The Gathering: 千岁宫 (Qiānsuì gōng) recreates opportunities for an elegant gathering (雅集: Yǎ jí) inspired by the winding stream party experience (流觞曲水: Liúshāng qū shuǐ), and set within a Chinese garden. The new site-specific art commission continues local artist Wong Lip Chin’s ongoing interest in developing multi-modal art experiences delving into the intricacies of Chinese culture and history and is produced and curated by Singaporean curator and exhibition-maker John Z.W. Tung.

Beyond its existence as a site-specific installation paying close attention to the history and architecture of the space, the holistic experience extends beyond visuals to engage the olfactory and auditory senses through the artist-led tea and incense experience, taking place on weekends, that forms an integral part of the artwork concept. This participatory artwork is a novel installation concept steeped in culture. Emerging as an oasis within the iconic heritage site, the artwork extends beyond visuality to serve as a platform for experiences.

In developing the project, Wong’s extensive historical research and employment of antiques and precious materials towards creation of the installation celebrates both intangible and tangible Chinese heritage. By cherishing what has been valued for centuries and adapting it for the contemporary audience, the installation exists as the manifestation of the ideorealm (意境: Yìjìng) — the soul of the Chinese aesthetic experience, ever-present but nigh-untranslatable. The Gathering: 千岁宫 accords the rare opportunity of encountering a time beyond our own.

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The Gathering: 千岁宫
25 feb – 25 mar 2022
Kreta Ayer Square, 21 Banda Street, Singapore 050005
9 am – 7 pm, daily

@thegathering.chinatown (Instagram)
facebook.com/thegathering.chinatown

By partnering with local artisans, performers, and heritage businesses, The Gathering: 千岁宫 will be further activated with a host of public programmes that evokes appreciation for Chinese culture while serving as a conduit for the preservation of intangible cultural heritage. These programmes are made possible through collaboration with The Gathering: 千岁宫’s Programmes and Outreach Partner, deck.

6 mar (Sun) / 12 mar (Sat) / 19 mar (Sat)

6pm–7pm
Location: Kreta Ayer Square, Chinatown

Free admission (capacity of 40 pax due to safe distancing measures)

Walking through the Garden is a series of duet performances which showcases the beauty of Chinese instrumental music within the site of The Gathering: 千岁宫. The performances will feature an erhu, a bow-stringed instrument and a zhongruan, a plucked-string instrument. The repertoire prepared provides a point of entry into the melodic qualities of these two instruments. Audiences can expect a mix of popular, contemporary and classical tunes which will demonstrate the versatility of the instruments.

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10 mar (Thu)

8pm–9pm
Live-streamed on Facebook , conducted in English

Established in 1925, Pek Sin Choon Tea Merchant is one of the oldest tea merchants in Singapore. Drawing from the traditional cultural roots of tea and adapting to the tropical humid weather of Singapore, the founder and the 4th generation successor of Pek Sin Choon has innovatively created signature tea blends that reflect changing tastes and preferences informed by the local climate. The online presentation shares the history and story behind Nanyang tea, the process in which the tea blends are created, and tips and tricks to enjoying a perfectly brewed Chinese tea.

Watch at https://fb.me/e/1gSqqn25l

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17 mar (Thu)

8pm–9.30pm
Live-streamed on Facebook, conducted in English

During the Artist & Curator’s Talk, hear directly from artist Wong Lip Chin and curator John Tung on the inspirations that led to the conceptualisation, as well as the key ideas that The Gathering: 千岁宫 contends with. Covering an intertwining of topics that is coalesced within the installation, tune in to find out more about the plethora of antiques, bonsai, literati rocks, and tea and incense that has been employed in the creation of the artwork.

Watch at https://fb.me/e/2UxPimooI

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21 mar (Mon)

8pm–8.30pm
Live-streamed on Facebook, conducted in Chinese with English Subtitles

Hear directly from the founder of Cheng Tai Nursery, Tan Kim Kwang about the stories of one of the oldest and largest nurseries in Singapore dedicated to Bonsais.

Watch at https://fb.me/e/2ugygnvny

26 feb (Sat) / 12 mar (Sat)

2.30pm–4.30pm
Starting Point: Pek Sin Choon Tea Merchant (36 Mosque Street, Singapore 059514)
Ending Point: The Gathering: 千岁宫 (Kreta Ayer Square)

$25/pax, 10 pax/session

Led by ceramist Kim Whye Kee of Qi Pottery with support from Pek Sin Choon Tea Merchant, Tea Routes is a guided tour around the Chinatown precinct with a specific focus on Singapore tea culture. Singapore Chinese tea culture began with the arrival of tea from China in the early 20th Century that quickly evolved into bustling trade and the development of unique tea blends representing the stories of early Chinese migrants. The walk starts with a visit to Pek Sin Choon Tea Merchant with special behind the scenes access to witness tea preparation. It then continues into the cultural heartland of Chinatown — to experience first-hand the brewing of Nanyang Tea and the local ceramic wares made of clay from the 70s.

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6 mar (Sun) / 12 mar (Sat) / 19 mar (Sat) / 20 mar (Sun)

9am–11.30am
Starting Point: Thian Hock Keng Temple (to be confirmed upon registration)
Ending Point: The Gathering: 千岁宫 (Kreta Ayer Square)
Conducted in English (6 / 12 / 19 mar) and Chinese (20 mar)

$20/pax, 10 pax/session

Journey with established local photographer Ken Cheong to uncover new ways of experiencing and understanding the streets of Chinatown through the camera’s viewfinder. In addition to tracing the history and heritage of Kreta Ayer as the heart of Chinatown, gain deeper insight into the precinct with its century old temple and old street names that are closely intertwined to the history of early Chinese migrants of Singapore.

Photographic guidance and advice will be provided during the walk (no prerequisites). Participants are encouraged to bring their own dslr camera or smartphone with camera function.

Artist:
wong lip chin

Wong Lip Chin is a Singaporean artist seeking to reinvent tradition. Inspired by elements of modernity in historical art periods, Lip’s distinct visual style simultaneously pays homage to pop culture and traditional Chinese aesthetics influences. His eye-catching and large-scale paintings, installations, and performances are autobiographical expressions of his personal dilemmas set in a playful world of eccentricity. Lilou and Oomoo, two cartoon like characters, make recurring appearances as his alter-egos to bring levity and contradiction to otherwise serious and sorrowful subject matters. As demonstrated through his ventures in creative entrepreneurship and creation of multi-modal art experiences, Lip’s artistic practice also takes a populist and democratic approach, where the everyday serves as an inspiration, and the quotidian is elevated into a ‘Life-style’. At present, he is pioneering a neo-Nanyang style to bring about a cultural turn to the local and regional art scene.

Lip was formally trained in printmaking at lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore, and graduated with a b.a. in 2009. He was an adjunct lecturer at lasalle from 2014 to 2018. Since 2007, he has held many solo and group exhibitions with galleries and museums globally. After his first solo exhibition, Now You See (2009), Lip came to the public eye with Exquisite Paradox (2013), a repurposed, vintage bus-stop, which was first presented as a readymade sculpture, and then later as a commissioned outdoor installation at the Singapore Art Museum (2016). He held his large-scale solo exhibition, Thousand Knives (2015), at Galerie Michael Janssen, Singapore, which then made waves at Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, Republic of Korean. As a creative entrepreneur, Lip also set up Steamroom with The Pillar and Stones, a multi-concept store with f&b, retail, and lifestyle, in 2017.

@lip.chin / lipchin.com

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Landscaping Partner & Bonsai Curator:
chengtai nursery

Chengtai Nursery was established by Tan Kim Kwang in 1990, on a steep forested hillslope that proved to be such challenging terrain that he was the only person willing to bid for it. His vision of creating the largest bonsai garden in Southeast Asia, was driven by his desire to share his love for bonsai with the nation and create a healing sanctuary for all.

The nursery is known today as a rare gem in the West of Singapore, with over 2000 bonsai trees from China, Japan, Taiwan, as well as 200-year-old antique clay water pots, rock boulders sculpted by river currents, and fossilized wood—all on display from his private collection.

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