Artscience Museum's Frida Forever (4 May to 1 Sep 2024) - An Immersive Celebration of Frida Kahlo's Unique Life

Mexican artist and icon Frida Kahlo is one of Red Dot Diva's favourite women personalities. The vibrancy and surrealism in her artwork, as well as resilience in the face of adversity, never ceases to amaze and captivate Diva's imagination.

Back in 2018, Red Dot Diva was thrilled to be able to catch the Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up exhibit at London's V&A Museum. No photos were allowed at the exhibit but it did not matter. On display, were her personal belongings like her clothing, makeup items, her intricately painted plaster corsets, even her prosthetic leg. It was a very intimate insight to the artist's psyche, and her story continues to inspire people even in this day and age. So, when Red Dot Diva heard that Artscience Museum would be presenting FRIDA FOREVER - a line up of exhibits and events commemorating 70 years of the artists' passing in 1954 - Diva had to find out what the local event would be like.

FRIDA FOREVER consists of two connecting exhibits in Level B2 of the building, as well as a VR offering on the 4th floor. Here are Red Dot Diva's thoughts from her sneak peek of the exhibits.

FRIDA KAHLO: THE LIFE OF AN ICON

In this immersive exhibit Frida Kahlo comes to life with colourful interactive installations, digital technologies, and 360-degree projections. As you wander from one zone to another, you will learn about the fateful accident that changed her life trajectory and how that affected her decisions for the rest of her artistic journey and choices. Check out some of the highlights:

At an altar that is inspired by the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), you will have the chance to contemplate and remember about Frida's eventful life.

A digital representation of the impact of her traumatic accident when she was 18 years old, is a powerful reminder of the suffering Frida Kahlo has endured for most of her life. The incident changed her feelings and thoughts about art, and it was the beginning of the outlet she needed to express how she viewed herself, her body, her beliefs and her struggles.

At the La Rosita tavern, Frida secured a space where her students were able to start painting murals. In this segment, you can sit down to colour your own Kahlo-inspired artpiece. Consider that a mission for Red Dot Diva! You can then scan your finished artwork and it will appear as a light projection on the wall.

Tada! How do you like Diva's work of art? :D

A crazily psychedelic light projection room depicts the various symbols and motifs that Frida Kahlo often use in her paintings. These include pineapples, monkeys, calaveras (Mexican skulls), and marigolds.

It is also a great photo spot for the 'Gram.

Frida Kahlo's look is instantly recognisable and her icon style has fueled inspiration for various fashion houses like Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier and Valentino. In this segment, a few Mexican-style clothing, including the huipils featuring traditional embroidery that Frida loves to wear, are on display for us to admire. The artist favoured long skirts to conceal her shortened right leg due to childhood polio, and later her amputation.


The piece de resistance of this exhibition is the 360-immersive biography of Frida Kahlo's, chronicling her life in 45 minutes. With a fantastic soundtrack that also feature readings of poems in Spanish, weaved in the moving visuals of key moments in Frida like her childhood, her time spent in San Francisco, her place of convalescence, her love for animals and plants and more.

After the getting to know Frida's story, it is time to delve a little deeper by heading into the next exhibit entitled...

LAID BARE: FRIDA'S INNER WORLD

This is a smaller and more intimate look into Frida's that consists of 40 photographs, diary pages, medical records, and exclusive interviews with Cristina Kahlo Alcalá — the great niece of Frida Kahlo. In the recorded interview, Cristina Kahlo Alcalá shared how she managed to obtain medical records from the American British Cowdry Hospital in Mexico, where Frida spent most of her time in treatment for her medical troubles.

It is amazing to see the rebellious and defiant look in her eyes in one of the main photos, against the pictures of her prosthetic legs, mangled spine and medical records. And from living with chronic pain throughout most of her life, she usurps the narrative to make it her own by displaying her pain and mental resilience in eye-catching and moving artwork like Tree Of Hope, Remain Strong (1946). The artwork depicts the duality of the universe - light vs dark, as well as her life - the one on the left, broken and marred by surgical scars, and on the right, the sad yet confident Frida dressed in vibrant red and holding the flag with lyrics from a song “Cielito Lindo”, which means “Tree of Hope, Remain Strong.”

Laid Bare: Frida’s Inner World is curated and produced by ArtScience Museum with the support of Cristina Kahlo Alcalá and Circe Henestrosa.

As you leave this exhibit, do not forget to admire the beautiful floral arch installation by Singapore-based Mexican artist and curator, Lidia Riveros.

EXQUISITE CORPSE: VR EXPERIENCE

To add on to the knowledge you have now acquired about Frida Kahlo, there is a VR experience entitled Exquisite Corpse developed by Layers of Reality and Blit Studios.

The digital journey begins when Frida was confined to the hospital bed while recovering from her health issues. This was the pivotal point where she decided to express herself through art. As you follow her journey, you will get to immerse yourself in a 360 view of her world, surrounded by her iconic colours and symbols.


Artscience Museum's FRIDA FOREVER tribute is a great introduction for those who are not familiar with the Mexican artist's life. Even for those who already know of Frida's extraordinary story, the displays provided more intimate details about her medical conditions, and enhances your appreciation of her outlook on life and death even more. When delving into Frida Kahlo's time on this earth, Red Dot Diva's tends to wonder if exquisite art is always spawned from immense suffering. What do you think?

FRIDA FOREVER runs from 4 May to 1 September 2024. Tickets can be purchased via Fever, at this link: https://feverup.com/m/165967


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If you are not able to make it to FRIDA FOREVER, watch Red Dot Diva's walk-through video filmed while at the event's preview!

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The ArtScience Museum's New VR Gallery Offers Unique And Trippy Virtual Reality Experiences

The ArtScience Museum is Red Dot Diva's top favourite museum on the island. She visits the museum about 5 times in a year. Maybe even more.

The museum's specially selected themes and exhibits are what draws her in, due to of her love for science-fiction, tech and pop-culture art as well as engineering oddities. Being easily accessible at its Marina Bay location just a 20-minute bus ride from where she lives is also a big thumbs up.

Starting from 10 July 2021, the ArtScience Museum has launched a brand new VR Gallery. The permanent room at Level 4 will offer visitors a series of unique immersive virtual reality experiences created by the world's renowned contemporary artists.

Red Dot Diva was fortunate to attend a preview of the new VR Gallery, which features futuristic egg-shaped chairs that allow you to swivel 360 degrees. Placed on each seat were state-of-the-art VR headset and controllers, which will help you navigate your virtual surroundings.

Experience the Force at Orchard Road Feels Like a Star Wars Impersonator

After the scintillating May the 4th celebration that was held at Gardens by the Bay, Red Dot Diva found it difficult not to feel disappointed about the "Experience the Force" at Orchard Road. She certainly did not feel much of the Force, and is pretty sure many Star Wars fans feel the same way.

Despite having a larger scale of pop-up activities compared to previous Force Friday events, most of the booths in the stretch felt flat. It was as if the First Order had given up hope after Starkiller Base blew up, and decide to get drunk at a Mos Eisley bar. Heck, it might even be more fun to be at a Mos Eisley cantina, but more on that later.

Here are the two main activities that Red Dot Diva thought did not make the mark.


DO OR DON'T DO, THERE IS NO TRY

1. "Millennium Falcon"
Red Dot Diva took pics of the set up the day before, curious about what this "Millennium Falcon Replica" looked like. At that time, the size of the model was not revealed. When she finally found where it was located and saw the set up, she felt terribly disappointed.

Seriously??!

It was very small (website later announces that it's a 1/6th scale), made only of cardboard with custom printed paper wrap, and mounted on a few weird ugly black pedestals. It looked like somebody without thumbs decided to indulge himself in a low cost art and craft project. Those pedestals were fully blacked out later on.

Not surprisingly, there have been many fans who have seen it, now call this the "Pizza Box Millennium Falcon".

10 Days of Star Wars: Experience the Force Singapore Festivities at Orchard Road and STGCC 2017 (1 September to 10 September, 2017)!

From 1 September to 8 September 2017, Orchard Road becomes part of the galaxy far far away, as it kicks off a 10-day festival called "Star Wars: Experience the Force Singapore".

1 September is also Force Friday II, a global event when the launch of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" toys and merchandise will be celebrated by fans all over the world. If the first Force Friday in 2015 was any indication, there should be a lot of social media interaction around the globe, as toys are unboxed and fan reactions are shared live. Disney promises that this year's event will be an even more unique experience for the fans, with the use of new technology and more immersive ways to bring the Star Wars universe to life.

Local Star Wars fans will not be not left out either. At ION Basement 4, new items will be released at the stroke of midnight on 1 September (Friday). If you are all out to get the latest stuff, get prepared for a small crowd lining up for the unveiling. So be there early!

The Star Wars festivities at ION Orchard are Free of Charge, and will lead on to even more fun activities held during pop-culture convention, STGCC (9 & 10 September). The entire festival is organised by ReedPOP and The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia, with event partner ION Orchard, and the support of the Singapore Tourism Board.

So what can fans expect during the 10 glorious days of "Star Wars: Experience the Force Singapore"?

Ubisoft Celebrates 30th Anniversary at E3 2016, June 14-16, 2016 at Los Angeles

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or better know as E3 for short, is a favourite show to attend for many gamers and tech lovers. It is the largest convention of its kind in the Western World and thousands flock to Los Angeles Convention Centre each year to check out the latest game launches, consoles and accessories.

The bigwigs of the games industry, like Sony, Microsoft, Bandai Namco, Ubisoft and Capcom, usually make their important launches and announcements at E3. With popular game developer and producer Ubisoft, E3 2016 will be a special show for the company. It is their 30th Anniversary this year, and they are all set to make E3 the base for their celebration with their fans.

The company and its creative teams will be unveiling a host of exciting games at the convention. On the list are Watch Dogs 2, For Honor™ and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands, plus a few other surprises!

Singapore Fans Sing Happy Birthday to Game of Thrones' Actor Isaac Hemsptead-Wright at ION Orchard!

Judging by the love showered upon "Game of Thrones" actor Isaac Hemsptead-Wright during his appearance at ION Orchard yesterday (2 April), it seems the local fans have sorely missed seeing Bran Stark in the drama's previous season.

The audience has practically seen the young actor grow up on screen as Bran. However, the young noble had been missing for the entire Season 5.

At that point, Bran's story had mostly caught up with what had happened in George R.R. Martin's books. The other reason: Bran was undergoing some Westeros-Harry Potter-style training with the mysterious shifu Three-Eyed Raven.

In the new season, there will be more Bran Stark (YAYY!!) and even better still, more handsome badass Bran Stark (W00t, W00t!).



When Red Dot Diva arrived at the venue 45 minutes before Isaac Hemsptead-Wright's scheduled 3PM appearance, hundreds of fans were already waiting patiently at the surrounding area. About 50 Starhub contest winners were also within the holding area, as they will get a chance to meet him in person later on.

Game of Thrones S6: Westeros is Coming to ION Orchard, So is Bran Stark aka Isaac Hampstead Wright!

Pic by Helen Sloane

There was much celebration (fortunately, without any poisoned wine.... yet) when Red Dot Diva found out her colleague Celine is as crazy over the HBO TV series "Game of Thrones" as she is.

When Red Dot Diva conveyed to her the breaking news that young Bran Stark aka Isaac Hamsptead Wright will be visiting the Red Dot Island for the series' Season 6 promotion, Celine was so excited, she sputtered out this inspired piece of haiku:

Winter is coming
April 2nd, Bran Stark comes
Jon Snow is still dead

*Suddenly having visions of Jon Snow dying in pools of his own blood* Nooooooooooooo!!!

But also, Yeahhhhhhh!! Bran Stark is coming (oops, that sounded lewd) will be here soon!

Making a guest appearance in Asia for the first time, 17-year-old Isaac Hampstead Wright will be meeting fans on April 2nd at the Game of Thrones Experience: "Worlds of Westeros" (#GOTAsiaWOW) at ION Orchard, Basement 4. This special interactive area is set up by HBO Asia to pump up the anticipation for Season 6 of the award-winning fantasy drama series based on the books written by George R.R. Martin. The new season will premiere internationally on April 24th, 2016.

Gamestart Asia 2015: Where Diva Explored The World of Gaming

Gamestart Asia 2015 kicked-off with a bang yesterday at Suntec Convention Centre.

There was a grand official ribbon-cutting ceremony by special guests and an industry/ business conference.

The gaming convention occupied 2 halls this year, which offered far more space for fans to wander and try out the gamut of titles available.

Red Dot Diva (together with Ed from Toys-etc and Andre the Red Dot Dude) was at the Media Preview yesterday and from the looks of it, this year's convention had definite buzz to it.

Gamestart Asia 2015: Things A Gaming Noob Can Enjoy at the Show

Some very exciting things are in store for those who are heading to Gamestart Asia 2015 two weekends from now!

This year's edition is a pumped-up version of last year's inaugural show, and will occupy double the space at Suntec Convention Centre, and held over 3 days (13 to 15 November 2015), including a business conference day for those who want to get to know more about the ins and outs of the gaming industry.

To build interest leading up to the convention, the organizer Eliphant Pte Ltd, has even joined hands with developer Seow ‘Sonic’ Zong Hui to build their very own game app. Have you all downloaded and played the Gamestart app already?

Naturally, local gamers are excited about attending the show so that they can get their hands dirty on the new and upcoming titles, as well as cheer for their favourites at the Capcom Pro Tour Asia Finals. But, what if you are gaming noob like Red Dot Diva?

If you are kinda tech-savvy, or generally interested in the visual arts form of story-telling, Red Dot Diva suggests a few interesting things that might capture your interest at Gamestart Asia 2015.