6 October 2022 — Associate Artist Programme at OH! Open House
Last Wednesday afternoon, we had the pleasure of being invited to a guided tour of a series of art activations by Thai artist Mit Jai Inn. This was part of Associate Artist Programme at OH! Open House, which invites artists to immerse themselves in local neighbourhoods and engage with the community. For this edition of the Programme, Mit engaged business owners in Kampong Gelam — harking back to his early days of social activism.
Mit’s interventions allowed business owners to share their hopes and dreams with us, transcending the monetary exchange that usually defines the relationship between customer and business owner. Though the heat was tough to beat, the stories of the few small business owners that we were introduced to captivated us. Be sure to check out the OH! Open House website for details of any upcoming programmes.
Scroll to check out some pictures of the tour.
(Left) Mit Jai Inn beginning the tour and introducing us to Mr Chua, owner of a tennis equipment store in Textile Centre. (Right) Mr Chua’s many photos of his business through the years and vintage adverts from a time where tobacco advertising was still allowed.
Mit’s artwork running through Mr Chua’s numerous vintage tennis racquets
(Left) Here Terina Seah and her mother introduce us to their family-owned ribbon shop. (Right)The wide array of colours and patterns that the ribbons came in caught our eye!
(Left) Here we see Sulaiman, a bookseller from Wardah Books, speaking about the business’s beginnings and how it was founded. (Right) Mit hid the book that he’d written amongst the store’s many titles. He told us if we could find it, we would be awarded two portions of ice cream!
Throughout the tour, Mit wanted us to hold onto colourfully painted manila rope to remain as a group. Here’s Mit and Usha discussing his idea.
(Left) Third-generation business owner, Mohamed Samir Kazura, telling us the story of his grandfather’s globetrotting when starting up the aromatics shop. (Right) We were even gifted perfume samples to bring home!
(Left) Samir’s father welcoming the attendees to his store. (Right) Fauzia, the third-generation owner of a perfume and Islamic pilgrimage store, telling us how her grandfather invented a belt that travellers and Islamic pilgrims could wear around the waist to store money and various necessities.
