WHO ARE WE? WHAT DO WE DO?
OH! Open House is an independent arts organisation that tells alternative stories of Singapore through art. Since 2009, we have provided more than 25,000 people with the unique experience of appreciating art and heritage outside of museums and galleries – from strangers’ homes to underutilised public spaces. We work with artists to present art in unconventional locations, or in surprising new ways. Through our diverse programmes, OH! creates opportunities to understand and connect with the everyday on a more meaningful level.
HOW DO WE TELL STORIES?
We offer programmes that combine art and heritage. We put artworks that respond to spaces they are housed within i.e. they are site specific – they tell stories of the spaces they are housed in and/or can only be best experienced within those spaces. We offer:
Art Walks
We are experience specialists. Nobody does tours like we do. In the format of guided tours, audiences get to step into private homes and spaces to see museum-worthy artworks. Art exhibitions can leave audiences feeling disconnected – art-speak can be intimidating; or else people use art as selfie backdrops. In this sense, heritage walking tours can connect visitors much better with the neighbourhoods, with our spaces. What differentiates us with heritage walks is that you don’t just learn, you experience through the art and the stories that lie within. Today, our art walks remain unique and popular despite that free heritage and art trails are dime in a dozen. Close to 5,000 ticketed guests visited our 2018 edition in Emerald Hill.
Art Experiences
We have turned terraced houses into museum and artworks. We have converted HDB staircases into galleries – you get to start from the highest floor, make your way down, with each floor encompassing a different work, a different story. Whilst transforming spaces with artworks, we give audiences a chance to explore Singapore and learn about her.
We are experience specialists. Nobody does tours like we do. In the format of guided tours, audiences get to step into private homes and spaces to see museum-worthy artworks. Art exhibitions can leave audiences feeling disconnected – art-speak can be intimidating; or else people use art as selfie backdrops. In this sense, heritage walking tours can connect visitors much better with the neighbourhoods, with our spaces. What differentiates us with heritage walks is that you don’t just learn, you experience through the art and the stories that lie within. Today, our art walks remain unique and popular despite that free heritage and art trails are dime in a dozen. Close to 5,000 ticketed guests visited our 2018 edition in Emerald Hill.
Art Experiences
We have turned terraced houses into museum and artworks. We have converted HDB staircases into galleries – you get to start from the highest floor, make your way down, with each floor encompassing a different work, a different story. Whilst transforming spaces with artworks, we give audiences a chance to explore Singapore and learn about her.
WHAT DO WE HOPE TO ACHIEVE?
Provide alternative ways to experience art, outside of museums and galleries.
Give Opportunities
Give local artists opportunities to experiment with site-specificity – to unlock or even create new meanings to our everyday spaces.
Challenge Audiences
Challenge audiences to think deeper about the immediate environment they inhabit, and the larger context of Singapore.
OUR ORIGIN STORY
“When I first moved to Singapore, I shifted with my few belongings into a shophouse. I wanted to use the space better, so I invited an artist, Xiao Yun, to do something. All I gave her was a house key. No guidance, no parameters. I enjoyed the process and final installation so much, I thought, “Why don’t my neighbours do the same thing?” Alan [co-founder] was the first person who not only loved the idea, but wanted to do it. For our first few art walkabouts, it was just Alan and me with a part-time team. Today, we have a full-time team, and we are an Institute of Public Character. We continue to bring art out of museums and galleries and into our everyday spaces, bringing art to the public. Most importantly, we give artists opportunities to lead national conversations – to question our way of life, to chart our way forward.”
— Oliver Bettin, Co-founder
WHAT DO PEOPLE SAY ABOUT US?
“I like seeing regular paraphernalia from the school classrooms and the residents’ own decor amongst the exhibits… Each OH! Open House event I’ve managed to attend has been memorable and different...”
–– @Pickleandpepper, Audience, OH! Emerald Hill
“I have always appreciated OH! for its courage to challenge Singapore. I would even use the word ‘radical’, for the fact that it made art walkabouts a thing in a tightly-regulated city, and introduced art into neighbourhoods where some people do not even have the slight interest to step into a museum to look at art. It forces artists to explain art to (sometimes illiterate) kopitiam uncles, and forces yuppies to listen to stories about back alleys and people whose voices are small and forgotten. It forces the exchange between the unlikely, ruffle some feathers, and get us thinking.”
–– Lim Qi Xuan, Designer and Sculptor, worked with OH! in 2015 – 2016
BOARD MEMBERS
Linda Neo
Interim Chairperson
Linda has a career span of more than 30 years as an institutional broker in the over-the-counter markets for financial and energy markets. Together with her husband, they are keen art collectors with a portfolio of modern and contemporary of Southeast Asian artists. In their private artspace they curate their own collections which have been loaned to museums in the region.
Alan Oei
Member and Executive Director
Alan is an artist-curator whose work and projects examine the intersection of art history and politics. As an artist, his work has been shown in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and the USA. He was previously the artistic director of Singapore’s first independent contemporary arts centre, The Substation.
Christophe Mayol
Treasurer
Christophe is currently Head of Derivatives for AIA Group, Asia's largest life insurance company. Prior to that, he led interest rates trading and financial engineering activities of a French bank in Asia-Pacific for 15 years. He is based in Singapore. Christophe holds a MScEng from the National Institute of Applied Sciences, Lyon, France.
Ryan Su
Member
Ryan is Head of Art and Cultural Property Law at WMH Law Corporation and represents museums, galleries, artists and art collectors. Ryan was awarded the Patron of the Arts in 2017. Most recently, he was invited to the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum’s acquisition committee on Asian art. Ryan is also Contributing Editor at ArtAsiaPacific.
Seng Yu Jin
Member
Yu Jin is a Senior Curator at the National Gallery Singapore. He recently completed a PhD at the University of Melbourne, on the history of exhibitions in SEA. He was previously a lecturer at LASALLE College of the Arts in the MA Asian Art Histories and BA Fine Arts programmes. Now, he lectures in the Minor in Art History at the National University of Singapore.
Tan Sue Yen
Member
Sue is the Chief Wordsmith at Moxie Communications, a company she founded to provide marketing support to small and medium-sized companies. Her career began in legal PR in London, before she moved home to Singapore to work in sports event marketing and management for international golf tournaments.
Past Members
Oliver Bettin, Chairperson (2014 - 2022)
Randy Chan (2015 – 2019)
Lisa Robins (2014 - 2022)
Philip Morgan (2015 - 2022)
Tan Kheng Hua (2014 - 2022)
Oliver Bettin, Chairperson (2014 - 2022)
Randy Chan (2015 – 2019)
Lisa Robins (2014 - 2022)
Philip Morgan (2015 - 2022)
Tan Kheng Hua (2014 - 2022)
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Lim Su Pei
Deputy Director
Su Pei has over ten years of experience working for the arts industry. Under the umbrella of The Old Parliament House Limited (nka The Arts House Limited), she has managed international and regional arts-business programmes held locally and across the continent in South Africa and Eastern Europe.
Karine Tan
Creative Producer
Karine has conceptualised and produced arts programmes and festivals that span across disciplines in Singapore since 2015. She was previously a programme manager at The Substation and producer at Global Cultural Alliance. She is interested in new ways of artmaking and storytelling to challenge audiences to rethink the status quo.
Tang Hui Shi
Arts Business Manager
Hui Shi received her degree in Business Administration at NUS, and has two years of experience in Myanmar where she set up a travellers' hostel. She enjoys striking up conversations and discovering stories from people of all walks of life.
Rachel Chua
Community & Arts Mgmt Trainee
Rachel is a third-year Arts Business Management student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. She has been interested in the arts since young. She enjoys exploring the endless possibilities of art-making, and wants to play a part in expanding the potential growth of the local arts scene.
Tan Xiao Tong
Community & Arts Mgmt Trainee
Xiao Tong is a third-year Arts Business Management student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Working behind-the-scenes on arts programmes and events thrills her. She believes that good experiences are what bring people together and wants to be a part of creating meaningful experiences that bring communities together.
CONTACT US
OH Open House Ltd
92C Syed Alwi Road
Level 4
Singapore 207668
OH Open House Ltd
92C Syed Alwi Road
Level 4
Singapore 207668