Categories: Events

National Gallery Singapore’s Light To Night Festival Is A 10-Day Arts Trail With FREE Exhibitions Till Midnight

Things to do at Light to Night Festival 2018: Colour Sensations

Image credit: National Gallery Singapore

If you’re looking for something to do at night in Singapore that isn’t watching a movie or going out for drinks, National Gallery Singapore’s Light to Night Festival 2018: Colour Sensations’ art trail has a lineup that will be perfect for you and your Instagram street cred. The Light to Night Festival is one of the Singapore Art Week’s marquee events and spans across 10 days from 19 to 28 January 2018.

Make the most of the extended opening hours by visiting all the indoor installations, listening to the tunes of Jasmine Sokko and Gentle Bones, and enjoying a massive light extravaganza by 30 Singaporean-based artists. 

Note: National Gallery Singapore’s opening hours will be extended over the 2 weekends and there will be complimentary admission to all exhibitions on festival weekends.

1. Step on stomping pads to light up the National Gallery Singapore’s facade

Image credit: National Gallery Singapore

The Civic District transforms in colour from day to night and you’ll be able to join in by treading on the stomping pads of Chromascope. When you move, National Gallery Singapore’s facade will be illuminated in a series of colour – columns of light before shifting into patterns and optical illusions. Oh, and pulsing neon lights for that extra oomph, of course. 

Hours: Fri to Sat: 8PM – Midnight | Sun to Thurs: 8 – 10PM

2. Capture Instagrammable shots of the light installations on heritage buildings

Image credit: National Gallery Singapore

The Light to Night Art Walk will lead you from the Gallery through to other major arts institutions around the Civic District. They’re all jazzed up for the Festival with some serious light shows – the work of 30 artists – playing out on the facades of National Gallery Singapore, The Arts House, Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall, and Asian Civilisations Museum. 

Don’t waste this opportunity to capture some inspiring light shots. Follow the Art Walk all the way through to the Esplanade Park Tunnel and Esplanade Park to capture the vivid colours of the historic tunnel. And all the while, there’ll be performances for you to enjoy along the way. 

Art Skins On Monuments (Visual light installations across 4 buildings)

Hours: Fri to Sat: 8PM – Midnight | Sun to Thurs: 8 – 10PM

Trip To The Colourscape (Esplanade Park Tunnel and Esplanade Park)

Hours: Fri to Sat: 8PM – Midnight | Sun to Thurs: 8 – 10PM

3. Enjoy a picnic on the Padang with more than 80 food and craft stalls

Image credit: David A Yap

This picnic might be at night but stargazing isn’t the only thing there is to do. In transforming the vast space of the Padang into sprawling picnic grounds, you can have a picnic in the middle of the Civic District. There will be 80 food and craft stalls for you to choose from. 

4. Take photos that look like they come from another world with teamLab’s installations

teamLab’s exhibitions are always a huge hit and people instantly flock to their art installations. Their photogenic displays are known to draw a huge crowd in – after all, it’s hard to resist when their art looks that good both IRL and on your camera screen. 

Flowers and People – Dark. Image credit: National Gallery Singapore

As for their latest installations at National Gallery Singapore’s Ngee Ann Kongsi Concourse Gallery, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the virtual and real world with the colourful labyrinth of Walk, Walk, Walk: Search, Deviate, Reunite. For that matter, the visuals of Flowers and People – Dark are also as aesthetic as it gets – it tells the story of flowers blossoming… before withering. 

5. Sway along to music performances by Jasmine Sokko and Gentle Bones

While admiring the light installations and vibrant colours, take a breather to enjoy a few music performances by local artists. Besides the electro beats of Jasmine Sokko and folk rock of Gentle Bones, there will also be a performance by over 500 drummers at the Padang. 

Other performances worth looking out for includes Dawn Wong and the Suits, Subsonic Eye, and The Intimate Friends. 

6. Walk through a labyrinth with endless mirrors

Image credit: National Gallery Singapore

Nope this isn’t just another convex/concave mirror maze. House of Mirrors uses cleverly-placed mirrors to alter your perception, playing with your senses and creating illusions that make you question what you’re seeing. Is that your reflection walking away from you, or is it someone else with the same top?

No special effects are used here, just the combined genius of Christian Wagstaff and Keith Courtney. And thanks to the help of the mirrors all around, your reflection will act as strangers/ghosts/shadows, following you through as you navigate the mirrors. Finding the exit might take you 5 minutes or an hour – you won’t know till you try. 

Light to Night Festival 2018: Colour Sensations from 19-18 Jan 2018

Image credit: National Gallery Singapore

Make the most of the Light to Night Festival from 19 to 28 January 2018 since there’s a ton to experience. Besides stunning light projections, there’ll be art installations, music performances, and more than 80 food and craft stalls for you to leisurely browse. 

There’s a whole lot of artsy-fartsy events to fill up your schedule this Singapore Art Week, happening from 17-28 January – that’s the latter half of January covered. You’ve got ARTWALK Little India for a glimpse at what Singapore will look like with street art, and Art Stage Singapore to show us how talented our Southeast Asian artists are. 

Light to Night Festival 2018: Colour Sensations

When: 19 – 28 January, 5PM – Midnight 

Where: Singapore’s Civic District (National Gallery Singapore, Asian Civilisations Museum, The Arts House, Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, the Padang, Empress Lawn, and Esplanade Park) 

Website: www.lighttonight.sg 

Keep up to date with Light to Night’s activities here


This post was brought to you by National Gallery Singapore.

Pailin Boonlong

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