The historic district of Tanjong Pagar is set to come alive at night with eco-themed artworks and illuminating programmes as it debuts at i Light Singapore for the first time.
The beating heart of the Central Business District joins Marina Bay, South Beach and Millenia Walk in celebrating all things green, the featured hue for the sustainable art festival’s tenth edition.
After all, this year’s theme is “Cyclical Nature”, which is why you can expect 17 light-tastic oeuvres painstakingly crafted with repurposed and upcycled materials, driving home the sustainability-forward ethos of the festival.
This includes BottleBlooms by Singaporean artist Yun at none other than the new entrant, Tanjong Pagar. The artwork, situated near Guoco Tower, features a solar-powered display of over 1,000 donated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, signifying the collective potential of discarded materials.
The sensorial journey continues thereafter with Hidden Garden by Koros Design at Tras Link Park, where trees will be dressed up with light art inflatables as a nod to local fauna; along with an interactive pitstop at Discover Tanjong Pagar Community Green, where interactive light installation Kickit Team Tennis by Hungary-based artist collective Limelight grants visitors a chance to play five-on-five light soccer (or is it tennis?).
Not to be outdone, the main festival grounds of Marina Bay will also feature artworks worth visiting. There’s Spin Me a Yarn by United Kingdom-based Studio Vertigo, which uses outsized yarn balls to demonstrate the significant climate impact of the fashion industry; and Kinetic Perspective by Spain-based Juan Fuentes Studio at the Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza, a dazzling display of light circles hewn from repurposed iron remnants.
South Beach and Millenia Walk return as satellite sites too, each bringing to bear their own arsenal of light-centric artworks, whether that be Lumi, a piece shaped like a meandering river by art collective 65 SQM @ SUSA SPACE for the former, or the massive inflatables of Modern Guru and the Path to Artificial Happiness, by Australia-based art and technology studio ENESS for the latter.
After all that culture, it’s only right that visitors get a chance to kick up their feet and enjoy some well-earned R&R. To that end, there’s the inaugural partnership with sustainable lifestyle event The Conscious Festival, which features musical events and an outdoor marketplace for eco-themed retail, as well as the returning foodie favourite, GastroBeats, now given a sustainable spin at its usual spot in the Bayfront Event Space.
i Light Singapore will be held from May 31 to Jun 23, from 7.30pm to 11pm daily. It’ll end an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is free, except for certain programmes.
