More than the Birkins, Kellys, and Haut à Courroies bags, Hermès prides itself on the art of craftsmanship (fashion and beyond) and showcasing them to the public through unique experiences. We've had variations of them over the years in Singapore—from a literal display of the breadth of its artisanship, to an innovative wellness experience using Hermès leather goods and accessories. This year, Hermès combines the crafts of cinema and performance art with On the Wings of Hermès.
"This work metaphorically illustrates the lightness that is omnipresent at Hermès: in the delicate hands of our craftspeople sewing with two needles at once, in the elegance of materials and in the subtle notes of a perfume. It is an experience which sparks the imagination, designed by the artisans of dreams," says Pierre-Alexis Dumas, artistic director of Hermès.
On the Wings of Hermès is the collective effort of Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael and choreographer Michèle Anne De Mey, with the Astragales dance company. It had already made its run in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Singapore is the latest stop in its world tour.
Visitors will experience the entire performance within a film studio format where seven vignettes that blend dance, object theatre, music and cinema, come together to tell the story of the mythical winged horse Pegasus and his seven foals. Each of the seven parts are set against its own backdrop consisting of Hermès objects, and figurines gliding to choreography. Live dancers and choreographers work together with image and lighting technicians—they're captured in real time by Van Dormael and projected up onto a giant screen.
A screening of a 35-minute film of the same name (inspired by the performance) completes the entire experience of cinematic poetry in motion.
On the Wings of Hermès is scheduled to open on 19 July and will run until 28 July 2024. Bookings are now open and can be made online.
Cartier is set to commemorate Trinity's centennial with a pioneering pop-up experience, offering an immersive journey delving into every facet of this quintessential jewellery piece. The Trinity 100 pop-up is set to allow visitors to explore the rich history, intricate craftsmanship, and symbolism of the Trinity design. Meanwhile, they also have the opportunity to engage through interactive displays, artistic installations, and curated exhibits.
Originally designed by Louis Cartier in 1924, the Trinity has evolved into an iconic symbol recognised worldwide. Over the past century, this innovative design—comprising three interlocking rings in varying shades of gold, representing love, friendship, and diversity—has maintained its universal appeal. It's a masterpiece that has been worn by many famous faces—from Alain Delon to Paul Mescal to Jackson Wang—and was inspired by an idea from Jean Cocteau, the cutting-edge French playwright, designer and poet. Fascinated by Saturn's encircling rings, Cocteau asked his friend Louis to create a personal adornment for his little finger, transforming the intricate planetary ring system into a timeless emblem.
At the Arts House in Singapore, the Maison will unveil a unique collaborative project titled Imagine Infinite Circles. This revolutionary initiative brings together over 100 works by creative figures from diverse disciplines and backgrounds worldwide. Each piece pays homage to Trinity, celebrating it as an endless wellspring of inspiration.
Curated by French art curator and artistic director Jérôme Sans at Cartier's request, the exquisite collection showcases 30 selected works that resonate deeply with the cultural and artistic spirit of Singapore. Through this project, Cartier aims to highlight the universal appeal and timeless beauty of the Trinity design, fostering a global appreciation for its enduring legacy.
The Cartier Trinity 100 pop-up is free and open to the public from 15 to 23rd July 2024 at The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane, Singapore 179429. Appointment bookings are now available online.
From 15 to 21 April 2024, Moncler transforms the Milano Centrale railway station into a spectacular creative hub. The station will turn into one of the world’s largest galleries with an immersive exhibition titled An Invitation To Dream.
“Dreams are what have been moving myself and Moncler forward since day one, because we never stop dreaming about what is possible, and how we can inspire and be inspired by others around the world. Always aiming to not only do new, but to do better,” says Moncler chairman and CEO Remo Ruffini.
Curated by Jefferson Hack, the theme of the exhibition heeds closely to the brand’s values. An Invitation To Dream is filmed and photographed by Jack Davison, and features a lineup of visionaries that are the cultural leaders of today. They include Daniel Arsham, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Isamaya Ffrench, Laila Gohar, Jeremy O. Harris, Francesca Hayward, Julianknxx, Ruth Rogers, Ruffini, Rina Sawayama, Sumayya Vally, and Zaya.
“The curated community represent some of the finest creative visionaries across culture who dare to dream for us. They are today’s reality-shapers and they were invited to participate as their work carries with it new hopes and possibilities. It’s the deeply transformative aspects in their work and practice that makes them essential artists of our time and essential for us to bring into this project,” Hack explains.
Without a doubt, the station is one of the city’s busiest travel hubs. But not only that, it also represents the pivotal moment for those daring enough to pursue their dreams. Billboards and screen-based advertising sites featuring imageries and quotations from the artists stand amidst the station's bustling environment. These large-scale text pieces and slow-motion portraits serve as powerful yet silent invocations. An Invitation To Dream celebrates those who embody passion and belief.
Arsham tells us more as he reflects on the concept of dreams and manifestation, and how it might help him in his creative processes. From childhood inspirations to the subconscious realms where ideas germinate, Arsham's narrative offers a glimpse into the inner workings of a visionary artist.
ESQUIRE SINGAPORE: Do you consider yourself a dreamer? Are you a dreamer?
DANIEL ARSHAM: Yeah, I believe in the power of manifestation. When I was younger, I didn't fully grasp this concept or its reality, but looking back, I see how I've manifested many opportunities in my life. For instance, when I applied to Cooper Union, I wasn't accepted initially, but I kept pushing for it until it happened. Similarly, working with Merce Cunningham was a dream I actively pursued.
ESQ: You have a lot of notebooks and that you sketch a lot. It's interesting how dreams often start in the mind before taking tangible form. How do you document your process of manifesting ideas? Do your dreams directly influence your work?
DA: There's that 5- to 10-minute period right before you fall asleep where you're kind of in between sleeping, lucid dreaming, where you're partially in control of the vision that you're having in your dream and part of it's taken over by your subconscious. And you can’t differentiate what’s real and what’s imaginary. I often find inspiration in that liminal state right before sleep. There are moments, especially during air travel, where I enter a state between wakefulness and sleep, and ideas emerge. I rely heavily on note-taking and sketching to capture these fleeting thoughts.
ESQ: It's interesting how much our subconsciousness can help recontextualise the conscious mind in a way it can be a freer space. You know, you have an idea, you sketch, you look at ideas, but then when you're in that kind of dream world, you're able to kind of rethink things, or things are presented to you without bias.
DA: Yeah. Ironically, I sometimes do this thing to document an idea where I'll text it to myself. I woke up the other morning from a dream and saw this text I wrote to myself and it said, "Have you ever woken up out of a beautiful dream 30 minutes before your alarm, and you really just want to get back into that dream? Make your life feel like that."
ESQ: Creative flow and dreaming share similarities in their meditative nature. Do you experience a flow state while creating?
DA: Yeah. My studio practice feels like capturing an existing idea rather than inventing one. The idea behind it has already passed. So it's about capturing an idea rather than implementing it. I don't know how exactly to say this, but when I'm painting, It's almost as if the idea is kind of already there and I'm just finding it. Does that make sense?
ESQ: So are you able to kind of paint and not think about what you’re doing? How would you describe that, that feeling of being in a flow state?
DA: I've been making paintings now for 30 years, and I've gotten into a process that almost feels, I wouldn’t say mechanical, but it's very regimented. I know exactly where all of my paint is, the types of brushes that I like to use, and I've refined all of that, even down to the point where I only use a specific kind of paint now.
ESQ: It's interesting because I think that that kind of discipline and rigour is akin to a meditation practice where you're doing something very mundane, but you're doing it very precisely, over and over again, like raking the Japanese garden in your big installation.
DA: Yeah.
ESQ: It does something to the mind. It does something to the creative mind, that practice...
DA: That's why we call it studio practice, because you're constantly trying things out. You're still learning and there's routines that get built up within that that I think are productive, actually, even if they feel like you're doing the same thing over and over again. But, you become better at those things through that kind of practice.
ESQ: Has there ever been a kind of an epiphany moment in that studio practice where you've just done a left turn or you’re shaking things up and thought, okay, I'm going to re orientate what I'm doing here?
DA: I often find it really difficult to trace the origin of particular ideas in my work because they flow from one another. They're kind of iterative. And, I recently started this new series of paintings that are these kinds of split face paintings. We were talking about them earlier and somebody was asking, where did the idea originate from and I can't even remember.
ESQ: So very much like a dream it's fragmentary, right? You know, it could come from the past and could come from, a moment in history or another life and it could also be a premonition of the future, something that you're projecting or wanting to manifest?
DA: Right.
ESQ: I think by saying I don't know where my ideas come from, I start to question whether they are from me or are they from another kind of source in a way that I'm channelling. Have you thought much about that? Where does inspiration come from in general for you?
DA: I think every artist is a product of the era they live in. It is the artist’s job to interpret and reveal new potential things within that reality that often go unseen or overlooked. Oftentimes when I create a work that has a big impact, it feels as though it already existed in the world, waiting to be expressed. This sense of inherent presence gives the work a significant impact and a sense of purpose fulfilled.
ESQ: There's definitely recurring symbols and motifs in your work. Are there recurring symbols and motifs in your dream world?
DA: Oh, I have tons of recurring dreams. One of them that's very strange that I can remember going all the way back to high school is, being in a kind of empty landscape with a single tree and there are these cylinders floating in the air and as I go to grab them, they shrink down into a pencil and then just disappear. Then I often have dreams where I'm in my childhood home where I kind of relive my childhood memories.
ESQ: And how does that make you feel?
DA: It's a beautiful thing to go back to your childhood. And, I could probably draw a very accurate floor plan of it even today. I haven't been in that house in over 30 years, but I know it very well. Space has a way of influencing our psychology that I think imprints a lot in childhood.
ESQ: In what way?
DA: I think your childhood bedroom or the space that you spend a lot of time in as a child imprints on you differently than the way an apartment in your 30s might. There's just a different character about it.
ESQ: I'm just imagining younger you in your childhood home, dreaming of what you might be in the future. What were some of the things that you were looking out for that gave you a sense of inspiration or confidence about taking the path of being an artist?
DA: I grew up in a really suburban neighbourhood where all the houses are literally identical with the same floor plan. They might do a mirror image where the house is in reverse of itself. I started getting into photography around age 10 or 11 when my grandfather gifted me a camera. One of my early artistic endeavours was a series of photos capturing the doors of these houses. Even though the houses were the same, the doors ended up being different. The paint of the door. Some people put a flower pot outside their door, or a cross, or something that gave that sameness a unique character. This experience sparked my recognition of an artist's ability to capture the distinctive aspects of everyday life that others may overlook.
ESQ: It's amazing because I can imagine you sort of looking through the frame and then it altering your sense of reality and perspective on the world. I'm really interested in this idea of how you think about reality and perspective. Obviously, our dream world allows us to play with one of those concepts because it is nonlinear, experimental. It's an unreal world. In some cultures, they would say the real world is an illusion and the dream world is the world. But obviously when you're making art and your artworks are also about world building and creating alternate worlds for yourself to inhabit, I wonder if this idea of reality shaping is something that interests you in your work.
DA: Yeah, I think for most people, they accept reality at face value and they accept the limitations of that. Right?
ESQ: The literal physics.
DA: It's not just about the physics; it's about where we're born, the options presented to us, and what we believe we're capable of achieving. For me, the essence of creating art goes beyond a career; it's about realising the potential to bring my visions to life authentically. It can be unsettling to recognise that much of what we perceive as reality are human constructs. Somebody made them, you know. I have my two young sons, Casper and Phoenix, and I often emphasise to them that behind every design decision lies the possibility for change. There's a lot of potential in realising that reality is malleable.
ESQ: So your motivation is about looking at the world and seeing how you can improve on it or change it. Or is it more about seeking some kind of answers to unrealised questions?
DA: Yeah, I think making art is more about trying to find the answer to something, but actually it's really revealing more questions in some ways.
ESQ: That's super interesting. I like that we talked a lot about childhood and your children as well. I think also part of it seems to me that you are always open to change and new possibilities. You said earlier, always learning is also a little bit about staying in a childlike state?
DA: Yeah. Children have this unique ability to perceive things differently.
ESQ: How do you maintain that sense of freshness and openness to new experiences? What are some of your techniques?
DA: I try to relive my own childhood through my sons. This is a bad example, but they've been wanting to get these go karts. Obviously, cars are a big part of my life, so I got them these really fast gas go karts that are probably not even legal today. I have a paved area behind my garage and you can fully drift these things. They kept telling me ‘you're going too fast’ and I was like ‘I got it under control!’ And eventually, like a child, I pushed it over the limit and fully flipped the thing, tore up my arm and knee, and it was funny. Casper, who's the older one, said ‘you know, I told you not to do that.’
ESQ: How have you showcased "pushing the limits" in your work?
DA: As an artist, we often engage in series, and the public often perceives artwork through repetition. It's like pages of a book that you're putting together, but knowing when the book is finished and how it progresses to the next chapter or book is a constant consideration. I often have too many ideas that I'm always waiting to realise. I don't know if that really answers the question. But yeah, I always have too many things on my list to make, too many ideas.
ESQ: Was there an experience, an artwork that's made such an incredible impression on you, the kind of impression you hope your work would have on the public when they encounter it?
DA: Right around the time that I was shooting those photographs, when I was 10, 11, 12, there was a hurricane in Florida that completely destroyed the childhood home that I grew up in. The house was reconstructed back in exactly the way that it had been before, except obviously, the wallpaper was different. The tiles on the floor were different. The furniture was different. But it was the exact same space. It also gave me the experience of seeing how architecture was put together. The structure, the electrical lines, the plumbing, the drywall, the paint. Understanding that, yeah, somebody thought about that, somebody made that, it was a considered idea. I think that really had a major impact on the way that I think about everything. Something being destroyed, something being reconstructed. The use of different materials for different possibilities and its manifested in my work in so many different ways.
ESQ: That's a great story. Last question, what’s an unrealised dream or ambition for you?
DA: Ummm.. an unrealised dream? Film is certainly something that I've played with in the past and I think never really realised in its full potential. Made some short films. But I think at this phase in my life, I keep coming back to the most interesting things that constantly draws me back. I have made a big return to painting after almost a decade. It's become not only a part of my art practice, but also a significant aspect of my daily life in the studio.
For Milan Design Week, Saint Laurent Rive Droite teams with the Gio Ponti Archives, Ginori 1735 and the Fundación Anala y Armando Planchart to showcase a plate collection. But these aren't ordinary plates. These are Villa Planchart Segnaposto Plates and for such an exceptional collection, it is showcased at the Gio Ponti—Villa Planchart exhibition. Saint Laurent's creative director, Anthony Vaccarello, curated the exhibit.
This collaboration dates back to 1953. That's when Anala and Armando Planchart commissioned renowned Italian architect, Gio Ponti, to construct an avant-garde villa for them on the highest hill overlooking Caracas, Venezuela. While designing the villa, Ponti employed exceptional Italian artisans with traditional expertise for the interior decor of the Villa Planchart. This included the Florentine manufacturer Ginori 1735, for which he had previously worked as artistic director. He designed a set of porcelain tableware decorated with the various symbols of the villa. This pays homage to the village and Anala and Amando.
Saint Laurent will reissue 12 original plates from the Villa Planchart Segnaposto collection designed by Gio Ponti. These traditionally-crafted decorative porcelain plates are painted by hand in Ginori 1735’s Italian Manifattura. Available in vibrant hues, the plates feature the same motifs that appeared in the porcelain tableware designed for the villa. This included the sun, the crescent moon, the polar star and iterations of the letter “A”—referencing the initials of the villa’s owners.
The limited-edition plates will be available online, at SAINT LAURENT RIVE DROITE Los Angeles, SAINT LAURENT BABYLONE in Paris. Also, for a limited time, by appointment at Saint Laurent’s Milan flagship on Via Montenapoleone during Milan Design Week.
Held at the Chiostri di San Simpliciano, the Gio Ponti—Villa Planchart exhibition will be open from April 16th to 21st. To pre-book tickets, register here.
Loewe isn't just a luxury fashion brand. It's a cultural brand that has—since under the creative directorship of Jonathan Anderson—instilled an even greater importance on craft, including from realms outside of the traditional fashion sphere. Through its many collaborations as well as in-house collections, Loewe continues to give prominence the skill of the hand from within its own studios as well as from cultures around the world.
It may seem like a marketing spiel, this idea of a luxury fashion brand being more than creating products to sell. Yet, the proof is in the way Loewe operates. Its social media platforms delve deeper into how a product is crafted by showing a brief run through of the process, while collection notes often detail the craft behind each collection. Separately, Loewe has its annual Loewe Foundation Craft Prize showcasing and awarding the many different works of craft the world over.
Crafted World is in itself a collaborative effort. The exhibition was designed in collaboration with famed design studio OMA with each thematic chapter varying in interactivity and scale. "Born from the Hand", for example, tells the story of Loewe's evolution from its leather-making roots to its current contemporary fashion leanings as seen through the showcase of key products such as first-edition signature bags to costumes made in collaboration with Anthea Hamilton. "The Atelier" quite literally transports visitors behind the scenes to discover the many steps needed to craft Loewe's most iconic bags, with the journey ending with a two-metre-tall recreation of the Howl’s Moving Castle bag. Along the way, Crafted World offers plenty of surprises including knee-high exhibits thoughtfully conceptualised for children to interact with.
And once visitors are done exploring the six thematic chapters, a specially curated gift shop filled with exclusive merchandise and books, lets the magic continue at home. But that's not all. Crafted World continues onto the courtyard with a number of Galician artisan Álvaro Leiro's reinterpretations of the traditional, fringed Galician raincoats woven from reeds, straw and briar.
The free-to-public exhibition comes as Anderson hit his 10-year mark as creative director of Loewe last year—a rarity in today's climate of creative directors not lasting more than three years. Plenty of credit should be given to the man for reinvigorating Loewe into one of the most exciting luxury brands out there; as should the artisans whose works are the cornerstone of Loewe. Crafted World does just that.
Crafted World runs until 5 May 2024 at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre before making its way around the world.
Everyone is familiar with Samsonite. The luggage brand that's founded in Denver, Colorado is a juggernaut in the industry, having been around for 113 years now and with a presence in over 130 countries. If you're counting, that's an expansion into more than one country per year since its founding. Impressive.
Samsonite has achieved this by successfully striking a balance between style and functionality. It's one thing to survive any journey, but doing that while being easily recognisable on the baggage claim conveyor belt and looking like a luxurious piece of accessory is no meant feat.
In celebration of the brand's achievements thus far in the luggage space and beyond, Samsonite unveils Destination Samsonite: Voyaging Through Time. The Asia Pacific exhibition lands in Singapore for a limited time and promises to be an immersive experience in discovering the inner workings of the brand as well as its century-long heritage. With innovation constantly on the brand's horizon, Destination Samsonite: Voyaging Through Time also gives glimpses to what's next for Samsonite.
To understand Samsonite's values and how it has evolved with time, it only makes sense to revisit its heritage. Destination Samsonite: Voyaging Through Time features a number of archive pieces that date back to the 1930s, groundbreaking icons the like of the Streamlite, Silhouette, Oyster and 4-Wheel Spinner as well as present-day pieces such as the C-Lite, Proxis, and Evoa—all meant to serve as representations of Samsonite's evolution from luggage manufacturer to a creator of smart travel solutions. Innovation is key and visitors will discover that Samsonite has got it in spades.
Three thematic installations serve to highlight Samsonite's continued commitment to quality. The use of superior materials not only ensures that each Samsonite piece looks great and functions seamlessly, but also built to last. At "Zero Gravity", the Attrix and C-Lite models will be suspended to showcase their lightweight make—thanks to Roxkin™ and Curv® materials respectively—while "Discover Durability" invites visitors to put Samsonite luggage through a tumble test in order to view first-hand how they withstand force and pressure. Then there's "Abstract Terrains" where Samsonite wheels are tested on their durability and manoeuvrability over different terrains.
Through it all, the future is where Samsonite is constantly looking towards. Destination Samsonite: Voyaging Through Time ends with the introduction of the next stage of Samsonite's evolution through three new releases: the Evoa Z, SBL Major-Lite and New Streamlite. The Evoa Z is an evolution of one of the brand's best-selling models Evoa, with a new minimal and modern design. The SBL Major-Lite is crafted from the lightweight Curv® material and is designed especially for the modern traveller. A limited-edition collection, the New Streamlite is inspired by Samsonite's heritage Streamlite collection, combining modern stylings with timeless design.
Destination Samsonite: Voyaging Through Time opens to the public from 1 – 4 November 2023 at 72-13 Gallery, Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore 239007. Sign up online to visit the exhibition.
This article was created in partnership with the Oval Partnership.
The Kampong Spirit has long been a part of Singapore’s history. Used to describe a positive communal attitude and solidarity of people, there seems to be a common consensus that the Kampong Spirit has been slowly chipping away as Singapore elevates its status from what used to be a small fishing port during the colonial era to its current standing as one of Asia’s most developed countries. The term has long been a part of our past, stemming from the period before Dutch and Portuguese traders landed on our shores. Prior to Western influences, our little red dot was a sleepy fishing village that contributed to Malaysian seafaring and trading.
The story of our island’s humble beginnings with trading may be common knowledge, but less is known about the time before colonial influencers took rein. What was the way of life before the rapid growth of Singapore, and how can our past and present interact meaningfully? That’s precisely what the Oval Partnership and several university research groups from Singapore Management University (SMU) and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) sought to answer in the Lost Cities exhibition.
The Lost Cities exhibition is a purposeful stray away from your typical replication of Singapore’s pre-colonial kampong, but a unique display that showcases the pre-colonial urbanism in Asia from a past-meets-present perspective. Guided by exploratory trips to Pulau Ubin and Lorong Buangkok—the two earliest settlements on our island, and now the last two kampongs known to Singapore, the Oval Partnership and researchers took to the local culture and its inhabitants to document and collect first-hand experience of living the kampong life, a cultural gem unbeknownst to most Singaporeans.
Mr Chris Law, Founding Director of The Oval Partnership and visionary behind the exhibition shared, “this event recreates the experience of a bygone age, and enables attendees to explore how life was lived then,” he said. “Now we have a clearer sight of where we came from, and how we were shaped. It deepens our understanding of the giants whose shoulders we stand on, so we can build a better world for the generations that come after us.”
Debuting an experiential exhibition with three key zones, each guided by a reinterpretation of kampong living—The Lost Cities exhibition takes one through a fictional journey of a 14th century kampong through a contemporary lens of the three key themes of heritage, sustainability and community. The highly curated exhibition explores the world of a fictional kampong lead by the visionary female Chief Esah, as their thriving society lives in perfect harmony with nature and progressive cultural practices rooted in equality.
Members of the public can not only expect a refreshing perspective of our island’s past, but also an admirable display of sustainably sourced exhibit materials such as locally sourced wood from ethical wood-makers and non-profit environmental organisations. From interactive displays to creative experiences rooted in cultural kampong practices, exhibit-goers can expect an engaging and unforgettable journey through a reimagined city.
In addition to the research driven exhibits, the Oval Partnership has also tapped into the talents of three multidisciplinary artists—Gilles Massot, Marc Nair and Zen Teh, to contribute their take on Singapore’s kampong heritage.
An immersive experience through time, the Lost Cities exhibition will be taking place from 18 August – 1 October, 2023 in Fort Canning Centre for all members of the public to journey through Singapore’s earliest Kampong cities and dive into the past and present of Kampong heritage.
The Lost Cities Series: Kampong Port Cities of the Pre-colonial Era Exhibition
When: 18th August – 1st October, 2023 (Weekdays: 10am – 6pm, Weekends: 10am – 10pm)
Where: Fort Canning Centre, Singapore
