Participatory Art Projects
The Rubbish Prince (2018)
Featuring a 4.5-metre tall puppet, The Rubbish Prince is a 40-minute non-verbal outdoor puppet theatre that has enraptured audience of all ages, transforming public spaces and stretching imaginations beyond the ordinary. The whimsical production tells a modern fable of two city rats and Rubbish Prince, an enigmatic young man who looks different from other urban dwellers. One day, the trio encounters an unusual pile of rubbish lying in the middle of the walkway. To their surprise, beneath the heap lays a child, choked by the city’s waste. Can they, with the help of the audience, bring the child back to life?
The Rubbish Prince is an allegory to the relationship we humans have with the materials that we consume and discard daily. By including the audience in the “rescue mission”, the piece inspires communities towards a hopeful future where collective action is required to solve the city’s problems. Speaking a mixture of gibberish and local dialects and narrated through a lyrical music journey, the work fosters bonds across cultural and language differences. The giant puppets are a projection of universal concerns: working together to care for the environment and giving hope to our children.
Directed by Danny Yeo and Ong Kian Sin, The Rubbish Prince was first commissioned for Arts in Your Neighbourhood by National Arts Council in 2018. It has been invited to perform at various grassroots, arts, corporate, and eco-sustainability events and is currently travelling in the heartlands bringing warmth to more spaces and smiles to more faces.
Ignorland of its Loss - Dakota Crescent (2017)
Participants builds a pulley system as a way response to wanting to make the playground "more fun".
Children brainstorming with facilitators Rei Poh and Natalie Alexandra on what they would like to build in Dakota Crescent.
Inspired by the children, students from Nayang Polytechnic Spatial Design students created a life size structure where cats could play.
Participants builds a pulley system as a way response to wanting to make the playground "more fun".
Presented by Drama Box and directed by Koh Hui Ling, Ignorland of its Loss is a community-engaged arts project that sheds light on redevelopment issues surrounding the demolishment of Dakota Crescent, one of Singapore’s oldest public housing estate build in 1958. Lin Shiyun (creative director of 3Pumpkins) was invited to conduct a series of workshops with children, including those residing in the neighbourhood. These workshops include walks around the neighbourhood, improving the iconic dove playground, and hands-on imaginative exercises accumulating to building of an installation where the children proposed possibilities for Dakota Crescent redevelopment plans.
Seeing the Obvious (2017)
Seeing the Obvious is a key project that stems from Let’s Go PLay Outside, 3Pumpkin’s flagship programme in social practice. Students from Nanyang Polytechnic Visual Communications programme (School of Design) are brought in to work with the children on how changes to visual design in common infrastructure such as lamp-posts, benches, and rain shelters can inject the element of play into our immediate living environment. Over three months, the polytechnic students conduct weekly consultations and on-site research and testing and the final installations are presented in a weekend carnival. Through play, the students learn from the children about their needs and gain fresh perspectives. They are also challenged to apply their knowledge to practical settings through on-site observations and testing.
Child's Play (2017 - 2019)
Conceived by Danny Yeo and Lin Shiyun, Child’s Play is a series of children musical performance that experiments with multiple meanings of ‘play’ by incorporating role-playing and loose part playing into the conventional experience of watching a play. Together with multi-faceted composer Phang Kok Jun, the team has created a refreshing format of theatre where (children-only) audience undertake an immersive and lyrical adventure where they must work together to defeat impending dangers. Commissioned by Esplanade’s Huayi - A Chinese Festival between 2017-2019, the series include The Story of Nian, The Story of Redhill, and The Story of Banyan Tree. Children have hand-crafted helmets, prints, armours, traps, and drums, and made difficult decisions collectively in order to save the day!
Shall We Play Another Way? (2013)
Shall We Play Another Way? is a series of workshops commissioned by The Substation Programme for the Young in 2013 to explore purposeful play with children. Each workshop uses art and play to explore imaginations through a different sensory experience: sight, sound, smell, touch, movement. Children were able to construct a rope bridge that stretched across The Substation’s theatre, explore explore nook and cranny of the art centre, and go on a nature trail at Fort Canning, situated behind The Substation. Curated by Lin Shiyun, participating artists include Eve Tan, Koh Jantima (Thailand), Lai Chee Kien, Philipp Aldrup, Zai Tang.
Workshops!
Since 2013, 3Pumpkins has been invited to conduct pop-up workshops for children and families. Organisations which we have partnered with include Chinese Development Assistance Council, National Library Board, Playeum, The Arts House, The Esplanade - Theatres by the Bay and SAFRA.