Joo Chiat –the land of feuding neighbours and KTV sleaze not too long ago. Over the years, the estate has gradually transformed into a melting pot of expats, migrant labourers and food.

In the early 1900s, coconut, gambier and nutmeg plantations occupied the area and they all belonged to one man – the famous King of Katong, Chew Joo Chiat. Being the overall nice guy that he was, Chew Joo Chiat opened up his plantation dirt road to the public, hence allowing them access to the nearby beach.

Today, the Joo Chiat area proudly displays its conservation status via a mindboggling array of mostly Transitional, Late, and Art Deco style shophouses.

Yet behind the restored facades, a multitude of stories and lives reside. OH! Open House, an art walkabout programme, aims to bring you on an exploration of Joo Chiat to uncover its diversity.

Ditching the common advice to never step into a stranger’s house, OH! Open House has been bringing people into actual homes to view art installations and learn about community heritage since 2009. To date, the tour has visited houses in Niven Road, Marine Parade, Tiong Bahru, and even Marina Bay.

This year, under the theme “No Man’s Land”, OH! Open House will lead you on an exciting tour to uncover 7 different spaces within Joo Chiat, containing 8 art works designed to make you see the community in light of the different people who lay claim to the land.

We catch up with 2 of the artists involved – Ms Alecia Neo and Ms Guo Yixiu to find out more about their artwork:

Ms Alecia is a visual artist who uses photography, video, and installation to present portraits of people and their relationship with the spaces around them. She has been commissioned by the Singapore Art Museum, M1 Fringe Festival, and National Arts Council and has been featured internationally. Her artwork, titled Garden of Being, centres on religion and its rituals in Joo Chiat.

How did Garden of Being came about? While you were researching for your art piece, did you come across any other interesting stories about Joo Chiat?

Garden of Being was inspired by a Hindu astrological site in Joo Chiat. It has a beautiful garden. Central to the garden is the family shrine under three intertwining sacred trees (Neem Tree, Bodhi Tree, and another unknown sacred tree that has unfortunately been cut off, leaving just its stump). I was lucky enough to observe the trees shedding their leaves, and now it's finally bare. With new shoots growing out. The sounds of leaves being swept up sounded just like waves washing up against the shore, because of the sheer quantity. I was very inspired by the tree's life cycle. And the rituals that surrounded it. Most of the devotees who visited the site had very personalised rituals they'd do around the tree.

I want the audience to be reminded of the beauty in the everyday. I came across many stories, but nothing compared to this. This is officially my favourite place in Joo Chiat. My work is a very tiny slice of its beauty.

Your art piece for Open House deals with religion. Previously, you did a piece in 2012 titled Goddess of Mercy which also touches on religion and rituals. What is it about religion that inspires you?

I think we can learn a lot about human nature through different religions. The way the spaces are designed, the rituals involved, the teachings, the vision of world. I think it's interesting how people manage to find differences to focus on when there are a lot of things in common. I also find our shared need to find faith, or spirituality of some kind, to belong to a community, particularly in difficult times, very telling of how everything is interconnected.

Your works touch on parts of the community that we usually gloss over - e.g foreign workers, youths with visual impairment. Can you explain what is socially engaged art? 

Socially-engaged art for me, is where there is an active and meaningful engagement with the participants/collaborators and audience. Maybe the better word to use is exchange. This can happen in many ways, through transference of skills, sharing of a creative process, creating space for dialogue etc. It also allows for art to enter different and diverse fields, to emerge as something else. Right now, my on-going work Unseen: Constellations, developed with youths with visual-impairment allows me to explore this question alongside them.

Ms Guo Yixiu is a visual artist who uses everyday objects to explore aspects of culture. Her works have been exhibited internationally as well as locally, most notably at the Singapore Biennale 2013. Her artwork, Ordinary Things, literally leads you through the private shophouse residence of a Mr and Mrs Tan and questions the sentimental beauty accorded to Koon Seng Road.

Tell us about Ordinary Things. What inspired it?

I've always been captured by the insignificance of the everyday and how easy it is for us today to take things for granted. We live in an age of abundance, in an age of quick succession where the old is quickly replaced by the new. In light of this, we often reject everything that is insignificant, that is dirty, that is unsightly or uncool. Ordinary Things grew out of the notion to embrace these things.

While preparing your art piece, were there any interesting stories you learnt about Joo Chiat from Mr And Mrs Tan?

Mr and Mrs Tan shared something that might be rare in many Singaporeans today. The stories they spew are often about their neighbors, each and everyone etched into their memory. Of how they shared various dishes with their neighbors; curry chicken, Hainanese chicken rice etc.

Many of your artwork feature everyday ordinary objects like canes and tissue packets. Why do you use these materials?

I like the sense of surprise that these objects have when transformed into something different. I've always told of the story of seeing my mother one day attempting to replace the hand of the clock and instead of using the conventional she used a plastic fork instead. That moment encapsulated everything I wanted to see or say. On a most immediate level it's about connecting to the present environment/ context. On a deeper level it's about art and it's ability to revive a passion for creativity in all of us.

A lot of people find art to be too far out and disconnected. How would you advise the average man on the street to approach an art piece like yours? 

To simply enjoy and experience it in your own terms. Art has never been about confining one to certain thoughts. If it doesn't speak to you then it doesn't. Art shouldn't seek to please all audiences, but simply to pair itself with the right kind of audiences.

The tours will be held on the last 3 weekends of March (14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29 March), from 4pm - 10pm. Each tour lasts about 2 hours. Tickets can be purchased at https://ohopenhouse.org/ at $25 each.

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