Listening Biennial LAB

Presented by the McNally School of Fine Arts, in collaboration with the Diploma in Theatre Production and Management programme.

Curated by artist Alecia Neo and co-programmed with publisher Ng Kah Gay of Ethos Books.

With special thanks to Adeline Chia, Jay Koh, Faye Lim, Charlene Rajendran, Lynn Sim, Jennifer Teo, Chu Lik Ren, Sharaad Kuttan and Grey Yeoh for the loan of Chu Chu Yuan’s artworks.

This third edition of the Listening Biennial takes shape through the concept of Third Listening, which, imagined as a form of interstitial listening intent on sensing and staying with the different urgencies spanning cultural and material worlds, emphasises intersubjectivity and interdependence. Done together and despite exclusionary systems, Third Listening enables acts of speaking-with and embodied living ethics that support diverse abilities, thus holding the tension inherent to hospitality, where coexistence requires the continuous struggle, imagination, courage and protection. From contending with current polarisations to honouring the shared vitality of planetary life, such interstitial listening follows the pulse of a thick relationality that defines contemporary experience.

Listening Biennial LAB at LASALLE is a co-learning laboratory, inviting collective imagining of pathways to practise, transmit and carry the third within us. The LAB offers a dedicated space for audience agency: we are invited to respond to the Listening Biennial audio exhibition, which includes works by six LASALLE Fine Arts alumni, via narration, translation and alternative creative forms. Traces and responses recorded during the course of the LAB will be compiled and published as a glossary of Third Listening, which unfolds around three key themes:

Social repair and restorative practices
Considering communication and empathetic gaps within society

Aural diversity and diversely abled positions
Considering practices to further and deepen inclusiveness in our society

Ecological and planetary attunement
Considering channels to develop ecological sensitivity to planetary sustainability

Opening event on 12 September, all are welcome:
6:30pm Opening reception at Brother Joseph McNally Gallery 
7:00pm Opening speech by curators Alecia Neo with Ng Kah Gay 
7:05pm Welcome speech by Dr Cissie Fu, Head, McNally School of Fine Arts
7:10pm Introduction and launch of Eat by Ear podcast by Dr Woo Yen Yen, Programme Leader, MA Arts Pedagogy and Practice, with guests KF Seetoh and Jason Koh
7:15pm Listening party of Eat by Ear episode 2
7:45pm Panel discussion and Q&A with Yen Yen, KF Seetoh and Jason Koh
8:10pm Performance by BA (Hons) Music Year 2 students from the composition specialism, followed by Ode to Pig performed in Teochew by Yakuza Baby and a sing-along
8:20pm Closing announcement by Alecia Neo and Hazel Lim, Programme Leader, BA (Hons) Fine Arts