I became a volunteer docent with Both Sides, Now (两面之间), conducting English and Mandarin tours during the Closer arts installation in October 2018, the public installation in July 2019 and tides (潮）in March 2024.
Since June 2017, I have been volunteering at Both Sides, Now (BSN). BSN is a arts engagement programme that uses the arts to spark conversations about end-of-life care, living well and leaving well. In the 2017-2019 iteration of BSN, the programme was based in Chong Pang and Telok Blangah in hopes to have a deeper engagement with the residents. The 2024 iteration of BSN, Both Sides: Now: tides, was held at Wellness Kampung @ 765 Nee Soon Central.
You can read my experiences as a Front-of House volunteer here.
In October 2018, BSN put up the interactive piece titled, The Last Dance, about grieve and bereavement. The community arts trail was curated alongside it in Chong Pang. Titled Closer, seniors presented their thoughts on death in a variety of mediums from photographs, film, blankets and gifts.
In July 2019, a carnival featuring the works from the 3 years of engagement in Chong Pang and Telok Blangah was held. A public installation of art was set up in Block 7 of Telok Blangah Crescent which centred around the theme of the moment of now. In this iteration, it took the form of: community cooking sessions - with recipes documented on video; live-sound sessions; visual artwork installations; and a video installation of residents' studio sessions.
During the special programme over 2 weekends, the seniors were also involved in the community exhibition. They led the community docent tours and end-of-life roleplays, supported by fellow BSN volunteers.
One of my personal challenges and growing points has been to be comfortable in both Mandarin and English. I believe great strides has been made from struggling to describe BSN during door-knocking outreach sessions to being able to conduct simultaneous translations during docent tours at Closer. This was thanks to the support in terms of glossaries and work descriptions in Mandarin.
For the second public installation in Telok Blangah, I found myself trying to find words to converse in Cantonese with one of the residents. And even though the success of me being able to get my message across was 50-50, it serves as a reminder about how language plays an important part in accessing the artworks too.
One of the experiences that stuck with me is the docent tour for the elderly with dementia in 2018. I had improvised most of the trail to give them space to share. Some of them were receptive to it. And yet, when we asked them for feedback after, not many of them could recall what they had just seen. I wonder, how else can we document these transient art experiences that elderly with dementia have?
For an overview of the seniors' works in 2024's tides, click here.
Community Tour at the public installation in Telok Blangah, July 2019. Uncle Jason, one of the participants in the workshops sharing his post cards. Photos by Clara Lim.
Volunteering as a docent and leading the elderly through the community arts trail at Chong Pang, titled, "Closer" (Sep 2018). Retrieved from ArtsWok's Instagram Stories.
BACKGROUND
Since June 2017, I have been volunteering at Both Sides, Now (BSN). BSN is a arts engagement programme that uses the arts to spark conversations about end-of-life care, living well and leaving well. In the 2017-2019 iteration of BSN, the programme was based in Chong Pang and Telok Blangah in hopes to have a deeper engagement with the residents. The 2024 iteration of BSN, Both Sides: Now: tides, was held at Wellness Kampung @ 765 Nee Soon Central.
You can read my experiences as a Front-of House volunteer here.
In October 2018, BSN put up the interactive piece titled, The Last Dance, about grieve and bereavement. The community arts trail was curated alongside it in Chong Pang. Titled Closer, seniors presented their thoughts on death in a variety of mediums from photographs, film, blankets and gifts.
In July 2019, a carnival featuring the works from the 3 years of engagement in Chong Pang and Telok Blangah was held. A public installation of art was set up in Block 7 of Telok Blangah Crescent which centred around the theme of the moment of now. In this iteration, it took the form of: community cooking sessions - with recipes documented on video; live-sound sessions; visual artwork installations; and a video installation of residents' studio sessions.
In March 2024, BSN: tides' community exhibition was held at the Wellness Kampung @ 765 Nee Soon Central. The centre was nestled at the void deck of a residential flats, adjacent to an eldercare facility, and usually conducts health programmes for residents. In this iteration, 8 seniors worked with artists, Salty Xie and Stacy Huang as well as the Yishun Health team to produce a series of art works based on the seniors' views of end-of-life issues including photographs, films and installations.
During the special programme over 2 weekends, the seniors were also involved in the community exhibition. They led the community docent tours and end-of-life roleplays, supported by fellow BSN volunteers.
LEARNING POINTS
One of my personal challenges and growing points has been to be comfortable in both Mandarin and English. I believe great strides has been made from struggling to describe BSN during door-knocking outreach sessions to being able to conduct simultaneous translations during docent tours at Closer. This was thanks to the support in terms of glossaries and work descriptions in Mandarin.
For the second public installation in Telok Blangah, I found myself trying to find words to converse in Cantonese with one of the residents. And even though the success of me being able to get my message across was 50-50, it serves as a reminder about how language plays an important part in accessing the artworks too.
One of the experiences that stuck with me is the docent tour for the elderly with dementia in 2018. I had improvised most of the trail to give them space to share. Some of them were receptive to it. And yet, when we asked them for feedback after, not many of them could recall what they had just seen. I wonder, how else can we document these transient art experiences that elderly with dementia have?
In revisiting BSN through the 2024 project, I was reminded about the power of getting the community's buy in. As the seniors led many of the community programmes including co-leading the docent tours and role-plays. It was heart-warming to view how their pride with their work manifested in bringing their neighbours and family members down. They would spontaneously lead tours during the week days and even made thank you door gifts for all the visitors. It reaffirmed the rippling impact of involving the community in the project and the possibilities when time and space are offered to residents.
APPENDICES
For an overview of the seniors' works in 2024's tides, click here.
For an overview of 2018's Closer, click here.
A handout of some of the specific exhibits in Closer (2018) are available below:
(a) Kindling led by Alecia Neo who explored the topic with photography.
(b) To Cherish and To Hold led by Shirley Soh who explored the topic with blankets.
A handout of some of the specific exhibits in Closer (2018) are available below:
(a) Kindling led by Alecia Neo who explored the topic with photography.
(b) To Cherish and To Hold led by Shirley Soh who explored the topic with blankets.
A video of the residents, partners and seniors reflecting on the impact of tides (潮). Watch the seniors' films on YouTube too: Recollection (亿）and Float Free (悠游自在）
Another video by Both Sides, Now documenting the creative process at Telok Blangah. It shows how each artist engaged with the concept of the Moment of Now.
A video documenting the creative process at Chong Pang which was conducted with Yishun Health was put together by Both Sides, Now.