If you’ve been noticing a lively mix of music and art activities happening around our heartlands these last few months, there’s a good chance you just caught a glimpse of PAssionArts Festival 2024! An annual affair, this year’s festival theme is “Palettes of Joy” and brings about a vibrant celebration of art and community across more than 60 Art Villages.
One of them is the Sembawang West National Day Carnival, which was held in conjunction with the PAssionArts Festival 2024. But the event had a unique performance awaiting visitors. Armed with pots, pans, metal chopsticks, wooden spoons, and even aluminium foil and fruit—with the help of a device called the Playtronica—residents created a special medley comprising iconic tunes like “Chan Mali Chan” and “Count on me, Singapore”, among others.
Called the Culinary Symphony, it was made possible through Lynette Quek, an audiovisual artist who helped craft the performance in a four-session workshop. We spoke to her and the Deputy Director (Partnership & Outreach) for the People’s Association, Ms Esther Quek, to discuss the lead-up to the performance and what else to be excited about for the PAssionArts Festival 2024.
PAssionArts Festival 2024 focuses on celebrating Singapore’s rich food culture through various art forms. Can you share the concept behind this year’s theme, “Palettes of Joy”, and how it connects with the diverse communities across Singapore?
Ms Esther Quek: The PAssionArts Festival 2024 is wrapped around the theme “Palettes of Joy” to celebrate Singapore’s diverse culture and heritage with a vibrant and colourful artistic expression of what Singaporeans enjoy most – food! Food is part of our Singapore identity, which opens conversations and connects people. Like food, art is a universal language. So you will see many PAssionArts activities and performances featuring “Food” and food-related items as a key creative element.
For instance, we achieved a significant milestone at the Bukit Batok East PAssionArts Festival by setting the Singapore Book of Records for the Largest Display of Food Clay Art Models. This installation featured 200 clay models of well-loved food like nyonya kuehs, fishball noodles and cakes. These miniature artworks were lovingly crafted by residents from Bukit Batok East and Toh Guan, showcasing a wide array of local and international cuisines. This project highlights Singapore’s rich food culture and fosters a deeper appreciation for the different culinary traditions that co-exist here.
Another example is the Radin Mas PAssionArts Festival, which featured the “Kiap Kiap” and “Joyful Ice Kacang” large art installations. These works celebrate the joy and vibrancy of our local food culture in a playful and visually engaging way. Additionally, PAssionArts Festival, as part of the Central Singapore District National Day Heartland celebrations, showcased a Giant Fruit Basket crochet art, which exemplifies how food and art can intersect to create powerful communal experiences.
You work with all sorts of unique instruments within the audiovisual space, and the Playtronica is no different. Why was it chosen for use at the PAssionArts Festival?
Lynette Quek: The Playtronica was selected for the Sembawang West PAssionArts Festival 2024 performance because of its innovative approach to making music accessible and engaging for everyone.
Playtronica is a device that uses conductive sensors to transform everyday objects into touch-sensitive musical instruments. The technology operates on the principle that anything with conductive properties—such as fruits, vegetables, or metal objects—can trigger sound when touched. This is possible because the Playtronica system detects changes in electrical conductivity when an object is touched, converting these signals into musical notes or sounds.
In my previous work, I used Playtronica in an installation at Peninsula Excelsior, a retail mall known for its vibrant music shops. I set up an interactive display where passersby could trigger musical sounds by touching the glass window, connected to objects like guitars and amplifiers.
Using a similar concept, the Playtronica would be an ideal choice for the PAssionArts Festival as it not only allowed residents of all abilities to explore new ways of making music but also provided a hands-on experience combining technology, art, and food. It also resonates with the theme of the PAssionArts Festival this year—“Palettes of Joy,” where culinary creativity and artistic expression are celebrated.
What has been the residents’ experience using the Playtronica, and how have they engaged with each other during the workshops?
Lynette: We first recorded various sounds during the pre-event workshops, such as drum beats, claps, hitting of glass, shaker sounds, and their singing voices, and assigned them to different conductive objects. At the PAssionArts Festival performance, residents activated the range of sounds by simply touching the objects connected to the Playtronica, like pots, pans, and kitchen tools. We even used vegetables for the rehearsal – green and red bell peppers, carrots, and pumpkin.
The residents found the experience of making music with the Playtronica enjoyable and surprisingly easy to grasp. At first, some of the older residents were a bit hesitant about using new technology. However, their confidence grew once they realised that creating music could be as simple as touching an object. For the younger residents, like a pair of 6-year-old twin girls, the Playtronica was a source of curiosity and excitement. They quickly picked up on how to use the system and even ended up helping some of the older residents.
The four pre-event workshops held between June and July 2024 created a community where aunties, parents, and children came together, learnt a new kind of performing art and worked towards the Sembawang West PAssionArts Festival performance.
For instance, the preschool children were not tall enough to touch some kitchen items on the table and activate their sounds. However, when they realised that by having another adult performer touch the item, they could activate the sound by tapping on the adult’s arm, they learnt that the human body is also a conductor of electronic signals. Once the children figured out this connection, they enjoyed participating in the performance. The close interaction among the different age groups can foster a stronger sense of community bonding.
Tell us about your experience in conducting the workshops in the lead-up to the Culinary Symphony
Lynette: Conducting these workshops has been an incredibly rewarding experience. What stood out for me is the residents’ commitment to this project and the strong support from the Community Arts & Culture Clubs (CACC). In the group of over 20 performers, we have two sets of preschool-aged twin girls with their grandmothers and other senior citizens.
The most senior performer is Pauline Tan, aged 79, who is the life wire of the group. As a grassroots volunteer teaching crafts to seniors, she was the creative mind behind many decorative items made from upcycled materials for the performance. These included foil-wrapped steamed fish, roasted chicken, a spatula, a tea set with pot and cups, a rolling pin and a birthday cake for Singapore’s 59th birthday.
In addition to food items, the Culinary Symphony also featured kitchen tools. What was the experience through this combination?
Lynette: Food-related shakers (were also held) as percussion instruments as well as kitchen utensils laid out on a table, which were connected to the Playtronica. This allowed them to sing and play the percussion sounds of drum beats, claps and vocal singing using the kitchen instruments. The combination was a delightful and unusual musical experience. Not forgetting that the performers came specially dressed up as chefs to provide a complete audio and visual experience!
All sounds used in the performance were recorded by the residents, incorporating them into the full arrangement of the song alongside their live performance. The residents even created new food-related lyrics to the tune of a familiar nursery rhyme, Two Tigers (Liang Zhi Lao Hu). This was then combined into a medley of four songs.
With the PAssionArts Festival still underway, what have been your key highlights thus far?
Ms Esther: The PAssionArts Festival 2024 has seen several outstanding art installations and performances, including the Culinary Symphony at Sembawang West PAssionArts Festival.
Other highlights include the HDB Flats in Nonya Kueh Design at the PAssionArts Festival as part of the North East District National Day Heartland celebrations, where artist Jackson Teo transformed familiar HDB block designs into vibrant Nonya kueh-inspired art installations. This project not only added a unique cultural touch to the Festival but also beautifully showcased how traditional motifs can be creatively reimagined.
At the Bedok Reservoir-Punggol PAssionArts Festival, residents participated in coaster-making with recycled bottle caps, an initiative collaborating with local start-up Plastify and oat beverage brand Oatbedient. This activity exemplified how sustainability and art can intersect, turning everyday waste into meaningful and beautiful art pieces.
We see that the PAssionArts Festival supports arts-for-all experiences, like this Sembawang West Culinary Symphony performance, utilising innovative mediums accessible to residents of all ages. What are some of the upcoming PAssionArts Festivals that also feature arts experiences accessible to everyone?
Ms Esther: PAssionArts Festival 2024 continues to be a vibrant platform where artistic expression is accessible to all, ensuring that everyone, regardless of age or ability, can participate in and enjoy art.
One such event is the Kolam Ayer PAssionArts Festival on 1 September 2024, where the community will participate in an art activity with a completed mural GB (Geylang Bahru) My Home by community artist Anne Neo. This mural, which captures the spirit of the precinct through landmarks like the Kallang River, Geylang Bahru Market and Food Centre and the neighbourhood playground and fitness corner, invites residents to further personalise it. As part of the festival’s encompassing approach, residents can create their own version of the mural art by adding colours to pre-drawn designs on postcards, which they can then take home.
Art is also used as a tool for education and raising awareness within the community. For instance, the Senja-Cashew PAssionArts Festival on 7 September 2024 will focus on eco-art. Participants will use recycled materials to craft artwork resembling beloved local foods like Roti Prata and Chili Crab, demonstrating how creativity can be both environmentally conscious and culturally relevant. PAssionArts Festival will (also) celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival through several lantern-making and art events across about a dozen island-wide locations (in September).
Furthering the art for all spirit, the “Celebrations of Drums” event, organised by Whampoa CACC and Community Drumming Network, will take place on 30 November 2024 as part of the post-PAssionArts Festival programme. This mass drumming session, set to take place above Boon Keng MRT station, will bring together an estimated 300 participants, including volunteers, drumming circles, and residents. The session aims to celebrate community spirit and inclusivity, providing a platform for people of all backgrounds and ages, from children to the elderly, to connect through the universal language of drumming.
PAssionArts Festival 2024
There’s still lots more of PAssionArts Festival 2024 to experience, so be sure to check out the event and ticketing details of upcoming PAssionArts Festival 2024 programmes through updates on PAssionArts’ Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Visuals courtesy of People’s Association.
