All Curators Are B_______ tours
Part performance, part attitude, and all punk — what else can you expect from a series that is a play on the oft-used slogan and anti-police acronym? From a new artistic director to a schizo two-faced docent, to a quarrelling pair of lovers, each punk tour is a unique portrait built upon their own stories.
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE
Independent movements have congregated at The Substation since its opening, and have co-existed with other movements that come and go in the space. Co-existence is a tricky state; it is often not equal. Sometimes, a movement can be squeezed out of the space by another entity: and when they leave, the space is no longer the same.
ALL CURATORS ARE B attempts to examine how spaces are shared in The Substation, especially in the relationship between the underground punk scene and the contemporary art movement at the Substation. Is co-existence the best policy? Who decides what is best for the space? How do we make space for each other? Who is the authority? Do we even need an authority
Punk Tours: Curated Reactions to Curated Things
The Interim A.D: by Shaiful Risan
Shaiful Risan is one of the leading personalities and gatekeepers of punk and subculture in Singapore. As a tireless and eloquent champion for the rejects — what he affectionately calls Normal Stream — he was rejected for the role of Artistic Director in 2016. Now he creates a parallel universe, a manifesto for all that is, and all that it could be.
BAIK. JAMBAN: by Dew M. Chaiyanara and Siti
Two women dispute over their failed relationships with the same lover in a heated encounter that takes place in the bowels of The Substation.One is hopeful and bitterly pining for what could have been – while the other is trying to move on yet secretly cherishes the past.
All Guides are Bipolar: by Farez Najid
Punk he is, but eloquent and well versed in the art — this is Beep, a museum docent who’ll guide you through the exhibition. On the flip side, literally, Shuwab is bitter, jobless and hates art. Both of them share a single body. This trippy tour is a metaphor for our love-hate relationship with art, and is 100% guaranteed to give you a head-turning, head-banging, headache.
Get up, Stand up: by M. Murali
People say Murali’s nothing more than a punk. Murali says he’s an artist. He wants you to question why you don’t think he’s an artist. What is art, why is art, and who is art? National Service looms; Murali paints an existential and comedic accounting of his life in the city.
Orientation: by Vanessa Victoria
Vanessa, resident dis-orientator welcomes you to The New Faculty and Staff Orientation at The Substation. This tour pushes the nation’s developmental drive to its logical conclusion, re-reading the exhibition as a factory of mass produced artistic production, visitors as co-employees in an institution-wide drive for national acclaim and productivity.
ACAB tours are devised in collaboration with theatre practitioner, Tan Liting. Tours took place from 23 Oct-26 Nov on the occasion of Discipline The City Exhibition at The Substation, Singapore
MY WORK
Assistant Director to TAN Liting / Onsite Tours’ Coordinator in collaboration with Uzair Daud
Credits
Portraits by Ronald Low
