OH! Potong Pasir Art Walk

OH! Potong Pasir Art Walk

Last weekend we participated in OH!’s most recent art walkabout titled Potong Pasir.

I love OH!’s House style. Very artistic.

It was our first time and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Although heavy rains disturbed our experience, especially towards the end of our walk.

What is OH! ?

OH! is a non-profit art organisation. Since 2009 it has brought more than 10.000 people on its annual art walks. Pretty impressive, right?

How do OH!’s walkabouts work

You have to buy a ticket for a specific time slot on a specific date. Tickets tend to sell out fast.

We bought our tickets online.

Make you sure you arrive on time at the meeting point to show your ticket and receive a badge.

Our group had two guides and 12 participants. One guide was a British expat, since 20 years living in Singapore and very knowledgable. The other guide was local and good too. The majority of the participants in our group were local, 3 were expats.

Frits wearing his OH! badge and the rest of the group coming up.

The walk lasted 2 and a half hours. It took us in a school, in private homes and to sites where we saw site-specific artworks.

Schools in Singapore are not open to the public. For Frits and me it was the first time we set foot in a school here.

The walk is not long (in distance) nor (physically) difficult.

Follow the leader; it’s easy! See? Even I can do this and I’m the self-proclaimed most anti-sports person in the whole world;-).

Why Potong Pasir

The art walk is titled: “Now you see it, now you don’t”.

Referring to changes; things evolve, they disappear, making space for new stuff to appear. Nothing stays forever, nothing stays the same.

For example:

1. Potong Pasir is a bit of an old skool neighborhood . Things seem more chaotic there, more neglected, so you will. But things ARE changing, the last years. There are a lot of construction going on. New HDB-flats are being build and a shopping mall. Potong Pasir’s first!
   Potong Pasir is historically known for it’s sand quarries. The excavations that were the result, filled themselves with water from the Kallang River, forming 4 big ponds.
   Kampongs were formed around these ponds, which were later badly hit by floodings on multiple occasions.
   

   The school that we visited played a crucial role in the days of the floods. The school is on higher ground and turned in a safe and dry haven for many of the kampung people who’s houses got flooded.

   At a certain moment the kampongs and ponds had to make way for HDB flats. The area shifted from rural and farming to a sleepy residential hood.
   The first flats here were built with sloped roofs. Very unusual in Singapore.
   

2. Potong Pasir has a reputation for having been Singapore’s longest-held opposition ward. The residents were very proud of this and it formed an important part of their identity. That era came to and end in 2011. A big political change, which also caused a lot of other changes and developments.
   

   Charismatic opposition-leader for many years, Chiam See Tong, was a very hands-on person. He was close to the people in Potong Pasir and they loved him a lot.
   This is one of the art works that the walk includes. On top we see the no longer existing Alkaff Gardens, placed on an exact replica of the table that Chiam See Tong used in his office.

What to expect from the walk

The walk leads through a school, brings you inside two HDB-flats,

Art installation inside one of the HDB flats.

These pictures give an impression of the process leading up to the art installation.

through the corridors of another one where you most likely will meet Uncle Lee

Uncle Lee is an elderly man that had a rough life. An interesting life, full of stories and memories. Left you see some pics from his life and on the right we see an art installation in the corridor next to his HDB flat.

and in the garden of a black-and-white villa.

Left: lots of umbrellas. It started to pour and it only got worse and worse. Right: The artist telling us about her work.

I really liked the concept and story behind her work. But you will have to go on that walk yourself to find out what it is about;-).

In all of these places you will encounter art installations that have been especially made for that location and for this walk.

On a covered bridge behind the school we saw two artworks. Both involved changing sand.

The guide (-s) give interesting information along the walk, both about the neighborhood and about the art.

At the end of the walk, every participant receives a small book with text and pictures about the art walk. The layout and content of the book are attractive and interesting.

Our review of OH! Potong Pasir Art Walk

It drizzled and rained a bit from the beginning of our walk till the end. It did not really bother us until we arrived in the garden of the black-and-white. By then it really, really poured and that kinda ruined the last part of our tour. But hey, no point in crying over spilled milk and nobody to hold responsible for the weather, right?!

I hate rain!

Apart from that, we were happy that we went on this walk.

Don’t expect fireworks as in “Ooooh” and “Aaaah” and ‘wowza art and discoveries’. It is more the combination of it all that adds up and makes it an experience that I definitely recommend to others:

• it’s well-organised
• the small groups and often small locations make it an intimate and personal event
• you have a chance to meet new people
• the guides are good, friendly and knowledgeable
• you come in places that are not accessible to the public otherwise
  

  Climbing up the stairs to one of the HDB flats.

• you learn a lot about the area and its history which I find interesting, don’t you?
• you get to see art that has been made for the occasion (and sometimes talk to the artist as well)
• the journal at the end is really informative and nicely designed

Next weekend is your last chance to enjoy OH! Potong Pasir Art Walk. Find all the info you need on their website here.

Have you ever participated in an art walk? Was it good?