The lofty ideal of the artist may be to feed your soul, but they also need to feed themselves.
Finding work as an artist in Singapore can be challenging, so collaborations between the arts community and business sector are an innovative way to produce meaningful content for both parties and make a living. But where do artists and commercial enterprise meet and break bread together?
At a restaurant of course! In conjunction with Singapore Art Week, professional membership organisation for artists and professionals, Nuwa, was proud to host its curated event on Saturday 20th January, at leading international restaurant, Tippling Club.
After a mouth-watering amuse-bouche, art practitioners, industry professionals, and SAW enthusiasts, were treated to a talk on how the raw ingredients of passion and perseverance not only feed creative enterprise but also help enterprises become more creative.
Entitled You Art What You Eat, the smorgasbord of speakers included chef and co-owner of The Tippling Club, Ryan Clift, botanical artist, Mamakan, and co-CEO and artist for lifestyle leader Spa Esprit Group, Y/X (aka Chua Koon Beng).
They’re an unlikely pairing, but they came together like an appetiser on a (Kevala Ceramics) plate, full of fresh approaches on how creativity is at the very essence of the food and beverage sector.
From Tippling Club’s ground-breaking sensorial and edible cocktail menu, Dreams and Desires, that allows customers to select their drink based on their response to an emotionally-charged gummi bear, to Mamakan’s visually stunning study on how our sense of place can be found in plant-life, they gave us samples of their work and explored how food provides fodder for artists, and how artists can nourish commercial enterprise to the delight of diners (Y/X has sold more than a few of his artworks straight from the walls of Tippling Club!).
If You Art What You Eat was an entrée into the reciprocal advantages of cross-industry collaborations, it seems the audience was sated. We might not be tackling a still life or cooking a dinner party anytime soon, but we think we got our just desserts!
Event photography is by Cherlynn Lian from One Fifty Three