Singapore Design Week: N*thing is Possible

This year’s design festival celebrates waste solution. Singapore Design Week takes place at the National Design Centre, from 16 September to 25 December 2022.

Presenting their perspective to waste are the creators of the world-famous Desa Potato Head creative and sustainable village, Potato Head. N*thing is Possible, which launches during the Singapore Design Week, is a regenerative design showcase that celebrates re-use, re-cycle, re-craft and re-live by highlighting the hospitality company’s journey to accomplish a zero-waste lifestyle.

Alongside the exhibition, there will also be other F&B, retail and workshops to attend. Here's a guide on how you can fully embody the “Good Times, Do Good” ethos as presented by N*thing is Possible!

Potato Head Doors and 5,000 lost soles installation at Singapore Design Week 2022

Celebrate re-use, re-cycle, re-craft and re-live

Witness the National Design Centre transformed into a regenerative design showcase! Led by the creators of the world-famous Desa Potato Head creative village, Potato Head, and co-curated with award-winning firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), N*thing is Possible highlights their journey to becoming a sustainable creative hub that turns waste into beautiful objects and art. The exhibit will also reveal the detailed blueprint for Potato Head’s journey to this point, with the intention that it informs and inspires others to apply it in their own businesses.

This three-month show (16 September to 25 December) begins with activations, talks, panels, and activities involving many of the collaborators and designers. Check out the line-up of free activities here.

Purchase a piece of upcycled waste

Items such as water bottles, tote bags, sneakers and cutlery sets made of recycled materials will be part of the retail experience.

Slurp a bowl of sustainable dining at Tanuki Raw

Head over to Tanuki Raw at the National Design Centre, which will be serving “tasters” of Potato Head’s delicious recipes all prepared with a zero-waste mentality. For instance, the tomato melon rice bowl will include ingredients such as melon pickle, powders, vinegar, and oils – which come from the peels, seeds and scraps from Potato Head’s kitchens!

Join a Styrofoam Recycling Workshop

Conducted by award-winning industrial designer, Andreu Carulla, this free 1-hour workshop will be all about his latest innovation, the Styro-wrap! By mixing organic waste and solvent, and kneading the "dough" by hand, participants can transform Styrofoam into a durable and unique element for kitchen utensils. Date and Time: 17 September, 2-3pm / 3.30 - 4.30pm / 5 - 6pm at National Design Centre

*Kids aged 7-12 will require parental guidance

The Singapore Design Week is free for all to attend from 9am to 9pm.

BOFA Film Festival 2021

The stunning Sun Children from Iran is one of the festival hits. Courtesy BOFA.

May 2021, Tasmania. This year saw the 11th BOFA (Breath of Fresh Air) Film Festival open to real live cinema-goers in Launceston, Tasmania, on Friday 30 April, running through to Sunday 2 May.

Last year’s BOFA Festival was hit hard by the pandemic, and saw the organisers go online with an innovative lineup of virtual titles in place of the usual bums on seats. But the new format went down a storm with film fans.

Festival director Owen Tilbury is bullish about the online aspect of this year’s BOFA. Courtesy BOFA

"The feedback we had from the (2020) online festival was that people loved being able to watch movies in the comfort of their own home although they missed the personal interaction with people," said festival director Owen Tilbury.

“This year they have the choice of our online festival once again, but they can also opt to see films live here in Launceston and in Hobart as well,” he said. “This will effectively mean three festivals - one in Launceston from April 30-May 2, one in Hobart from May 28-30, and a free festival online from May 3-30.”

This means, says Tilbury, that film buffs who want to spend one night in their pyjamas at home and the next night at the cinema with friends will still be able to see everything the festival has to offer. "It effectively means we have two different curated film festivals going on at the same time," said Tilbury.

Star attractions this year are the world premiere of the stunning Queensland documentary ‘Meet the Wallers’ by Jim Stevens. Based on two decades tracing a single family history, this is what reality TV should really be like. For adventure buffs, the epic Ocean to Sky traces the ground-breaking expedition by Everest hero Sir Edmund Hillary as he jet-boats up the Ganges then goes on to climb Akask Parbat in the Himalayas immediately after.

Local Hero Rosemary Kariuki will attend the Hobart screening of the film Rosemary’s Way. Courtesy BOFA.

The festival is also bringing in stars and film-makers to talk about many of the screeners. Personalities like Vincent Sheehan, producer of the acclaimed Willem Defoe title The Hunter; Ocean to Sky director Michael Dillon, and Rosemary’s Way director Ros Horin.

Best of all, the star of Horin’s Rosemary’s Way, the amazing Rosemary Kariuki (who was voted Australian Local Hero of 2021) will attend the Hobart screening in person after being awarded a gong by Scott Morrison. A must see.

“After last year's move to online due to the pandemic we had overwhelming positive feedback on survey forms, so we decided to do it again” explained Tilbury. “We think people will enjoy a breath of fresh air from down here in Tasmania – be it online or in the flesh.”

BOFA festival is online, and at the Village Cinema Hobart, 181 Collins Street, Hobart. And BOFA Online is free. You can watch the online films any day, any time until the end of May within Australia. Subscribe to the BOFA newsletter to get your free code to access the film's from as far afield as Cuba or as close to home as Flinders Island, Tasmania.

All films are MA15+

3 Reasons to Travel to Borneo Jazz 2018

Sarawak’s homegrown jazz stage is set to introduce acts from Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Japan, in addition to Asian musical favourites. Mallika Naguran tunes in.

MIRI, 2 May 2018. Jazz fans can look forward to a full three-day musical extravaganza at Borneo Jazz in Miri, Sarawak. The 13th annual edition of the jazz festival will be held from Friday 11 May to Sunday 13 May 2018, organised by Sarawak Tourism Board for 13 years now.

But three things are different this year. First, there’s a change in venue. Borneo Jazz will be held at the Coco Cabana, Marina Bay – bigger, better with more room to sit, dance and walk around by the seaside of Miri town.

Next, the programme is arranged by the folks behind No Black Tie of Kuala Lumpur. The festival director Evelyn Hii is the founder of the famous jazz club that has seen a healthy stream of visiting famed musicians pass through, placing jazz prominently on the Malaysian map. Incidentally,  Hii was born in Sarawak.

Third, it will be a three day event for the very first time. Borneo Jazz typically features recognised musicians from local and international jazz scenes over two days, and this year will be no different all through a mega weekend, from Friday to Sunday. Around 30 bands or acts can be enjoyed through if one gets the entire festival pass.

A wide repertoire of jazz genres can be expected at Borneo Jazz 2018 with international acts from Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Japan along with Asian jazz greats. Check out the programme here.

Performers at Borneo Jazz 2018

Borneo Jazz 2018 will have high energy and versatile performers with internationally acclaimed artistes such as the Swiss-French ensemble Chris Stalk Quartet, Italian vocalist Cecilia Brunori, Chinese saxophonist Gaoyang Li, multi-talented Polish artist Grzegorz Karnas, Cuban band Havana Social Club featuring Lazaro Numa.

Elvira Arul at Borneo Jazz 2018

Acclaimed Asian performers include Jeremy Monteiro, Singapore's 'King of Swing'; Az Samad, a guitarist, composer, and educator who has recorded with Flaco Jiménez and Max Baca; KL’s own soul queen Elvira Arul; and the iconic Michael Veerapen.

Jeremy Monteiro will be leading the 18-piece Jazz Association of Singapore Orchestra (JASSO) on Friday night.

Jazz vocalist Cecilia Brunori will entertain on Sunday night. Cecilia Brunori’s repertoire of performances ranges from performing at festivals in Italy including one of the largest jazz festivals in the world, Umbria Jazz Festival.

She is currently working on an album with a well-known jazz pianist and composer, Danilo Rea.

Every night, post concert, a jam session will be held. Especially on Saturday, following Havana Social Club’s gig at 11:45 pm, make your way to the jam venue at 1 am to mingle with the performers.

What has not changed about Borneo Jazz is its outreach programme, where aspiring musicians can learn the basics of jazz musical instruments from professional musicians.

Watch and listen to the winning Borneo participants of the Borneo Jazz Talent Search on Sunday. 

So there you go, these are the three reasons to go to Borneo Jazz 2018. Do you know of any more? Add them here by leaving a comment!

While You Are At Borneo Jazz 2018…

The Festival includes night performances with sitting and dancing areas and a wide lawn for night picnics surrounded by arts, crafts and food stalls.

As a resort city, Miri offers a wide range of accommodation from international class hotels to budget inns, good beaches and dozens of lively restaurants, pubs and bars.

Visitors going to this cosmopolitan city of Miri can visit the Lambir Hills, the historical Niah National Park located just an hour or two away respectively. Check out the Piasau Nature Reserve and the reforestation story by jazz musicians.

And if you are a scuba diver, the dive sites in the Miri-Sibuti Coral Reefs National Park beckons. The nearest dive site is a mere 15-min away, just off the coast of the city.

For more information, visit the Borneo Jazz website at https://jazzborneo.com/

Fly to Kuching or Mulu for other true Sarawakian cultural and adventure holidays.