Urban:ness: encountering the city

DUCTAC and curator Mukta Ahluwalia Bedi are pleased to present Urban:ness: encountering the city – a non-commercial art exhibition and programme of talks, workshops and events initiating critical responses to the Asian urban experience. The exhibition is presented as part of Singapore’s Golden Jubilee celebrations and includes 17 artists from Singapore, Dubai and Delhi.

Urban:ness develops alternative narratives and approaches to specific Asian city environments and moves beyond traditional responses to the city’s skyline as merely advertising fodder or as an emblem of national, economic discourse. Instead, the 30 multi-disciplinary artworks excavate and celebrate the psychological and social spaces which are the meeting place of private and public experiences. Hence the title ‘urban:ness’ rather than ‘urbanity, urbanism or urbanscape,’ each of which have their own pre-defined connotations and areas of study. The exhibition introduces Singaporean artists at the forefront of cutting-edge art practices to the MENA region for the first time. Significantly, through the participation of prominent Emirati and Indian artists, the show also initiates cross-cultural dialogues.
Urban:ness identifies and celebrates similarities and unmapped cultural exchanges, acting as a first-mover for two further editions of the show which will be held in New Delhi and Singapore.
The dialogues instigated by the exhibition will be furthered with a complementary programme of cultural happenings, including dessert chef Janice Wong (2am:lab, Singapore) who will present at the vernissage an edible art installation comprising innovative renditions of Singaporean food. The programme will also garner responses from pre-eminent academics, commentators and poets via an ongoing talks and performance programme, to be announced soon via the DUCTAC website.

The artists:
India: Gigi Scaria, Sayam Bharath
Singapore: Ghazi Alqudcy, Lavender Chang, John Clang, Lucy Davis, Sek Chern Hong, Henry Lee, Perception3, Shubigi Rao, Zaki Razak (in collaboration with Dina Saadi), Huey Ling Teo, Vertical Submarine, Jason Wee
UAE: Abdullah Al Saadi, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Mohammed Kazem.