Verve Arts Festival
Virtual Arts Exhibition
Lim Jia Qi
Unimaginative spaces in our urban environment, most commonly associated with the Singapore “lifestyle” are a key interest in Limʼs work.
Similar to how people that grew up in the countryside recognise trees and forests as signs of familiarity, the banal architecture that surrounds Singaporeʼs housing estates and its cold concrete element has become an oddly familiar material that she finds herself drawn to.
Through passive surveyance from everyday life, Lim endeavour to capture poetics of these spaces and structures, reconstructing them in terms of narrative and/or the absence of such. The breakings down of forms, shifting in perspectives and hinting of narratives in the works are presented in a bid to challenge viewers’ emotional attachment and familiarity with these spaces.
Coming from a printmaking background, Jia Qi is interested in the advancement and explorative nature of this traditional medium; adopting techniques with other material adaptions such as carving on concrete slabs. With architecture of housing flats her main subject matter, concrete material is also explored extensively through casting.
Lim Jia Qi (b. 1997, Singapore) obtained a Degree in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore in 2019. The same year she was awarded the Young Talent Programme solo exhibition prize and presented her showcase “Concrete Encounters” at ION Art Gallery. She had participated in various group exhibitions including ʻAsymptoteʼ and ʻYou Donʼt Need 100 Editions’ at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Praxis Space and ʻLoad- ing.. Please Waitʼ at Alliance Française Singapore in 2018. She had also exhibited in the Affordable Art Fair under the ʻYoung Talent Programmeʼ in 2018. Academically, she was awarded the Ngee Ann Kongsi Scholarship (AY 2017/ 2018) and the LASALLE Award for Academic Excellence in 2017. During her time in LASALLE, she has interned at Singapore Tyler Print Institute STPI and had assisted in conducting numerous printmaking workshops.
About the exhibition.
Having a provision shop just right below your house, is probably one of the most convenient things on earth! Imagine running out of rice at home, you can just simply head down to the provision shop and grab a stack of rice! A trip to the provision shop is always interesting because of the wide range of goods– from sweets to cold drinks, sundry items and canned food, to newspapers and even toys. Provision shops practically sell everything ranging from ice cream to fresh fruits and vegetables to laundry products. It holds many fond memories, as well as a special place in the heart of Singaporeans who grew up in the 1960s to the mid 1980s
Unlike supermarkets or convenience stores, provision shop owners built up good relationships with their customers, often by giving credits, a practice that some traditional provision shops still observe today, or home delivery services.
Now, enter a portal to your inner memories, and evoke the sense of nostalgia of heritage and fondness inside you. This virtual exhibition features a 3D walkthrough of 2 convenience stores in Singapore that have been operating for over 70 years! Click to travel through the portals and experience the world of the provision shops!
Exhibition Portals
Rahim Grocery Traders (since 1952)
No. 8, Upper Dickson Road, S207468
Pin Pin Piau Kay & Co. (since 1939)
Blk 71, Seng Poh Road, #01-33, S160071
Why are Provision shops
Singapore’s provision shops remain essential and an enduring part of the cityscape’s heritage. Provision shops are not just where transactions happen. Its nature as a community-driven store is more relevant than ever in our hyperconnected world where we are so connected to each other, but at the same time, disconnected from our reality.