Japan Media Arts Festival in Singapore 2008

JMAF at 8Q sam

Rachel and I visited 8Q sam, the contemporary arts branch of the Singapore Art Museum on Saturday to check out the Japan Media Arts Festival (JMAF) held there from 22 November to 14 December.

I was hoping to take lots of pictures there to share with everyone on this blog, but the staff at 8Q sam told us photography was not allowed and stopped us. There was no “No photography” signs around though… and when we queried the boy regarding the  ban, though he was polite, he was unable to give a clear explanation except that it was a decision from higher management. The strange thing was, the boy mentioned photography was actually allowed in the earlier weeks of the JMAF.

Anyway, here are the few pictures I managed to take before we were stopped. Most of them are lame photos of stickers on the walls and stairways though.

Outside Zone 1: Sophisticated Craftsmanship
Ancient Japanese scroll painting
Wrestling figurines made with just paper
Storytelling with action figurines
Zone 2: "Interactive Trans-fusion"
Dancing blue light with motion sensors
Zone 3: Narrative Images

All in all, the exhibits were quite interesting, but I was disappointed  by the relatively small selection. The interactive pieces in Zone 2 were entertaining and I was glad to get to see some of the original works by my favourite artist, Takehiko Inoue (井上雄彦). His works were the main reason I went for the JMAF.

Takehiko's award-winning manga series, Vagabond
Vagabond wall sticker
Another wall sticker
Sick looking teddy bear wall sticker
Gundam decal
Rachel posing beside one of our favourite manga character, Yotsuba
Me

Hopefully, it will be bigger and better next time. I think 8Q sam is a great development to the Singapore art scene, being a fan of acessible and fun pop arts more than overly self-indulgence fine arts. 🙂

Technorati Tags: jmaf, japan media arts festival, singapore, yotsuba & !, vagabond, takehiko inoue, 8q sam, singapore art museum, pop art, contemporary art, gundam

alvinology

Alvin is a marketer by day and blogger by night. He is a 100% geek who spends too much time surfing the web.

View Comments

  • They have relaxed the rules on no-flash photography, but some exhibitions are still no-go. Let me know if you are visiting the museums in future lah, we can arrange for you to take photos.

  • Hi dude, thanks for the reply. :) No worries lah, the photos are an after-thought. I go to the event to look see enjoy myself first.

  • A museum for 'new' media being run by 'old' media bosses.... can they open up enough to really go far with this?

    It's ironic though because this museum is supposed to reach to newer generations, who could do much to promote the otherwise ulu museum with their photography and blogs.....

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