Shoku / Shisou / Seikatsu: August 2017

Lego bricks have always been fascinating to me especially when I see art works made of these tiny building blocks of various shapes, sizes and colours. When I was a child, I didn't have the luxury of playing with Lego but I always marveled at the wide array of things which could be created using these building blocks. Back in 2013 when I attended Nathan Sawaya's exhibition at ArtScience Museum, I was so awed by his creativity and the amazing forms which these Lego bricks could take on but while playing with the bricks made available to the visitors, I realised that I wasn't very imaginative and talented in this type of 3D building. As such, I didn't have the inclination to go and buy Lego and explore the world of building things.

The "Piece of Peace" exhibition which is currently taking place at the Singapore Fort Canning Arts Centre, combines Lego with the theme of UNESCO World Heritage sites whereby these well-known places, structures or buildings are recreated using Lego blocks. Apparently, the exhibition has been touring around the world since it began at Japan in 2003 so this is a first for Singapore to be included as part of the tour. Most of the exhibits are displayed on the 2nd floor of the building while Level 1 features creations with local influences by Singaporeans, a play zone for children and a platform featuring Lego figures of various local iconic places and buildings.

With regard to the exhibits, I think that most of them were quite detailed and close to how the "real thing" looks like. However, the lighting in the exhibition hall wasn't that ideal because the angle from which the lights were shone and the strong brightness created white-washed effects which made the colour of the exhibits look paler than they should be. As such, when taking photos of such exhibits, the colours didn't turn out to be vibrant at times and there were some shadows caused by the strong lighting which made it difficult to observe the details. It was also annoying to see reflections and shadows of people or even myself projected onto the glass panels so I had to keep finding a suitable angle to take photos without these unwelcome distractions. As such, the lighting could be improved to showcase these exhibits in a better manner.

Despite this undesirable hiccup, I thought it was fun trying to identify the UNESCO Heritage sites through these Lego figures. Some of them were really easy to guess since they look so similar to the actual building or structure but some took a bit of thinking e.g. the Machu Picchu exhibit. Perhaps it was the colour of the blocks used which made it more difficult to tell at a glance e.g. the Great Wall of China exhibit.

Another thought after viewing this exhibition was that, there are still many places in the world that I would love to visit but haven't had the chance to yet. The world is really bigger than you think it is and there are so many beautiful things and places to discover. Rather than get hung up over those upsetting and petty things in life, I need to remind myself constantly that there is more to do and experience. I think this emotional boost came in at an opportune time when I was feeling really upset over some things recently. And I really should spend more time on doing the things that truly make me happy rather than waste it on those things which don't deserve my attention.

For those who are interested to attend this exhibition, here are some tips for you:

- Tickets can be bought online here so you can avoid the queues especially if you are going on a weekend.

- Weekday tickets are cheaper than those on weekends. However, if you have a Passion Card, you can get at least a 10% discount while the discount goes up to 15% if you buy at least three tickets.

- Frankly speaking, the venue is not that accessible because it's quite a walk up Fort Canning. Walking in the afternoon sun was a no-no for me and I didn't know about the shuttle bus service beforehand so I resorted to using Grab from the nearest MRT station since there was a discount promotion. For those taking public transport, you can take their free shuttle buses from Plaza Singapura or Raffles City Shopping Centre (the taxi stand facing Chijmes). The schedule of the bus service can be found here.

Before I end this post, here are the photos of the exhibits which I liked. If you have been to this exhibition, do share with me what are your favourites!