Love stories – An ode to Singapore’s musical cityscape
by Critical Craft Collective (Adeline Kueh and Hazel Lim)

Session 1: Sat, 3 May 2025
Session 2: Sat, 17 May 2025
2–5pm | Guoco Tower Level 1 Atrium (1 Wallich Street) 
Free (registration required)

This two-part activation and workshop explore the collective experience of listening to vernacular and popular songs from an era when popular forms of entertainment helped shape the cultural fabric of the nation. These popular forms of entertainment included the Rediffusion cable radio service and Singapore’s cinematic landscape. Selected based on the themes of “love and emotions” as well as “weather and nature”, four songs are revisited in each session of the workshop to honour their enduring legacy and reflect on their lasting cultural impact. 

The workshop invites participants to move away from a familiar reliance on our visual perception of space. Participants will instead embrace the learning of sonic and textual narratives in multilingual songs as an act of care, fostering openness to differences. 

In a round-robin format, participants will learn about each of the four selected songs in groups, sharing memories, stories and facts in the spirit of recollection and exchange. Participants will then collaboratively create a zine about an additional song of their choice, adding their personal versions of oral traditions to a growing repository that will be safekept by Critical Craft Collective (CCC), thus ensuring the preservation of the ways in which song connects us universally.  

CCC will be presenting these zines as part of Speaking of which – A pop-up activation, which runs until 25 May. Photographic and video documentation of the entire workshop will also be taken, potentially contributing to CCC’s production of a reimagined music video, intended for release at a later date. Full details will be shared with registered participants prior to the commencement of the workshop sessions. 

HO HO Biscuit and General Store
by Wong Lip Chin

1–25 May 2025  
12–8pm | HarbourFront Centre Level 1 Atrium (1 Maritime Square) 
Free

Through material culture and digital artefacts, artist Wong Lip Chin expands his exploration of contemporising Southeast and East Asian histories to reimagine Ho Ho Biscuit Factory for the modern day. Once a beloved household name, the brand had a rich history since its humble beginnings in 1898 as the first machine-made biscuit producer in Singapore, founded by Mr. Chew Boon Lay.   

At HarbourFront Centre Level 1 Atrium, step into HO HO Biscuit and General Store, a new artistic collaboration between the confectionery and Wong. Explore artefacts and archival material that reflect on Ho Ho’s impact on economies, social practices and everyday culture in early 20th century Singapore. On select weekends, the artist’s creations—doubling as memorabilia and merchandise—will be distributed for free. 

Sitting at the intersection of contemporary art, visual narrative and cultural memory, HO HO Biscuit and General Store also invites you to further enrich your journey by accessing the digital catalogue available online throughout the period of activation (access and scan the QR code onsite). Through Wong’s installation, experience the revival of an ordinary biscuit store’s forgotten heritage and its promise of an enduring legacy. 

HO HO Biscuit and General Store is Wong’s response to Speaking of which – A pop-up activation by The Everyday Museum, a public art initiative of Singapore Art Museum. It seeks to present an alternative look into the lesser-known or often-overlooked social practices and oral traditions, reflecting on art’s longstanding role in examining and shaping everyday life.