Business Times 25 Jul 08;
The event's organisers and designers of the showcases have displayed a heightened environmental consciousness, reports AMANDA DE GUZMAN
THE 2008 Singapore Garden Festival is much greener than its predecessors.
The shift is not due to some genetically modified chlorophyll, but to the heightened environmental consciousness displayed by both the individual designers of the showcased gardens and the organisers of the event.
To drive home the importance of environmental issues, the Clarins Learning Garden is designed to simultaneously entertain and educate children from ages four to seven about the notion of carbon footprinting.
'Its not an easy concept,' says this year's festival director, Wong Wei-Har. 'How do you make it fun?'
The answer comes in the form of Sara, the beloved botanicosaurus, a cartoon dinosaur that has been beguiling younger visitors to the Botanical Gardens for years. She appears in a colourful booklet made for the Learning Garden, along with other polychromatic animal friends, to teach kids about issues like global warming and fossil fuels, as well as how to lessen their carbon footprints through methods such as recycling or taking public transport.
While Dr Wong says that she is 'not running a childcare centre', she adds that the main part of the festival is geared towards adults, but she 'wanted the kids to have just as good of a time'. Hence, while the primary purpose of the garden is to introduce urgent environmental issues to the youth, it also contributes to making the overall event much more kid-friendly.
Educating others
Many of the designers of the gardens on display have also chosen to exhibit environmentally conscious messages in their work.
'I think people in the horticultural industry have an inbred passion for plants and the environment,' says Jim Fogarty, a designer from Australia. 'Doing a show like this gives you a chance to educate other people to look after the planet we live on.'
Mr Fogarty's design, which is in the fantasy category of the festival's competition and was awarded a gold ranking yesterday, was inspired by an place in Australia called Jervis Bay, an area located 200 km south of Sydney that is rich in both beach and bush. Protected from development, it has been classified as both a national park and marine park. Replete with marine and animal life as well as local flora, Mr Fogarty believes it to be a 'great story' that could provide the template for the future of eco-tourism.
'If you protect the natural environment, you can create a wonderful attraction,' he says. 'Maybe in the long term, governments could make a lot more money through conservation, rather than just selling to developers.'
Mr Fogarty's garden is designed to capture the natural wealth of Jervis Bay by displaying plants from the area in his exhibition as well as using other materials to symbolise other aspects of the bay's beauty. Jervis Bay's pristine white sand - ostensibly the whitest in the world - is represented by white aggregate paving, while the garden's Waterfall Wall is meant to recall the aesthetics and the importance of its blue waters.
Charlie Evans, also a designer from Australia, did not base his garden, Message in a Bottle, on a particular place. Actually, it is unclear what or where he based his work on but that is the point, he says.
'It is open to interpretation,' he says. Besides a sign in the front that reads 'tread lightly on our blue planet', the environmental concerns of the piece are all in the details. For example, his use of steel pieces, discarded as waste by factories and rescued by his team, to create exquisite screens could be seen as an ode to the beautiful results of recycling.
'I have had a lot of people describe the garden differently, and that is fine,' he says. 'The Message in a Bottle is whatever you want it to be.'
Effects of global warming
In contrast to the oblique nature of Mr Evans' work is Best in Show winner Peter Cheok's piece, Seeking Shangri-La, which leaves only one interpretation to its viewer: the devastating possibilities of global warming. Situating the mythical paradise of Shangri-la in a cavernous underwater prison, the design is a terrifying meditation on the effects of global warming.
'Shangri-La was an ideal subject because it is so high up in the mountains,' Mr Cheok says. This ups the ante on the urgency in which the issue displayed in his work, given that global warming has purportedly caused glaciers to melt faster than ever before. However, there still is hope in Mr Cheok's piece.
'If it was really bad, there wouldn't be any beautiful plants anymore,' he says. 'The main focus of the work is to bring people's minds to Shangri-la, even if it is underwater.'
Whether abstract or obvious, reality or mythology, these three works have all evinced an artistic rendering of an intensified eco-consciousness. Teamed with the Clarins Learning Garden, they provide insight and education about the environment for everyone both young and old.
The Singapore Garden Festival is on at Suntec Singapore from today until Aug 1
Brighter blooms, daring arrangements at Singapore Garden Festival 2008
Chio Su-Mei, Channel NewsAsia 24 Jul 08;
SINGAPORE : An explosion of blooms and imaginative arrangements will greet visitors at this year's Singapore Garden Festival, which opens on Friday.
Over 200,000 temperate and tropical plants have been modelled into 32 masterpieces by award-winning designers.
Winner of the "Best of Show" in the Landscape Design category was a creation by Kazuyuki Ishihara. Called 'The Green Breeze' (Ryokufu Tei), it is made with moss and native Japanese plants that are reminiscent of the designer's childhood hideaways in his rural village.
"Best of Show" winner in the Floral Windows of the World category was "Four Seasons" by Canadian Hitomi Gilliam. Gilliam's arrangement offers a sensory experience of the changing seasons along Canada's Northern Frontier.
The judges were impressed by this year's entries. They said standards were higher than the inaugural competition two years ago.
"It certainly compares favourably to our show in the UK, and... also to the shows in Europe. I think it has come a long way, and I'm really amazed at what has been achieved," said Michael Balston, head judge of the Singapore Garden Festival.
For the second time running, Singaporean Peter Cheok clinched "Best of Show" in the Fantasy Design category. His creation, which is an ode to global warming, took five months to create. Called "Seeking Shangri-La", it features the Himalayan peaks submerged in rising oceans.
"I really didn't expect it because this year the level of competition has increased. And I do see a lot of better works," said Cheok.
Ranging from the whimsical to the philosophical, the Singapore Garden Festival packs a visual feast into 24,000 square metres at the Suntec City Exhibition Centre.
The festival runs from July 25 to August 1, and is open to the public from 10am to 10pm daily.
More information is available at this website.
Come to my Shangri-La
A garden inspired by Lost Horizon novel wins Best of Show award
Tan Yi Hui, Straits Times 25 Jul 08;
A FANTASY garden inspired by the James Hilton novel Lost Horizon has won Singaporean Peter Cheok a Best Of Show award at this year's Singapore Garden Festival.
It is his second win in a row: he picked up a similar award in the same Fantasy Gardens category two years ago, at the inaugural festival.
The 28-year-old sales and marketing director of Far East Flora received his award last night from President S R Nathan at the Awards Gala, at Suntec Convention Centre. Also present was National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan.
The awards dinner kicked off the festival, which opens today at the convention centre.
Visitors to the biennial event, held over eight days this year, will be able to check out garden and floral displays by 32 award-winning designers from 17 countries. Some 200,000 people are expected to attend the show.
Mr Cheok said: 'This year the competition was intense. I wasn't expecting us to win, so it was a surprise.'
His garden, called Seeking Shangri-La, is a lavish depiction of an underwater mythical paradise. The garden consists of plants from Malaysia such as sedums, cacti and sarracenias, which were planted to resemble corals.
Two others won Best Of Show awards.
Japanese designer Kazuyuki Ishihara topped the Landscape Design category with Ryokufu Tei (The Green Breeze), a serene garden sanctuary built like a secret hideaway.
In the Floral Display category, Canada's Hitomi Gilliam took the top spot with Galerie Aux Saisons (Seasons Gallery Canada), which takes the visitor through the seasons of the Canadian Northern Frontier.
Aside from viewing these award-winning gardens, visitors to the festival will also be able to check out award-winning orchids, buy exotic flowers, plants and botanical artworks.
The Singapore Garden Festival 2008 is on from today to Aug 1 at Suntec Convention Centre, 10am to 10pm daily. Tickets cost $6 (weekday) and $12 (weekend) for adults, and $3 (weekday) and $6 (weekend) for children, students and senior citizens. Family tickets for two adults and three children cost $18 (weekday) and $36 (weekend) and are available at level one of the Suntec Convention Centre. For more information, log on to www.singaporegardenfestival.com
