MENTAL: Colours of Wellbeing Delves into Personal Mental Health Journeys
The exhibition held at ArtScience Museum explores the broad conversation on mental health through art, technology and science.
A personal, intimate journey with oneself; a discovery of one’s internal highs and lows. That’s what the exhibition MENTAL: Colours of Wellbeing at the ArtScience Museum seeks to highlight to visitors in Singapore. The importance of recognising the individuality of our own mental health, and how each charted course differs for everyone are key foci of the large-scale exhibition that just made its Asian debut on 3 September.
Co-curated by ArtScience Museum and Science Gallery Melbourne at the University of Melbourne, the show features 24 large installations and exhibits by artists, scientists and makers from around the globe. Among the works on display are seven works by local and regional artists who take on the broad issue of mental health through a Southeast Asian lens. The discussion of mental health is approached in an accessible way through four themes in the exhibition: Connection, Exploration, Expression, and Reflection.
MENTAL is the climax of the Season of Wellbeing by ArtScience Museum, a year-long endeavour to raise awareness about mental wellbeing through a series of exhibitions, public programmes and educational content and activities. Honor Harger, Vice President of ArtScience Museum and Attractions at Marina Bay Sands said, “Our hope is that MENTAL will inspire families and friends to talk about mental health with their loved ones, express their feelings, and become more in tune with their inner wellbeing.”
An undeniable, fundamental factor in the development of our mental health is the building block of family, who often are the ones who impact and shape us from a formative age. The opening exhibition of MENTAL is a scene familiar to most – a kitchen in a home. Model: Kitchen (2022) is the multi-media installation work of Singaporean artist Divaagar. Through the simple question “Have you eaten?”, Divaagar explores the significance of care shown through various methods set in a communal space often taken for granted. The scenography of the kitchen sets the visitors on a path to discover the intimacies of familial care beyond its functional purposes and design.
Aside from Divaagar, the other Southeast Asian works in MENTAL come from Alecia Neo (Singapore), Lee Yi Xuan (Singapore), YANGERMEISTER (aka Tan Yang Er) and Yunora (Singapore), Shwe Wutt Hmon (Myanmar), Tromarama (Indonesia), as well as a presentation by a local arts organisation, EYEYAH!. Their works are interspersed with the other exhibits throughout the entire exhibition space of MENTAL, which allows visitors to chart and choose the paths they wish to take, as an acknowledgement of the extremely personal journey each individual embarks on with their own mental wellbeing.
A slew of onsite and online programmes complementary to the exhibition are also available, including masterclasses, workshops and drop-in activities. One notable activity is a masterclass with artist Lee Yi Xuan. Your State of Mind with Lee Yi Xuan is a masterclass led by the Singaporean artist, whose work – State of Mind is on display as part of the exhibition. Attendees get to dabble in various art therapy methods intended for greater self-expression and learn about grounding techniques with an artistic focus. Afterwards, visitors will also be brought to the MENTAL exhibition to experience a guided segment of Lee’s work, where they can learn more about the artist’s concept and inspirations for the piece.
MENTAL: Colours of Wellbeing will run from 3 September 2022 to 26 February 2023 at ArtScience Museum. More information can be found here.
