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S’pore Biennale: Ahmad Abu Bakar, the boatman

(The Singapore Biennale 2013 opens very soon. To whet your appetite, TODAY went around to have a quick chat with some of the participating artists to learn more about their work and what you can expect.)

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(The Singapore Biennale 2013 opens very soon. To whet your appetite, TODAY went around to have a quick chat with some of the participating artists to learn more about their work and what you can expect.)

SINGAPORE — This is one boat that isn’t meant to sink.

Ahmad Abu Bakar’s work, Telok Blangah, features a “kolek Melaka” or a traditional Melaka fisherman boat filled with a thousand glass bottles with messages from male prison inmates. The messages act as a personal vow, says Ahmad, and it contains the inmate’s hopes and aspirations. Not only will visitors get to read the messages from the inmates, they can respond back to the messages which will eventually be posted back to the inmates. The work connects the inmates’ hopes with the public and at the same time is a reminder of Ahmad’s ethnic roots.

Q: Can you tell us more about your work and what can we expect?

I’ve been teaching ceramics and pottery art at Singapore Changi Prison for about four years and that’s where I’ve been actively involved with their Yellow Ribbon Project. So when I was given the opportunity, I thought, I’ve been there for four years and I’ve heard stories from them — good stories, sad stories, and I’ve also seen each one of them being released and eventually I see some coming back.

I wanted to give them an opportunity where they commit to themselves a personal vow in a form of “I hope…” The idea is kind of writing a personal inspiration. Eventually I hope it becomes a, what we call in the Malay context “tangkal”, where it becomes an “I remember that I have a kind of commitment...”

What will happen is there will be booklets (of the messages) that you can actually browse and read. The public can actually respond to the message(s), which eventually will be posted back to Changi Prison. After screening and they find it is okay, the inmate will get to read (the messages from the public) and actually keep them and the messages will be in the form of bookmarks. So it’s kind of like two-way traffic.

Q: Where do you get your inspiration for your work and how was it like working with the inmates?

The whole idea is to give them an opportunity to write a “commitment” and working with them was quite interesting and exciting because they are always enthusiastic. This is coming from my own experience as an instructor — I will always regard them as a group of students that I enjoy teaching because they are enthusiastic and every time I give them projects or homework, I would say about 90 per cent would always respond positively. That actually excites me because as an instructor, I would always push the boundaries and when they actually respond to that kind of challenge, you keep on pushing the boundaries and you actually see a lot of surprises and possibilities.

The Singapore Biennale opens on Oct 26. http://www.singaporebiennale.org/

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