The Singapore Series: SINGAPORE WRITERS FESTIVAL 2013 (Part 2 con't)

“All Art is Quite Useless”

4:00 – 5:00pm

The Salon at National Museum Singapore

L-R: Lee Chor Lin (moderator), Anthony Chen, Heman Chong, Kim Young-ha, Kuo Jian Hong.

I supposed the theme for this session is to disprove the topic title, that art is not at all useless. This is what I expected, a serious discussion by professional artists arguing against the point. What I did not expect is how amusing this session turned out to be.

Most of the laughs came from Kim Young-ha, a South Korean writer who writes in Korean but his books are translated into English too. Part of the laughs came from his fumbling English. Most of it came from his serious yet semi-nerdy demeanour, which belies an impetuous fighting spirit. Apparently, he was quite the activist in his student days; he participated in protests, fought police officers, threw “fire bombs” at them, and was arrested. If he were a local writer, he would not be sitting at the panel. However, he concedes that writing has mellowed him and made him, in his own words, a “sissy”. During the session, he also shared his daily work schedule with the audience. He wakes up at 6am and writes until 2pm. Then he walks around his house to check the mail, do some chores, goes out to buy groceries and does what the average human do to “pretend to be normal” (in his own words). This made us roar with laughter. What is so abnormal about writers that they have to “pretend” at normalcy? Nevertheless, he is a productive writer. He publishes one book per year, which is not that normal is it?

The question remains. Is art useless? There is no definite answer.

The panellists comprises of artists who have met with success in their various art forms – Kuo Jian Hong, daughter of the late Kuo Pao Kun and artistic director of The Theatre Practice; Anthony Chen, up-and-coming award-winning director (of Ilo Ilo); Heman Chong, home-grown painter who held solo exhibitions in Singapore and overseas; and the self-deprecating Kim Young-ha. What they demonstrated during the session was their undying love and passion not only for the things that they do, but also for other artistic or creative pursuits. Anthony, when not directing films, loves to cook because he sees it as an art form, how the colours and tastes of ingredients come together to create a delightfully new flavour. Just do not ask him to do the washing up, which he hates. Young-ha, when not writing or ‘pretending’ to be normal, dabbles in music. Therefore, art essentially is not useless for it is nourishment for the soul. It teaches you to view the world in a different way, and it is a medium for artists to communicate their particular worldview or perspective to others. Art also provoke people to think which might elicit changes. I am sure there are many a film, or painting, or book, or photograph that has changed the world.

So, the question still remains, is art useless?

Misogyny in Fairy Tales? Stepmothers get a Bad Rap

7:30 – 8:30pm

Living Room, The Art House

L-R: Catherine Breillat's translator, Catherine Breillat, the moderator, Terri Windling.

I arrived at this session about 15 minutes late so I am not sure who the moderator was, but it is definitely not Joel Gwynne as is stated in the SWF programme booklet. Because Joel is male, (I did some research) and the moderator for the session is female.

Anyhow, the small room at The Art House is packed. I did not expect that. How many of us are interested in fairy tales? Right… parents *slaps forehead*. Honestly, if I were a mother, I would not want my child to read fairy tales, not the ‘sanitised’ versions nor the old bloody ones. Fairy tales were never meant for kids. They were stories told by adults to adults.

When I entered the room, Catherine Breillat, a French filmmaker, was speaking. I thought she was speaking in French, because I could not catch a single word, but it turned out that she was speaking in heavily accented English. I regret to say that I did not catch anything that she said. Even more regretful was that I did not know, only much later, that she suffered a stroke in 2004, which completely paralysed the left side of her body. This explains the way she spoke and some of her awkward gesturing.

Hence, my takeaway from the session is one-sided and comes from the other panellist Terri Windling. She mentioned something about how fairy tales always pigeonholes female characters into either the poor helpless damsel or the evil wicked woman (or witch), but we never really thought about how fairy tales does the same for male characters. Do all males dream of being the hero, the saviour? Do all men dream of saving the damsel in distress? I doubt so. Not all would like to be a hero in real life. I know plenty who would just love to stay home and play computer games, maybe to live out their superhero fantasies virtually. Some even dream about being saved by others. Therefore, just as we women do not like to be recognised as the ‘damsel in distress’ or the ‘wicked witch of the West’, men too do not like to be typecast as heroes/saviours.

Another important point I got from the session. Currently we are far removed from the culture of storytelling, of sharing verbally. This struck a note with me, because I love reading words on a page, I love listening to stories told by others, but I could not relate a story verbally! I can write one, sure, but telling it verbally? That is a whole new ball game. Even when I am with my friends, I have problems telling them things that happened to me. That is why I have a blog, so I can share my stories and thoughts through writing. I express myself best through this medium. In addition, with social media pervading our daily lives, there is really nothing much to tell since everything is published online. Terry also shared that one of the writers she reads actually got her stories by sitting quietly in the corner of the kitchen and listening to her family members talk. This underscores the importance of listening. Through listening, you gain knowledge.  Not only practical worldly knowledge, but also an insight of the people who are involved in the conversation.

However, I found that the session did not address the topic given, which is about stepmothers getting a bad reputation. Maybe it was addressed but I missed it or it was discussed but I did not catch it. 

But no matter, it was still an informative session.