Janelle Li
Singapore Design Festival will take place from Nov 20 all over Singapore, including ION Orchard, Suntec City and VivoCity. UrbanWire picks out some of the events that captured our attention.
Anime Festival Asia
By popular demand, Anime Festival Asia is back this year from Nov 21 – 22 at Suntec Convention and Exhibition Halls 403 – 404, promising to be even bigger than the first with many new installations. Look out for the huge music concert ‘I Love Anisong’ featuring Mizuki Ichirou, known as Japan’s King of Anime Songs, and May’n, most recognised as the singing voice of Sheryl Nome in anime Macross Frontier. Both Mizuki and May’n were well received last year and are returning for a second time. Pocket Monsters (Pokémon) fans can also look forward to the appearance of Nakagawa Shoko, or more affectionately known as Shokotan, who lent her vocals to the 12th Pokémon movie, Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life, which opened in Japan on Jul 18 and the English version premiering on Cartoon Network this Friday.
If you’re a lover of anime, you’d likely be a fan of cosplay [short for costume roleplay] as well. An event not to be missed would be the first ever Regional Cosplay Championship. Each Southeast Asian country will send their top team to compete, and the winner will be chosen from a panel of judges from Japan. One of the judges will be famous cosplayer Kaname☆, who’s noted for dressing up as lead character Cloud Strife from computer animated film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and protagonist Kurosaki Ichigo of comic series Bleach.
Small Thoughts, Big Ideas
Held at the foyer of The Arts House from Nov 20 – 29, Small Thoughts, Big Ideas showcases simple masterpieces completed by 15 non-professional designers. They may be white-collared workers in various industries ranging from electronics to automotive to sports to furniture, and originating from different parts of Asia.
Acoustic Robot by Tan Lun Cheak, the audio system that aims to become your consultant for music enjoyment
Animal lovers should look out for The Rocking by Leonard Tan Bahroocha, whose designs include furniture based on ponies and elephants.
President’s Design Award Ceremony and Exhibition
This prestigious event, the main one at ION Orchard, gives due recognition to the best designers and their works. The credits were given based on public nomination, and then evaluation by a panel of international judges. The Award commends these creative Singaporeans and their “exceptional designs that are truly innovative, and have pushed the envelope to create a significant difference to the community… that improves the quality of life, enhanced human potential and national competitiveness”. An exhibition of winning entries will be held from Nov 20 – 30 at Level 4, Atrium.
IN AN ABSOLUT WORLD
A familiar vodka brand asked 5 local “artistic and visionary thinkers” to come up with their own interpretation of the theme “IN AN ABSOLUT WORLD, Doing Things Differently Leads to Something Exceptional” and formulate a relevant word art design. The works will be displayed in an exhibition at ION Orchard, Level 1 Atrium from Nov 20 to 30. Managing Director of Pernod Ricard Singapore, Paul-Robert Bouhier, and a representative from DesignSingapore, will choose the winner who will take home $10,000 in cash and be given the chance to design a special collectible for ABSOLUT.