Kimberley Ambrose
I bet there were countless of times where you and your friends hung out around Bugis and walked past Gotham Tower (the fancy looking building in the image below AKA Parkview Square), wondering how it looks on the inside. Well, what if I told you that you could now find out – FREE OF CHARGE!
Image credit: Meinhardt
A swanky new museum set foot in the building in March this year with the opening exhibition titled “On Sharks and Humanity”. Parkview Museum Singapore is a private museum that focuses on hosting exhibitions relating to contemporary art. It also aims to be a stage for local and international artists alike to showcase their artistic expression.
The best part about it is that… entrance is FREE! This is to encourage art appreciation and integration in the lives of the public. And who knows? Even you – the boy/girl who can’t draw a stickman to save your life – could find the true contemporary artist in you.
Venue and opening hours
The museum is open 11AM – 7PM from Monday to Saturday, and is located at L3 Parkview Square, 600 North Bridge Road, Singapore 188778.
“On Sharks and Humanity” will be exhibited from now till 9 September 2017.
Opening exhibition – On Sharks and Humanity
Their opening exhibition, “On Sharks and Humanity”, is a travelling exhibition that addresses the practice of shark finning. The different artworks take visitors through how human activity has great impacts on the ocean and the creatures that live within it. Bigger ideas are explored through the art pieces too, such as shark protection and ocean conservation.
A little more about the exhibition cause
Shark’s fin is a delicacy in many cultures, most notably in Asia. The fins are used for soup which is commonly seen at grand celebrations like weddings. Sadly, this means that the number of sharks in the wild is dwindling, posing a great threat to the overall health of oceans and of marine life.
The demand for wildlife products — similar to that of shark’s fins, elephant tusks, tiger skin and others — is detrimental to not only the wildlife populations but the overall existence and well-being of the ecosystems. This is exactly why the exhibition is also supported by leading international non-profit organisation WildAid, whose mission is to end the illegal wildlife trade and reduce the demand for such products. BUT maybe the art pieces will do a much better job at convincing you!
More about the current art installations
The artworks explore different approaches in showing the impacts of shark finning, some more obviously than others.
“This is Not Food, Nor Dessert” by Hou Zhongying
This oil-on-canvas piece illustrates shark as a dessert, in the form of melting ice cream. This is said by the artist to mimic real life, where the consumption of shark’s fin by humans have left its species dwindling in numbers and therefore, “melting away” and disintegrating. The use of unnatural coloring on the shark is to represent food contamination from water pollution.
Just like that, several issues are touched on in just a single painting. It is also more impactful as visitors have a chance to discover the meaning behind the art instead of having it presented readily. Below are some of the other installations you can expect to see at the exhibition.
“The Harvest” by Mark Leong
“Don’t Copy II” by Li Jiwei
This is definitely one hidden gem you don’t want to miss! And we just can’t wait to see what else Parkview Museum has in store for us in the coming months.
Information and photos extracted from ‘On Sharks and Humanity’ Global Art Exhibition
