Civic Life in London .....

Almost one week ago, on 31 January 2011, 'Civic Life' was shown in London at the Curzon Renoir Cinema - where the latest addition to the body of work by Chris and Joe - Tiong Bahru - received its London Premier!

Needless to say, during the Q&A, many, in the almost full house - were impressed by the body of work, and also how Tiong Bahru brought together many of the duo's earlier themes and concerns in a well considered and lyrical manner.... (more reviews in separate posting coming up soon!)



Here are some pictures of the event - kindly sponsored by the Singapore International Foundation, who brought over not just the taste of home - but also, lots of items that gave the UK audience an idea of the architectural and social heritage of Singapore (thanks to White Canvas Gallery for the posters of the sketches that was done last year!!! Big shout to you all there!) ...





and also of the multi-ethnic-lingual-cultural environment that we should be proud of and should cherish and nurture!



Amongst the guests were many ex-expats who spent time in Singapore, film buffs, and also those who were interested in community engagement through art.... and during the reception, many groups of Singaporeans based in London were seen discussing what was the meaning of 'home' in a globalised world...







Your correspondant here with Chris and Joe... who we have to thank for working with us in Tiong Bahru to realise the film...





And here is Ms Tan Shzr Ee, who provided the Mandarin voice-over for part of the film, with the poster of the film!



We were also very pleased that the event was graced by our High Commissioner H.E. Michael Teo... more pictures to follow!

In the meantime, wishing one and all - a GREAT START to the New Year!

One more week to go to the film!

Just to share a message from the Tiong Bahru Civic Life project....

______________

With just one week to go before the shooting of Civic Life: Tiong Bahru, filmmakers Joe and Christine reflect on the consultations with the community of the estate over the past three months, and look ahead to the week to come, in a new post on the Civic Life blog.

Read their thoughts and a preview of the storylines that are emerging at

http://www.civiclife.sg/blog/



We hope you can be part of it!

Best wishes

British Council

Our Market in the International Press

Once more, our market and its food, and our estate, makes it into the headlines.



Well, they got a bit of the info wrong, and definitely did not try all that Tiong Bahru Market has to offer... but, we can offer to guide him the next time!

:)

Read more below on what the UK Financial Time's Mr Nicholas Lander has to say:

FOOD AT SINGAPORE'S TIONG BAHRU MARKET

Tiong Bahru Market and the Movie - come join in!

The Straits Times
Life!
Apr 29, 2010
By Magdalen Ng

London-based film-makers Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy were shocked during their first visit to Tiong Bahru Market when their order of carrot cake arrived.

Lawlor and Molloy decided on Tiong Bahru for their film project as it was one of the oldest Housing Board (sic) estates. They are now familiar with the popular food stalls at the market. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

'It looked nothing like the carrot cake that we were used to. But it's quite good, actually,' says Lawlor in a recent interview with Life! at the Tiong Bahru Market.

Now he and his wife are no longer strangers to the market and even know which hawker stalls are the most popular.

They have been speaking to store owners and visitors to the area as part of their research for the next short film that they are making.

Set in and around the Tiong Bahru estate, the movie is part of Civic Life: Tiong Bahru, a community arts project exploring identity, memory, architecture, a sense of place and civic space that will take place in the second half of this year.

The project is a collaboration between the British Council and the National Museum of Singapore with support from the Singapore International Foundation. There will also be an online film competition for Singaporeans.

'The British Council is a cultural relations agency whose aim is to create meaningful discussions around the ideas of creativity, culture and education. This project involves close collaboration with our Singaporean partners and a rich engagement between Singaporean and British artists,' says Mr Dan Prichard, director of programmes of the British Council in Singapore.

He adds: 'Joe and Christine's films are beautiful, but it is their commitment to the community and their engagement with the community at all levels in the project that make the Civic Life films so special.'

Lawlor and Molloy's movie, as yet untitled, is the third in a series of short films involving communities that they are making.

The first two Civic Life films were set in Dublin, Ireland, the duo's hometown. Moore Street was filmed along the iconic street where many migrant communities settle, while Leisure Centre focused on the leisure centre situated on Main Street Ballymun, which has long been associated with crime and poverty in the media. Both films were praised at various international film festivals.

For their Singapore film, they surveyed other places including Bedok before deciding on Tiong Bahru, because it is one of the oldest estates in Singapore, and is a place rich with history and culture. Also, almost every Singaporean they encountered seemed to have an opinion about Tiong Bahru Market.

'Some of the people we spoke to used to live here and have since moved away. But they still come back week after week to eat their favourite food,' says Lawlor.

Molloy adds: 'But there are others who refuse to come back after the refurbishment of the market, because they feel it's no longer the same place they remember.'

While filming is slated to take place in June, they are still working on the plot and script after three visits to Singapore. They plan to develop the script gleaned from conversations with residents and visitors in the area.

They are also inviting people to contribute their memories of the place to the project at the website, http://www.civiclife.sg./

'There are certain things that we will definitely include, but we don't know exactly what we want to do yet,' says Lawlor.

songyuan@sph.com.sg

Submit your memories of Tiong Bahru for this project at www.civiclife.sg

Another community website to link to.....

check out: http://tiongbahru.org/index.php


I was just introduced to this website for Tiong Bahru ....

More than just heritage - it covers many many topics ... including ... FOOD!

:)

and PHOTOGRAPHY.... and more....