1987 Yin Yang Festival - GILLES MASSOT

Yin Yang Festival

1987

One of the first interdisciplinary art events of that kind in Singapore, the Yin Yang Festival was 5 days of interaction between art practitioners of all kinds to propose a contemporary understanding of the concept of Yin-Yang; a round-the-clock happening, set within the grounds of the Singapore University Graduates Club.

The idea of the 1987 Yin Yang Festival took shape when it dawned on me that 1987 was the last year of the century with 4 different digits in it. In fact there would be at least two similar digits in the year date all the way until... 2013. At that time, the year 2000 still seemed a long way away. But the realisation of this apparently simple fact was a clear indication that the clock was indeed ticking: the 21st century was at our doorstep. To better prepare the future it was time to reflect on the past. The Taoist concept of the Yin-Yang was an age old philosophy that had profoundly influenced Asian civilisations in a broad way. It was also aptly reflective of the changes that were already taking places.

This celebration was to take the form of a festival in which all sorts of creative contemporary practices would be invited to come and contribute their interpretation of the Yin-Yang concept. With a festival conceived more as some sort of a workshop than an exhibition of finished pieces, this would hopefully contribute some useful elements to the much-debated "Singaporean identity".

The Yin Yang Festival was jointly planned with Simon Wong, one of my very first local friends, who also got the participation of a hundred over artists who eventually made up the programme of the festival, in particular the musical aspects of it. Simon was someone who had a real grasp of the Yin-Yang philosophy and its working. He advised that I gathered a team of art students who would make the event happen backstage, a team of youthful spirits who would fuel it with their energy and enthusiasm. With the help of Brother Joseph McNally, a briefing session was organised in LASALLE, where I presented the project. I had just seen Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire in France, and I told them that they would be "the angels" of the festival.

Vincent Leow, in his final year of BA studies, was one of the students and he very spontaneously became the leader of the team. Through the networking of connections from NAFA and (then called) Baharuddin Polytechnic, a team of 15 to 20 enthusiastic boys and girls were gathered, who became the driving force of the festival. They camped in the grounds of the NUS Guild House (with special thanks to Suresh Manon, whom I knew from my collaborations with the Experimental Theatre Club), partying throughout the 6 days of the festival while taking care of all the backstage organization under Vincent's leadership. It is the beautiful energy of that group of "angels" that I decided to continue with this project the next year, in the form of the Art Commandoes.

Exhibited Artworks

Installation-in-progress

Festival Collateral

Postcard

Programme Booklet

Exhibited Artworks

Installation-in-progress

Magazine Review

On the Scene Magazine, 1987

Newspaper Reviews

This event was featured in The Straits Times on November 14, 1987.
(Article) Free-form culture bash at Kent Ridge by Catherine Ong.

This event was featured in The Straits Times on November 24, 1987.
(Articles) The clashing of cultures by Catherine Ong and Kannan Chandran.

This event was featured in The Sunday Times on November 29, 1987.
(Article) Cultural bizarre by K. F. Tang.