This site-specific installation featured portraits of and photographs made by Chong Pang residents who delved into the world of relationships and intimacy during their artmaking journey. They spoke about the process of ageing, living and dying, love and grief, wishes and regrets. Through posing for a studio photograph, they performed memories that they hold dear. Like murals, these portraits became part of the heartland’s void deck landscape.

Strategically placed texts invite the viewer to observe the interaction of the images with each other and their surroundings. With their cameras, they are looking and asking, “What does it mean to grow old?” The images that emerged are revealing in their humour, curiosity, and hope, as well as the shifting presence and silence of human interaction.

We hold blankets close to our body, to keep us warm and safe. Those that are painstakingly quilted and lovingly gifted within the family become intimate keepsakes. Ten cotton blankets with printed images and calligraphy text, some with embroidery were made and showcased for this artist-led project.

Artwork 1 – To Cherish and to Hold – For this first blanket series, personal images and text express what the participant artists hold dear of their life experience as a legacy for when they leave the world. Some blankets remember family and loved ones; some remember happy pastimes and favourite activities; and some are simple positive values about living life well.

Artwork 2 – Wind Blankets – In the second blanket series, the participant artists focused more directly on the end-of-life and how they have come to terms with death. They do this by imagining what they hope will be their last position when they die. The blankets carry these images: some are lying, some sitting, some praying, and all in their individual imagined desired worlds. Open skies, trees, flowers, and nature in general, are dominant themes. The wind blankets are hung out in the open to interact, come rain or shine, with the elements, as a reminder of the last journey in life returning symbolically to nature. Called wind blankets, their messages and wishes are hopefully blown around by the wind to be shared with all.

Overall, the artwork marries this unique funerary custom with the craft of quilt making which is often elaborate in the design and which can take months, sometimes years, to complete.The same group of participant art-makers created the blankets after spending time in a workshop contemplating the end-of-life and how to come to terms with death.

The “last gift” is not really an object in a gift box. It is the journeys that each participant undertook over the 9 months. For some of them, it has opened up another dimension to their existing relationships. For example, participant art-maker, Alicia and her granddaughter, before this, have never gone on an outing to exercise or cook together before. When we met again for the audio recording, Alicia mentioned that she had already given the “gift”.

For the purpose of the installation, these gifts by different participant art-makers were placed in wooden gift boxes. Visitors were asked to go through the following ritual to open the gift:

• Sound the wind chime in the centre of the pavilion.
• Put on the gloves provided before opening the gift boxes and touching the contents.
• When visitors are done with the contents, return them to the gift boxes, and remove the gloves. Put on the headphones to listen to the voices of the gift owners. Once visitors have seen enough, they can choose to sit on the empty bench to contemplate their own last gift, then sound the wind chime in the centre of the pavilion before they leave; OR sound the wind chime in the centre of the pavilion before they leave.

Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone has a movie in them too! In these three AKAN DATANG short films, our senior-participants share with us on screen their stories about their hopes and fears of what’s coming soon. Using documentary footage of themselves as a starting point and weaving in the images of a lifetime that were excavated from old photo albums, each film tells us how each senior-participant has been differently dealing with the delicate issues of death and dying that are present in their daily lives.

Grandma and Grandson Go Shopping (in Mandarin and English)
by Tan Choon Hui & grandson Ken Chiu

For Choon Hui, her husband’s passing evoked an unexpected response from her grandson. An awkward tip-toeing around a difficult topic becomes a more confident dance shared between Grandma and Grandson, in the way they grieve for a loved one. And a shopping trip together to buy Ah Gong’s favourite things becomes a special way of remembrance.

Ruku’s Photo Album (in English)
by Rukumani d/o Rajoo Naidu

Looking through Ruku’s photo album is like looking at fashion changes through the decades. We also see how different dressing marks different milestones in her life – from a child to a student, to a working adult, to a young bride… until she decides that she no longer wants to “dress the part”. Breaking away from traditions of appearance that surround a departure in the family – she learns to deal with death and dying in her way.

Susie’s Void Deck Voices (in Mandarin)
by Susie Ng Chai Ha

The void deck is a space not quite here nor there: it’s not outside, but also not inside or “home”. Susie’s neighbours and husband share the same feeling: that “not here”, “not there” feeling, like they are just waiting for something to happen, for that unexciting finale that many dread. But she feels differently and chooses to see beyond – something else to look forward to.