Adventures: Kids Art Village @ Singapore Arts Festival

Yesterday, EV and I braved the humid heat and made our way to the Kids' Art Village at Esplanade, and made it just in time for the 5pm session of Tangle, a 'messy, chaotic, evolving art installation made by children with balls of elastic set to a live soundtrack' created by Polyglot Theatre from Australia. (I checked out their website. They really have done some impressive stuff, and has quite exciting things coming up.)

That's right, a 'live soundtrack', by the participating kids' very own live DJ. The whole session started off with the DJ making the sounds himself. It's amazing how the sounds immediately attracted all the children's attention; they were looking around finding the source of the sound and wondering what was happening. EV's eyes just went still, and starting looking around. After a while, five actors, if we may call them that, came out, moving their bodies freely to the music.

After their little performance, it was time for the kids to go in. There was a special area for babies and toddlers like EV, though I wished it was bigger. EV was a bit unsure at first. It was all so new to her; you can see she was wondering what the criss-crossing elastic strips were all about. But she later headed to the main area by herself, where all the bigger kids were, going over and under the low strips.

EV loves cleanliness, so once she discovered she had sand on her hands (Tangle is constructed on sandy ground), she made a funny face. 

Just next to Tangle were two art and craft stations. We went to the painting station first, where EV did her 'picasso' using glow-in-the-dark paint on a recycled sheet of paper (the Kids Art Village had a 'green' theme to it). Then we went into a big darkened container, her painting was reproduced on to the black cloth, and EV marveled at all the art works that were already there. We were both wearing white, and she pointed to how our clothes were glowing too. The next station also used recycled materials - printed cards, sticky tapes from the event and elastic cloth strips from Tangle. (She was very kaypo, and kept looking at the other kids around us.) We made a crown, and mummy wrote 'Elizabeth loves mummy'. 

Overall, EV and mummy had a rather fun time at Tangle. The arts and craft area were not overly impressive, and the young helpers there were not engaging enough. Still it was nice to be painting and crafting in the outdoors (we usually do it in our front porch), and since it was EV's first glow-in-the-dark experience, it was extra special for her.

On the way back, we discovered another very interesting interactive arts showcase, which is part of Flip Side: The Lighter Side of the Arts, presented by Esplanade. It was the Beasties display by Kinetic Theatre from Australia. It is a petting zoo, filled with out-of-this-world creatures, self-moving robots that move and make sounds, all overseen by a pair of ordinary-looking zookeepers. Tired EV had a ball here, while sitting in her stroller. For some of them, she kept clapping, because she thought that was what made them move.

EV and mummy had a great time being out in the very hot sun. We will probably return to see the Beasties. This time, I think I will let us enjoy some nice afternoon tea first, just EV and me.

If you are thinking of bringing a stroller and traveling alone, do note that CityLink Mall is undergoing upgrading works, so the wheelchair lifts are not working. At some places, only one escalator is working and it is set in the upward direction. So if you need to go down, you either have to push your stroller step by step down the stairs, or call the mall management and get them to send people to help you carry the stroller down. 

Here are the details in a nutshell.

Tangle, Kids Art Village @ Esplanade Park

18 May - 2 Jun 2012

Daily: 4pm, 5pm, 6.30pm

http://www.singaporeartsfest.com/2012-festival/kids-arts-village/

Beasties @ Esplanade Courtyard

18 May - 3 Jun 2012

Tue-Thu: 5.30 - 7pm & 7.30 - 9pm

Fri-Sun: 5 - 6pm, 6.30 - 7.30pm & 8.30 - 9.30pm

http://www.esplanade.com/whats_on/esplanade_presents/festivals/flipside/index.jsp