Associate Artist Programme
(2022/23 Cycle)
OH! Open House is Singapore's leading art institution that develops curatorial programmes on site-specificity centred around the neighbourhood - people, places, stories - as the unit of exhibition and representation.
A group of artists selected by our Advisory Committee will take part in our inaugural Associate Artist Programme (AAP) over a one-year period (1 Sep 2022 to 31 Aug 2023). The programme immerses artists within the next art walk neighbourhood, Kampong Gelam and connects artists to local communities, businesses and historical places.
This programme serves as an alternative model and offers neighbourhood immersion, curatorial support, peer-to-peer dialogues and engagements with communities. It does not expect any exhibitional outcome beyond a public-facing work-in-progress presentations or sharing sessions.
A group of artists selected by our Advisory Committee will take part in our inaugural Associate Artist Programme (AAP) over a one-year period (1 Sep 2022 to 31 Aug 2023). The programme immerses artists within the next art walk neighbourhood, Kampong Gelam and connects artists to local communities, businesses and historical places.
This programme serves as an alternative model and offers neighbourhood immersion, curatorial support, peer-to-peer dialogues and engagements with communities. It does not expect any exhibitional outcome beyond a public-facing work-in-progress presentations or sharing sessions.
Associate Artist Programme (2022/23 Cycle)
Artists
Mit Jai Inn (b.1960, Chiangmai, Thailand)
Mit Jai Inn is a leading figure of contemporary art in Thailand. Known for his colourful artworks that merge painting and sculpture, his artistic training began in 1983 at Silpakorn University, Bangkok, whose neo-traditionalist curriculum he rebelled against. Leaving for Europe in 1986, he joined the Master’s programme at University of Applied Arts Vienna, met the acclaimed Austrian artist Franz West and worked as his studio assistant.
Mit co-founded the Chiang Mai Social Installation (CMSI) in 1992, a festival of ephemeral installations and performance art in public spaces and temples that ran until 1998. In 1995, in parallel with CMSI, Mit launched the Week of Cooperative Suffering to focus on public-engagement activities. In 2015, Mit founded Cartel Artspace in Bangkok for artists and curators to reflect on the historical and current context of Thailand and Southeast Asia.
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In this residency, Mit returns to his early social-activism work where he relinquishes control and authorship of his works, and allows social networks to shape their forms. Through a series of “agents” installed within heritage and new businesses, audiences are invited to form personal and intimate connections and conversations.
Special thanks:
Silverlens
TKG+
Mit Jai Inn
Agent of Change D.F.W.
2022
The launch of #OHAAP2022 kicked off with 𝘼𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝘿.𝙁.𝙒., a series of art activations in Kampong Gelam by Thai artist Mit Jai Inn. Here, Mit returned to his early social activist roots. His colourful works, developed in conversation with the local businesses, transcended their physical manifestations and brought the focus back to the stories of his collaborators.
Drawing from the 𝙈𝙞𝙙𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙏𝙤𝙪𝙧 (1995) as part of the Week of Cooperative Suffering organised by Mit, participants were bounded together with painted jute ropes created by the artist himself.
These ropes became a thread; an invitation; an opening into the deep emotions and woes of each shop owner. Audiences listened to their personal stories, most of them being third-generation heritage shops with histories that are closely tied to the changes in Kampong Gelam over the years.
Learn more about their stories here or check out our highlights video.
Special thanks to our collaborators:
C&E Sports | 200 Jln Sultan, #04-08 Textile Centre, Singapore 199018 (Closed on Sundays)
Kin Soon Ribbons | 36 Arab St, Singapore 199735 (Closed on Sundays)
Wardah Books | 58 Bussorah St, Singapore 199474
Jamal Kazura Aromatics | 21 Bussorah St, Singapore 199445
V.S.S. Varusai Mohamed & Sons | 721 North Bridge Rd, Singapore 198689 (Closed on Sundays)
Designers: FACTORY