WaterFire announced today that on September 24th while the Providence team is presenting a full lighting of WaterFire in Providence, Evans will also be presenting Waterfire in Singapore for the very first time on both September 24th and September 25th. WaterFire in Providence will be a full lighting of the entire river on Saturday, September 24th starting at 7:00 pm.
WaterFire in Singapore is designed by Evans and is being presented by Evans’ partner Temasek Polytechnic University in Bedok Reservoir as part of their Global Community Day, a festival of international arts and culture. All funding for the event in Singapore comes from Singapore and it is being presented by 65 volunteers from Singapore joined by nine Providence volunteers. The braziers were fabricated there with the assistance of the staff from the School of Engineering and the Centre for TransCultural Studies.
Singapore is less than 5 degrees away from being on the exact opposite side of the earth from Providence. (The exact antipode is nearer Antarctica in the South Australian Bight, but Evans considered this too far a reach. If you go north to the first city, you arrive in Singapore.) Due to the dateline and the rotation of the earth, WaterFire will start at Sunset on September 24th just at the dateline in Singapore. One brazier will be lit all night till dawn and then the flame will be sent via Skype to Providence to light WaterFire in Providence at sunset here on the 24th. In Providence one brazier in Waterplace Basin will be kept burning all night until dawn, when the flame will be sent by Skype back to Singapore for the first sunset of the next day, September 25th.
“It is an extraordinary opportunity to position Providence as truly at the center of the world”, said Executive Artistic Director Barnaby Evans. “While all the funding and staff for this comes from Singapore, the idea of WaterFire will have travelled entirely around the world. It is a great way to show how powerful art can be in knitting the world together. It is also a great way to show all the world what a creative capital Providence truly is.”
“The site in Singapore is amazing, it will have a pedestrian walkway over 1400′ long where you can walk among the fires. I am particularly delighted that I am including music by such Providence artists such as Low Anthem, Jenifer Smith, and Ellen Santaniello. One big difference is the fire wood. Instead of reclaimed pine, as we use in Providence, we will be using reclaimed Lychee wood, storm-fallen Cinnamon trees, and salvaged timber. One thing in common is that both Providence and Singapore are world famous for their great food. We were delighted to host a contingent of ten travelers from Singapore to Providence last fall and they were delighted with our restaurants. I am looking forward to discovering their cuisine!”
The WaterFire Singapore connection goes back several years. When architect Moshe Safdie got the design contract for the $8 billion [S] Marina Bay Sands, the 2,561 room luxury casino on the edge of Marina Bay, he reached out to meet with Evans to discuss the creation of an art interface at the water’s edge of the casino. Safdie has an office in Cambridge, Ma and has long been a big fan of WaterFire. Ultimately this discussion did not go further. Now years later Evans has been meeting with the state design agency to explore new ideas for original urban interventions in this rapidly growing city.
This coming WaterFire in Providence will be another spectacular event, including the TD Bank Ballroom with the Salsa stage and much, much more. For all the details see www.waterfire.org/saturday-september-24th-2011.
Barnaby and the Providence volunteers will be posting blog entries on the Singapore trip at www.waterfireinternational.com. (which will be live Saturday, September 24th)
Waterfire goes global!!! Woo Hoo!
i can’t wait for the 24th! in providence, of course… on the river.