GEORGE TOWN, Sept 13 — The inaugural Hin-Between Festival has kicked off at Hin Bus Depot, marking two major milestones: its 10th anniversary as an art and community space last year and the 10th anniversary of its weekly Hin Market this year.
Hin Bus Depot gallery manager Ivan Gabriel said the 10-day festival is made up of site-specific works, performances, talks, film screenings and the Kung Bros Collectors’ market along with the regular Hin Market on Sunday.
The festival, themed ‘Time’, is a celebration of Hin Bus Depot’s journey as a creative hub that brings together artists, creators and storytellers of various disciplines to explore how the passage of time shaped their experiences, memories and visions.
According to Ivan, the exhibitions are open to the public at no charge, with tickets required for two performances and one workshop.
Visitors will get a chance to glimpse the changes that Hin Bus Depot underwent over the last 10 years through photographs taken of different spots of the whole space throughout the years by Thum Chia Chieh in the site-specific exhibition, A Decade With Hin.
“Visitors will be given a map to hunt for the photos which will be placed where it was taken to show the differences of the space then and now,” said Ivan.
Among the photos displayed is one of the spaces inundated in muddy flood waters during the 2017 massive floods in Penang and another showed a bare, newly planted tree in the lawn area as compared to currently, the tree has grown to reach above the roof tops of nearby buildings.
Exhibitions are spread out in different spaces within the depot, from the main gallery to the Hinconvenient Store to Bricklin Cafe, the deck, the lawn, Rumah Kacha, Nui Kopi and to the back, Coex@ Kilang Besi.
Over at the Hinconvenient Store is ordinary normal, video and sound installation by Singaporean duo, Samantha Lee and Jing Jie Lim.
Three smartphones were suspended from the ceiling with videos on a loop of them recording ‘a day in the life’ or ‘get ready with me’ trends on social media to expose how these were heavily curated but manufactured to look ‘authentic’.
“We are trying to question this idea of what is real, what is authentic online by showcasing what happens during the creating process,” Lee said.
She said they filmed both of them in different time frames, with different actions and changing positions to highlight the behind-the-scenes decisions required to manufacture these ‘authentic’ moments online.
Outside the gallery, slivers of mirrors and blue acrylic pieces are hung along the metal grille as part of an installation, Question of Being, by Neoh Shin Yen.
Neoh said the sculptural work explores the existence and quiet ripples of time that alter perception without anyone noticing.
“The blue pieces will shimmer in the breeze while the mirror pieces will allow viewers to see themselves and reflect on the present and rediscover the lost time,” she said.
There will also be an interactive component to allow viewers to put up the blue pieces on one part of the exhibit.
When a wristwatch is broken, it is often discarded but Jerome Kugan collected broken, irreparable wristwatches to turn into art pieces by inscribing fragments of song lyrics on the dials.
The exhibition, Time Talismans, located within Rumah Kacha, is a showcase of different lyrics from songs that have one thing in common — the word ‘time’.
In the far back of Hin Bus Depot is Coex @ Kilang Besi that has an interactive exhibit ‘Mapping Jalan Gurdwara’ by Coex and Ruang Kongsi.
Delving into the history of the road, from it being called Brick Kiln Road before it was renamed to Gurdwara in honour of the 124-year-old Wadda Gurdwara Temple to the many establishments located along the short road that had provided support services to the various industries in town in the past.
The road was also called hong chia lor (windmill road) in Hokkien which is believed to either refer to the winnowing machines used by a rice and oil mill along the banks of Sungai Pinang that had used Brick Kiln Road to transport goods from the mill or a switchback railway.
The switchback railway on the end of the road near the river was possibly built to transport goods from the mill and tin ores from a tin smelting plant nearby.
The exhibition also mapped out the various landmarks along the road, some still in existence while some have been repurposed including Hin Bus Depot itself which was built in 1947 and served as a depot for the Blue Buses of Hin Company.
The depot stopped operations in 1999 and the building was left vacant until it was bought over in 2010 and it was revitalised in 2014 as an art and community space.
Little known places along the road are the night soil depot that was built in 1890 where night soil collected from areas of Carnavon Street, Gladstone Road, Penang Road and Kimberley Street were brought there and then transported to a branch in Sungai Pinang before being carried by sampans to be disposed near the waters of Pulau Jerejak.
A shadow theatre performance, Plastic City, by the Plasticity Theatre Troupe, will be staging its 10th anniversary edition during the festival.
Ivan said tickets to the first two shows are sold out, and there are currently no plans for a third performance.
The performance, presented through powerful visuals, sound and movement without any dialogues, will showcase an updated environmental theme with new lighting and shadow techniques along with added contemporary elements.
Meanwhile, over at Nui Kopi, father and son, John and Mark, will perform Here in__, which is a reflection of home, growth, loss and regrowth across time.
The Hin-Between Festival is from September 12 to 21. A schedule of the events can be found here.
