sneaker art workshops with artists such as Andray from Bada Bink Tattoo Firm held at the storefront, and meet the artist sessions, visitors will interact with both the art and the artist first-hand.
This way, they can speak with the artist and understand where the designs they are seeing came from. The pop-up also features a photography exhibition by students from LASALLE College of the Arts and other activities like curator walkthroughs.
SMALL JOYS by Butterknife Folk and Aida Sa’ad
Don’t worry foodies; Creative Unions covers the Food & Beverage industry too. Marrying tangible tastes with art, local artisanal gelateria Butterknife Folk invited graphic artist Aida Sa’ad to create a limited line of new, delicious flavours like the chocolatey “Campfire at Outward Bound” that are, of course, #Instagrammable-worthy.
This line was inspired by crowd-sourced stories shortlisted from more than a hundred entries, so you can recall the small, joyful moments behind the gelato you’re enjoying. The collaboration also resulted in a cute mini-zine (a palm-sized artist handbook basically) and bold architectural interventions.
I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE by Brompton Bicycle
London folding bike brand Brompton Bicycle has teamed up with visual artist Jahan Loh to present a custom-painted bike and a limited T-shirts and stickers line.
This quirky line fuses Jahan’s counterculture style with Brompton’s trademark sense of independence and freedom in their products.
Funan x Tell Your Children (TYC)
In this partnership with Singapore creative studio Tell Your Children, visitors can look forward to take-home collectables such as collar pins and iron-on patches, and even Instagram digital stickers.
You might have been to the Funan Showsuite and wondered why some of these items might seem familiar. That’s pretty much due to their inspiration from the iconic mural on the wall of the showsuite prior to Funan’s official opening back in 2019.
Last things to take note of:
Visitors of the mall can redeem an exclusive collar pin with a minimum spend of $50 at Funan. They can also stand to win a set of iron-on patches by taking part in #CUatFunan. But do remember that this is all while stocks last!
You can get your Creative Unions merchandise, as well as, workshop passes at eCapitaMall, anytime, anywhere! Earn 5000 STAR$ (equivalent to a $5 eCaptiaVoucher) with a minimum spend of $40 on Creative Unions items online.
For more information on the Creative Unions collaborations, head on over to Funan’s Creative Unions web page!
Photo by Soloman Soh of the DANAMIC Team. Additional visuals courtesy of Neighbourhood.
